Awoke to a bit of rain this morning but it cleared up as we were on the road to Split. Driving is a whole new experience in Croatia but that deserves a blog post of it’s own.
Four point plan
We had a four point plan starting out. These are all quite simple but challenging when you are in a city you don’t know, streets don’t have names, and you don’t speak the language.
- Get to Split
- Find parking
- Buy ferry tickets
- Find the correct ferry berth
Miraculously we were accomplish all of them without too much stress and with extra time to explore Split.
Diocletian’s Palace
We quickly head over to Diocletian’s Palace. This was built in preparation for Diocletian’s retirement in 305 AD. We navigate to the sub level which has been made into a place for small shops.
Back topside we examine the architectural styles used at this palace. We stumbled onto a market. This was a little different than Zagreb because the vendors were much more pushy with their fruits, cheeses, and various wares.
Somewhere along the way I found some American Cookies. Not sure what makes them American.
Walking back to the ferry terminal I noticed that they switched the berth of our ferry. Lucky that we checked! The ferry ride is an hour long and we ride on top.
Land of honey and olive oil
We arrived in Rogač on the island of Solta. Devin had coordinated a tour/tasting of olive oil and honey. We were picked up by the olive oil guy. He was amazing. Wild rosemary, oregano, and thyme all grow on the island. He kept stopping the van to pick some and have us smell them. He also took us to some of his olive groves to explain part of the process.
We end up driving to the oil processing place. Along the way he takes us through one of the towns where the streets are narrow. Devin asks him how they settle right of way when the street has cars in both directions. Just after he is done explaining he is forced to demonstrate his method of chicken followed by a polite wave.
There is a donkey standing in the street and Devin asked why but the guy only provides a shrug.
The tasting was very informative. There was so much we didn’t know about olive oil. There were multiple things to try the oil on – bread, cheese, and sardines. Our favorite ended up being the garlic flavored one.
After the tastings comes lunch! Zucchini and shrimp risotto is brought out with a salad to be mixed with the oil of our choice. The risotto was excellent. For desert he brought out chocolate ice cream and poured some orange flavored olive oil over it. It was soo good! I’ve never had olive oil on ice cream but this was incredible.
The bees knees
Next we were driven to a bee keeper who has been educating anyone who will listen about the importance of bees and their skill at pollination. He is super passionate and shows us how he can collect the pollen from the bees as well as their honey.
After our lesson and honey tasting with the bee enthusiast we are taken to Maslinica which appears to be a posh place to park your boat on the island.
We didn’t spend a whole lot of time here because we had to get back to the ferry but there was nice scenery.
After a ferry ride back we do a little more exploring but eventually get back to the car and head back to Šibenik. Ready for bed.
