The Need for Speed!

We were rudely awakened by the fire alarm at 7:44am, now this wasn’t so bad given that my alarm was due to go off at 7:45am, but a fire alarm at any time scares the living daylights out of you! Thankfully it was a false alarm and by the time I had my shorts on and hair up, it had turned off, along with the electricity in our room; queue showering in the dark! By the time I was done, the electricity came back on and Iain was not put out in the least!

After packing for the trip we had booked, we set off for breakfast. Another omelette later, I’m at least trying to have a healthy breakfast, we set off in search of Dalmatian Excursions. Again, everything is between 3 to 5 minutes walk, so our hotel is really in the best location. We checked in before being led to our speedboat, along with 6 others. 

Now if anyone has ever been on a speedboat before (thinking Avril and Rach if you are reading this!), you know it’s best not to sit in the front……

So we sat in the front alongside a really nice couple from Finland!

Dani, our skipper, took it easy out of the harbour and it was as reasonably smooth journey to our first stopping point in Trogir, a UNESCO heritage site with a population of around 12000.

After getting off the boat, we headed straight into the town, arriving quickly at the Cathedral of St Lawrence. There were lots of kids about, so we headed off in the direction of the castle which was recommended to us. Fortress Kamerlengo was constructed between 1420 and 1437, following the Venetian conquest of the town of Trogir. The name Kamerlengo refers to a Venetian administrative official who was responsible for managing a variety of financial functions. It is a trapeze-shaped fortress with four towers at its angles and I has a fantastic view over Trogir and the surrounding area.

We only had 70 minutes to enjoy here, so headed off to a coffee shop; Trogir is also famous for a specific cake called rafioli which you eat with coffee, or cappuccino in our case. It’s a sweet dough-like crescent shape pastry, filled with crushed almonds and coated in sugar; it was delicious!

Once our 70 minutes were up, we headed back to boat to take us to our next stop, the blue lagoon. We also got a fantastic view of the castle as we left on the boat.

The journey to the blue lagoon was only 15 minutes, and the sun was beating down. I was looking forward to a dip, although talk of sea urchins did put me off, didn't help that neither of us had real shoes for walking out as it’s incredibly rocky. Anyway, we made it into the sea, with Iain and also the Finnish guy and his wife changing behind a wall as the beach club wasn’t open for the season yet! 

Once we made it in, the water was actually quite refreshing. It took a couple from New Hampshire to try it out before we braved it! The stop was an hour, but given the beach club wasn’t open, it was definitely enough.

Next stop was a little secluded island which is only open from May, it has a beautiful hotel on it and apparently the Croatian president goes there for holidays. Dani mentioned that it would take him 7 minutes to get there, although he could do it in 5, turns out it took us a bit longer as we were stopped by the police! We saw a boat coming towards us, flashing blue lights, you know how it goes! Apparently, this is normal, and they just checked his license and insurance, but we had to stop nonetheless.

Five minutes later, we arrived at Maslinica. First things first, an ice-cream, then a beer!

We spent 45 minutes on the island before walking back to meet the boat; we got talking to Dani before leaving and asked if he supported Hadjuk Split, and if they would win the league. Hilariously he told us of having a bunch of party girls on the boat the week before and watching the match at the wheel and punching the seat in anger as he watched them lose. Football, bloody hell. He also managed to name practically every Rangers player who was Croatian so I was quite impressed!

Now I want to remind you that we were in the front of the boat, turns out Dani was a bit more desperate to get back to Split, Iain and I were holding on for dear life. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip though, also made better by having great travel companions, take note those of you on the Lakes tour!

Our first stop after returning to Split was a shower, before heading out for some food and a drink; we went to Semafor near the Golden gate and shared a pizza while I tried to blog about the day. The pizza looks pretty terrible, but it was actually good!

Once we were refuelled, we decided to take a wander to a lookout point above the city; Dani had recommended it and said it was one of the best places to visit. There is actually a forest walk you can go, but I was pretty long so we made it to the lookout, which also has a cafe restaurant, and then onto the Church of St Nicholas which was situated slightly further up the hill. 

Near the beginning of the walk, we noticed a wine bar with a tasting menu, so once we had descended the steps, we thought we would  take a peak. It is actually a tasting room for a winery called Markus, so we decided to have a flight of fours wines plus matching cheese or meat. 

The tasting was excellent, although it was expensive at 85 EUR, but this was also dinner. The sun was almost gone, but we decided to catch the last of it at Room 68, a rooftop bar just on the promenade. It’s a bit of a trendy place, and not really my cup of tea but the wine was decent.

Our last stop of the day was a bar just across from our hotel, it was lively, cheap and the Aperol Spritz was good; what more could you want?