Forgive me for the extreme lateness of this post, but the end of the semester, subsequent return home and immediate jump back into work, Summer, and U.S. life was far more hectic than I had ever anticipated. Although I considered not even doing this post as a result of how far removed it is from its date of origin, I feel it necessary to tie up the loose ends from my semester abroad and Summer travels before returning back to school for Fall semester and senior year in two and a half weeks. This particular post pertains to my last trip away from Florence while in Europe, and took place over the dates Thursday April 18th to Sunday April 21st in Split, Brac, and Krka Croatia, and included a day trip to Mostar, Bosnia.
We departed Florence, Italy on Wednesday night for what would be a 12 hour marathon of a bus trip to Split, Croatia. Once arriving at 9 a.m. in Split, Croatia we checked in to the hostel we were to be staying at, obtained some of the local currency, the Croatian Kuna [Croatia is not was not in the EU at the time of my visit so they did not use the Euro] and immediately began exploring the town of Split. Split, Croatia is given its name as a result of it being the town where the Roman empire was "split" in half during the downfall of the empire, and there are remnants of this all over the city. The most notable of these is the Palace of Diocletian, a large complex fronting the harbor which is now utilized as an indoor market and museum. As should be expected if you are someone who followed my trip through all of Europe, my travel partners and I of course found it necessary to climb to the highest possible point to get the view of the city in its entirety and get a hold of some amazing photographic opportunities. After completing this climb we took the liberty of spending the remaining portion of the day relaxing on the beach, going out to dinner, and catching up on the lost sleep from the night before.
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| View Down Street in Split, Croatia |
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| Harbor Bordering Walk in Split, Croatia |
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| Split Harbor |
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| Split Harbor |
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| Split Harbor and Walkway |
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| Palm Trees |
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| Split Harbor |
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| Split Harbor |
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| Split, Croatia |
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| Starting the ascent |
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| Split Harbor From Above |
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| Split Harbor From Above |
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| Split From Above |
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| Split From Above |
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| Adriatic Sea |
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| Outdoor Swimming Stadium |
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| Amphitheater |
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| Our Walk Back Down |
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| Croatia Flag Up High |
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| Adriatic Sea |
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| Split and the Adriatic |
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| Split and Beyond |
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| Split, Croatia |
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| Split, Croatia |
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| Portion of Diocletian's Palace, Split, Croatia |
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| Split Harbor |
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| Adriatic Sea From the Beach |
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| Split Beach |
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| Boats! |
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| Split Harbor |
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| Split Harbor |
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| Hostel |
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| Hostel |
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| Hostel Room |
Friday we decided to attend the offered Island Hopping tour which was mainly focused on visiting the island town of Brac, Croatia. We boarded a boat early on in the morning and spent the day riding out to Brac, visiting everything the island had to offer, eating lunch on the boat, and then diving off the boat and swimming to a nearby coast which could not be reached by the boat. All in all this was another relaxing day spent on the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Croatia. Friday night we decided to join in on a bar crawl which was being offered by the travel agency we went on the trip with, which resulted in an experience rivaled only by that we had in Barcelona, Spain.
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| Split Harbor From Boat |
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| Yacht in Split Harbor |
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| Yacht in Split Harbor |
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| Harbor and Flag |
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| Small Light House and Split Beyond |
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| Departing Split via Boat |
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| Adriatic Sea, Croatian Flag |
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| Our Boat and Tanners |
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| Our Boat |
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| Brac Harbor |
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| Brac Harbor |
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| Brac, Croatia |
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| Brac, Croatia, Adriatic Sea Beyond |
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| Materials of Brac, Croatia |
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| Brac, Croatia |
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| Brac Harbor |
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| Where We Swam To |
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| Sailboat |
On Saturday we decided to be brave and, against my father's wishes, travel to Mostar, Bosnia for a side trip and taste of Eastern European culture. This was a separate four hour bus ride away from Split, Croatia and the same to return to Split later in the day, but the experience we had in Mostar was one that, looking back on the trip, there is no way I would have missed out on. We walked all over the town seeing everything there is there, and my friend Brad joined the divers club and jumped off of the 70 foot high bridge which is the focal point of the entire town, both visually and schematically. It was truly a unique experience unlike anything else I have ever known.
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| Church in Mostar |
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| Mostar, Bosnia |
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| Mostar, Bosnia |
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| Mostar, Bosnia |
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| Mostar, Bosnia |
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| Mostar, Bosnia |
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| Bridge Jumping in Mostar, Bosnia |
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| Mostar, Bosnia |
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| Mostar, Bosnia |
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| Mosque in Mostar, Bosnia |
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| Mostar, Bosnia |
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| Mostar, Bosnia |
Sunday it was time to depart Split, Croatia and head back to reality at home in Florence, but not without first stopping at the most beautiful natural development I have ever seen in my life, the Krka National Park and waterfalls. The pictures below, while pretty good, cannot possibly do this wondrous location justice. It was truly amazing.
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| Krka National Park |
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| Running Water! |
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| Krka National Park |
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| Frog! |
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| Krka National Park |
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| Krka National Park |
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| Krka National Park |
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| Perfection in the World: Krka National Park |
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| Krka National Park |
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| Krka National Park |
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| Krka National Park |
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| Krka National Park |
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| Krka National Park |
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| Krka National Park |
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| Krka National Park |
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| Krka National Park |
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| Krka National Park |
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| Krka National Park |
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| Krka National Park |
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| Krka National Park |
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| Krka National Park |
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| Krka National Park |
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| Krka National Park |
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| Krka National Park |
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