All too soon, I was back in sleepy Split. I spent a full day in bed after getting back from Italy, catching up on work and sleep. The gloomy weather was conducive to laziness. Plus, there was a lot of planning to do for the next weekend.

When I finally was motivated enough to drag myself out of bed, we decided we would explore a top Split attraction that we have somehow avoided until now: the Split Tower. It’s crazy to think that we had been walking past this icon of Split every day for three weeks and haven’t gone up yet. I guess a part of me thought, well, if I’m standing in the thing worth looking at, is the view even worth the climb?

[big_image v=”” h=”250px”]

[/big_image]

Spoiler alert. The answer is yes.

The panoramic views of the burnt orange roofs, the glistening Adriatic waters reflecting the sunlight, and Marjan hill in the background. Worth every step. And believe me, the steps are steep. Very narrow. Very steep. And slippery, no doubt worn down by all the traffic it gets nowadays. Granted, the tower was also built a very long time ago. But if there were a little more room up there, I would probably spend a good portion of my time enjoying Split from above, because this view doesn’t get old.

[one_third padding=”0 2px 0 0″][/one_third][one_third padding=”0 1px 0 1px”][/one_third][one_third_last padding=”0 0 0 2px”][/one_third_last]

In the spirit of catching up…

We also explored Split from below the week before. Diocletian’s Cellars are another popular attraction, mostly because of Game of Thrones, but also because they are in remarkably good condition despite the age (largely because they were used as a garbage dump for a long time, which actually helped preserve the structure). The entrance is on two sides right off Riva, in the tunnel leading to Peristil, where the tower is located.

We visited on a rainy day, but I’m sure it smells damp down there even on a sunny day. The echoes would be spooky if not for the occasional voice of a tour guide recounting the history of the palace.

The highlight of our visit (and maybe even the highlight of my entire trip…) was seeing two cats climb up and down a ladder down in the cellars. It was bizarre.

[one_third padding=”0 2px 0 0″][/one_third][one_third padding=”0 1px 0 1px”][/one_third][one_third_last padding=”0 0 0 2px”][/one_third_last]

Besides our day trip to Hvar, it was a really quiet week of much needed chill time. On some days we only ventured out to Kaufland. When we did venture into town, it was mostly for the sake of getting out. But of course, whenever we were there, we’d end up at Luka. Probably my favorite shop in all of Split. Their apple pie ice cream is heavenly. We frequented the shop so often that they actually knew us. Then again, we do stand out, even in a sea of tourists (who are usually ethnically segregated). But I’d like to think we were well liked, at least enough for them to not grumble too much when I paid for a 9kn kornetu with a 100kn bill!

[one_third padding=”0 2px 0 0″][/one_third][one_third padding=”0 1px 0 1px”][/one_third][one_third_last padding=”0 0 0 2px”][/one_third_last]

[big_image v=”” h=”250px”]

[/big_image]