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Returning from Montenegro the night before, we met up with a couple of friends who were also on vacation, for dinner and drinks. They had arranged to do a boat tour of the nearby islands with a gentleman who had been taking many of my co-workers out for an afternoon in the sun.
When I had confirmed my Airbnb with Antonia, our host, she asked on what airline and what time we would be arriving. Giving her this information, I didn’t mention that I worked for the airline, but she volunteered that her husband had been taking out the crews on his boat. Amazingly, it was the same person who had taken out my friends! His name was Ivusa!
As we enjoyed cocktails, they raved about what an amazing experience it was. At that precise moment, deciding that we also needed this experience, I texted Antonia and asked her if Ivusa could take us out when we returned to Dubrovnik in six days.
The next morning, as we packed our car and readied for our departure to Bosnia and Split, Ivusa came out and introduced himself. A friendly guy, we discussed our travel plans and plans for our return the next weekend. Having heard of our rental car woes, Ivusa, probably worried that we would get off on the wrong foot, graciously offered to drive our car up the hill. Thank goodness!
Saying goodbye, we prepared ourselves for the long day ahead.
We had planned to make our way to Mostar and Medjugoria, Bosnia and then continue on to Split, where we would spend two nights in the Diocletian Palace. Checking the route, we determined that while the GPS routing was through the mountains, we felt like we should take a secondary route which hugged the coastline until we reached the town of Neum. Besides, it would be more scenic!
Starting our trip, we drove along, enjoying the stunning views. Finally, our GPS began directing us to take a turn. Following the commands, we drove towards Neum, but instead of the original routing, it had us follow another road. Not anything that seemed like a major highway, we hesitantly followed the directions. Next thing, we ended up on a dirt road, heading up a mountain. The road narrowed and as I studied the GPS map, I realized that if we continued on this passage, we were going to cross into Bosnia. Yes, that was the intent, but there was no way that there was going to be a border crossing on the side of a mountain and we risked crossing illegally. Not wanting to be wanted in another country, we decided that we should turn around…this was no small feat. The road we were on was extremely narrow and dropped off precariously on our left. Somehow…and to this day, I am not sure how…we got the car turned around and didn’t look back.
Our luck with this rental car had not been good so far and we had lost so much time following the GPS instructions, we decided that continuing on to Split would be best for us. Finally, making it back to the coastal road, we eventually crossed into Bosnia and then back into Croatia. I even jumped out of the car and stood for a moment, so that I could say that I had been in Bosnia!
The drive to Split was extremely long and aside from a stop in Neretva, Croatia, to enjoy the lake views of the Valley of Life, we plodded along, praying to get there in one piece and return the car.
After an agonizing five hours of driving, we made it to the Split Airport. We can’t stress enough how relieved we were to hand over the keys to the car and have someone else do the driving for the rest of our trip!
With a short Uber ride to the old part of town, we could finally breath a sigh of relief and relax for a moment. During the day, I had been in contact with the Airbnb owner and she was expecting our arrival.
As we were dropped off at the entrance to Diocletian Palace, I looked around and wasn’t sure where to head. Although I had marked the apartment’s location on my map, it was quite confusing as we made our way through Diocletian’s Palace. Finally, as we stood between Saint Domnius Cathedral and the Silver Gate, glancing frantically around, trying to figure out which way to turn, I heard my name. Thankfully, Ines had come to look for us and two people looking confused with suitcases was enough to convince her that she had the right people!
Leading us into a nearby building, I noticed right away, the peeling paint and the newly built, but unfinished, stairway. It was only two nights, right?
But, when we reached the apartment on the topmost floor, I remembered why we had booked this particular unit. It was absolutely stunning and overlooked the Cathedral of Saint Domnius. After giving us a brief tour, Ines explained that because of the apartment’s location within the Diocletian Palace, a UNESCO Heritage Site, all renovations have to be approved by the government. While nothing can be done to the exteriors of the building and not much to the stairwells, more can be done to the interior, within their guidelines. Therefore, while almost everything within the apartment was new, the interior stone walls were original to the palace…dating back to the fourth century! When they say, “If Walls Could Talk!”
Finally on our own, we quickly unpacked and headed out to see what we could within the city in the waning afternoon. Saving the Cathedral for the next day when we had more time, we eventually ended up on the Riva, the bustling waterfront and boardwalk. Grabbing a couple of beers, we also grabbed a seat and enjoyed the close of our day with the setting sun.
Walking back through the palace, we enjoyed the live music being performed in the Peristyle and discovered that it could be heard perfectly from the opened windows of our apartment. And after dinner, this is what we did…enjoyed our VIP seating and the beautiful music on our first night in Split.
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Diocletian’s Palace
- http://www.diocletianspalace.org/
- Address: Iblerov trg 10/IV 10000, Zagreb
- Hours: 24 hours, daily
- Admission: free
Airbnb-Peristyle Emperor Suite