While all our days have been really good ones, this one was an especially nice last day together.
After breakfast today we piled into our rental SUV and hit the road to Kliška tvrđava (Klis Fortress). It was an easy twenty-minute drive away, and I have to say that driving here in Croatia is quite enjoyable! The fortress was amazing. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.
Sidenote; I am pretty lucky in that I never get catcalled and I have never been harassed on the street. Here in Croatia, I have been taken and somewhat perplexed by how safe I feel. When I went out alone last night I walked across the paths of many people, in many dark alleys, one man, a group of men, two men, and never did I feel threatened or even given a side glance. It was a truly interesting thing that frankly puzzled me. When we were at Klis Fortress, we approached two men who were also visiting and asked one of them if he would take a picture of Libby and I together. His friend said in a slightly lascivious tone “I could get in the photo with you!” In my mind I felt uncomfortable with this and rolled my eyes a bit at the annoyance. We just laughed it off. We asked them where they were from. I won’t share where they said, but I can tell you they were not Croatian. The one time a man makes us uncomfortable and he’s not a local. We found it very interesting.
After climbing around Kliss, we were ready to get a bite. While there were restaurants around, the only one I’d found in a google search that appeared to have any ratings, or exist at all, was Perlica, and boy was I lucky we found it! When we pulled in, there was a small structure outside the restaurant which contains a fire pit. Above the fire were two pigs and two lamb turning slowly. A cook stood nearby. We struggled trying to figure out what to eat, so our server, Marcko said “I get you some lamb, and some pig, some beets, tomato and cucumber salad, and some potatoes, altogether” We thanked him and he said “Why?! Is my job!”
He was charming and genuine. I asked to take his photo at the end of the meal and he obliged, adding, “I drank too much whiskey last night and am tired”
After a nice slow start in the morning, some time at Klis, and this yummy meal, it was time to get on the road to see Krka National Park, located about an hour away. Weeks ago, I looked into the park when I realized that visiting Croatia’s most famous Plitvice Park wouldn’t be possible because of its distance, but that Krka was a good second choice I emailed the park, asking them if they’d be open during our visit, and they responded that only part of the park would be open. I’m glad I did this legwork, because the result was that I knew exactly which of the park’s many entrances we needed to go to enjoy the open part of the park. And considering we were arriving as the sun started to hit everything just right, knowing exactly where to go was a good thing!
Heading back, the light was getting low and it was a beautiful drive. We arrived back to the apartment by 6PM and relaxed before enjoying our final night out in Split.
We bought ourselves some hot chestnuts to share as we wandered the city considering where to eat.
On our first night in the city while we wandered in an effort to find a specific restaurant, we saw a little hole in the wall which was clearly really popular. Hamburgers, and sausage burgers called Cobasice. Well tonight we went back for some Croatian street food (there was nowhere to sit and people basically milled about as they ate or maybe sat on the bench out front). While we waited in line, I asked the man just behind us what people typically eat here. He suggested the Cobasice, with a paprika-type sauce (possibly a mis-translation since I figured out later it’s harissa and onion topping. The cevapi is sausage (which we’d eaten at Irma’s back in Mostar). We sat on the bench outside, chatted with our new crooked-toothed friend who advised us on what to order (and told us that it’s actually a Bosnian “dish”), and ate our messy, delicious sandwiches and washed them down with Orangina.
Not a bad time at all.
Please remember that while I’m happy to share my photos, they are not for reuse, borrowing, downloading or copying.
BEAN'S BABBLETORIUM 