Bonnie Carroll's Life Bites

SPLIT CROATIA SPOTLIGHTS ANCIENT HISTORY AUTHENTIC RECIPES & DELICIOUS WINE VARITALS

Split the largest city on the Croatian coast lies on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea and spreads over a central peninsula and its surroundings; it is linked to the Adriatic islands and Apennine Peninsula. More than 900,000 tourists visit this destination each year.

Diocletian’s Palace and Saint Domnius Cathedral provide history and architectural buff’s visiting the city, originally formed as a Greek colony in the third century, an opportunity to visit the home of the Palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. As a member of the Austrian Kingdom of Dalmatia and then the formation of former Yugoslavia it is a treasure trove of history and a photographer’s dream.

I visited Split during January, which is considered the coldest month of the year, but found that I was amazingly comfortable walking in the sun with temperatures of around 50 degrees. Touring the historic center of Split, which has been included on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites since 1979, as well as a visit to the Diocletian’s Palace was a quite easy jaunt.

Points of interest in the city of Split included The Croation National Theatre built in 1893, Split Archaeological Museum, Ethnographic Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts. A monument to 15^th century poet Marko Marulic is a highly photographed site, and the Split Music Festival is a popular tourist attraction for international music lovers each summer.

The Palace of Diocletian was very impressive, and the Peristyle central square within the Palace was a synergy of centuries of architecture that was awe inspiring, and the limestone and marble venue, decorated with Egyptian sphinxes is reported to represent one of the best-preserved ancient complexes of this kind in the world. It is a huge complex and we only covered a small portion during our morning visit. If you are planning to tour the entire area, give yourself at least a day.

The restaurant scene in split is quite interesting, and offers not only Croation specialties, but everything from pizza, pasta, poke, kabobs and more. Reservations may be required for Adriatic fish specialties, and Michelin L’Assiette award winning menu favorites at venues like ZOL. Dalmatian food favorites include Brudet, a seafood stew made with fish and shellfish, or Peletina i povrce iz pecnice, a baked chicken and veggies dish with prunes. I was drawn to Lamb Peka (can use chicken as well) a dish cooked in a domed iron pot for hours over coals with ingredients of lamb or octopus or chicken and veal with potatoes, spices, and veggies that must be ordered a day in advance at local restaurants. For your next visit to Split I am wishing you Dober Tek! (“Good appetite” in Croatian).

Hottest new wines coming from Croatia, according to popular wine writers and wine afficionados. Croatian wines are plentiful and pair beautifully with Dalmatian or other popular dishes served in local restaurants. Some include Grasevina, white wine widely produced in Croatia, Marastina, a local white wine, like Riesling, grown in and around Kastela; ten miles from Split. Malvasia is a smooth, sweet white wine from Istria and the popular Posip is a marvelous white from Korcula Island that is the most widely planted white in Croatia. Plavac Mali is the most widely produced red wine in the area from Hvar and the Peljesac peninsula, and Vugava, is a favorite local red wine from the Island of Vis.

The ocean front harbor walk of Split is very pretty and charming, dotted with lovely outdoor restaurants, and filled with visiting cruise ships, as well as tour ships going to Hvar and Korcula, confirming its point of interest as a major tourist destination. After touring and some shopping, it was lovely to sit by the harbor to people watch over a cup of coffee before walking back to my ship, which was docked nearby. This interesting destination will be on my ‘be back’ list for a potential future summer vacation. Split is splendid!