The first time H and I went to Croatia was just after the end of the war, 1996 or thereabouts. I remember being annoyed with the travel agent (that’s the way we did things in those days) who advised me not to go to a country where there was a war on despite the fact that it had been over for some time. As part of the former Yugoslavia, Croatia had enjoyed a healthy tourist trade: the last thing they needed was visitors to be discouraged. We spent a week on the lovely island of Korcula, staying in a hotel with a terrace overlooking the sea, then went to Dubrovnik which was full of facades hiding bombsites, but still beautiful.
Split was spared the sustained bombardment that Dubrovnik endured, its old town seemingly unscathed. It’s quite unlike anywhere I’ve been in Europe, made up largely of a Roman palace built by Diocletian who became emperor at the age of thirty-nine in 284 CE. The palace was to be his retirement home, not something that emperors usually planned or managed to achieve but he did, taking up residence twenty-one years after gaining power. Diocletian, it seems, liked to make an entrance, sailing his ship into the flooded vaults of his palace from the sea rather than disembarking at the shore like the rest of us plebs. Many additions have been
made to the complex throughout the centuries including a cathedral in Diocletian’s mausoleum. Somewhat churlishly, the Christians who built it looted his body or what remained of it, putting their stamp firmly on his palace. It’s all very fetchingly got up now, a maze of alleyways running through the complex filled with a multitude of tiny shops, cafes and restaurants. A gorgeous place to wander around as we did the evening we arrived but chock-full during the day.
We turned our backs on the weekend crowds the following afternoon, walking up the hill above the old city to explore the wooded Marjan peninsula. What was to have been a pleasant amble turned into a seven-mile hike for which both of us were somewhat overdressed. Sadly, we failed to find a cake shop, the promise of which had kept me going for the last hot, crowded stretch, full of people heading in the opposite direction to us. Worth it for the magnificent views, though.
Split is Croatia’s second city after Zagreb but it’s charms are confined to a fairly small area unless you’re a fan of high-rise apartment blocks so we’d planned a couple of day trips one of 
which was to Trogir, a little gem of a walled city on its own tiny island. Getting lost on the way to the bus station we stumbled across a patch of rough ground populated by around fifteen peacocks, one of those odd sights you sometimes come across in an unfamiliar place then later wonder if you dreamt it. We arrived in Trogir after a long, hot, stop-start bus journey but it was well worth all that jolting and jarring, not least for the lovely lunch on a shady terrace finished off with a scrumptious dessert: wine soaked dried figs with lavender-scented honey, mascarpone cream and a little chocolate sauce. Fabulous!
Our second outing was to the Krka National Park, yet another UNESCO-listed site, to see the
Skrandinski buk waterfalls set in lovely woodland, one of those spectacular sights that’s hard to do justice with just a phone camera but you get the idea. Unsurprisingly, it’s a hugely popular place to visit but the walkways are so artfully laid out that despite 
the large number of us admiring the jaw-droppingly beautiful scenery, it never felt crowded. After lunch we headed off to the lower reaches of Roški Slap which we had pretty much to ourselves. A much more tranquil, lower-key beauty than Skrandinski buk, made all the more so by constant, mellifluous birdsong.
The rest of the week passed in a pleasantly lazy haze. It’s taken us over twenty years to return to Croatia and after a week soaking up sun, stunning landscape and architecture, I hope we won’t wait another two decades.
And the books? The first was Hannah Rothschild’s The Improbability of Love, shortlisted for
the Baileys back in 2015 which is what made me want to read it. In essence it’s a literary potboiler about a lost masterpiece made interesting thanks to the author’s knowledge of art history. There’s a nice little edge of suspense running through the novel but ultimately it’s somewhat soapy. Julia Pierpont’s Among the Ten Thousand Things was much more of a success. It begins with a young girl opening a box addressed to her mother, full of emails printed off by the woman with whom her father has had an affair. The novel explores the resulting fallout through the girl, her brother and their parents which may not sound startlingly original but Pierpont’s writing is striking and the novel is utterly engrossing. It’s always a gamble when you choose your holiday reading but at least this one turned out to be a winner.
Back to the endless litany of electioneering which will drag on for the next month here in the UK, wistfully remembering our last Croatian lunch looking out to sea from the restaurant’s sunlit terrace…
Wow that looks so beautiful. We visited Croatia about 15 years ago …..mainly around Pula although we did spend a weekend in Zagreb which had a crumbly Austro Hungarian charm ….would love to visit Split and Dubrovnik
I think we were lucky to miss the crowds in Dubrovnik all those years ago but I thoroughly recommend both. We flew to Zagreb before Croatia joined the EU and drove on into Slovenia which had been in it for a few years. The houses either side of the road which marked the border illustrated the differences in prosperity very graphically.
Love to read about your travels as well as your thoughts on books. We went to Dubrovnik a couple of years ago and I’d definitely like to visit Split. Sounds like you had a lovely time!
Thanks, Helen. They’re lovely posts to write. Makes re-entry a little easier! We did have a lovely time – it’s an extraordinarily beautiful country. I’d like to explore inland.
What a lovely description of your vacation! Croatia is not a place I would think to visit. And I especially enjoyed your description of Diocletian’s palace.
Thank you, Melissa. It was stunning. I think you’d love it. Many more Roman remains to explore if only we’d had the time.
Glad you had a lovely time in Croatia. It does look rather beautiful over there!
Thanks, Jacqui. It is! Tripping over UNESCO-listed sites, too. I hope to do some exploring inland next time. I imagine it’s very different.
Lovely post, Susan – love Dubrovnik, and once spent a lovely day at Krka. Must visit again!
Thank you, Anne. It such a beautiful country, isn’t it. I hope this brought back a few memories for you.
What lovely photographs of what looks to be a lovely place to explore. Which did you prefer: Split or Dubrovnik? We have been toying with Croatia as a potential learning to sail destination, though I think we will wait until my daughter is a little older. Shame the reading wasn’t all wonderful, but I suspect the views more than made up for it. And the wine soaked figs dessert. Delicious!
Thanks, Belinda. I think Split although I was lucky enough to see Dubrovnik back in the ’90s before the crowds arrived. Learning to sail around Croatia would be wonderful – so many beautiful islands to visit. We saw lots of people sailing around Split’s harbour, too.
Three times now we have planned to visit Croatia and every time something intervened and we had to abandon the plan. The last itinerary involved travelling from Dubrovnik to Hvar via all the islands…..Your photos have shown me some of what we missed
That sounds lovely, Karen. Fourth time lucky?
I certainly hope so but I also have a long list of places I want to visit.
Me, too. Rather like the book list, it keeps getting longer.
Reading about your vacation made me realize that I really don’t know very much about Croatia. You have inspired me to do some googling to read more about it. It looks beautiful and sounds fascinating!
Pleased to hear that, Naomi. It’s a lovely country, both in terms of scenery and its old towns. I’d like to explore inland, travelling up into the mountains next time.