On the whole, a really lovely day. When I was in Zagreb I did wonder if going to Albania the long way round was a bad idea. No, it wasn’t.
Because I could have a long lie and then leave my bag at Rooms Sandra, for most of the day it didn’t feel like I was on the road at all. I went to a lovely bookshop within the palace because I didn’t want to take my Kindle to the beach (where would I be if it got nicked?) and picked up a slim volume. The entirety of the palace, and a lot of the rest of Split, is paved with very slippy, marble-like white stones. The Romans were not big on health and safety.
And then, after a pit stop at Monty Python bar for an iced coffee, I hit Bačvice Beach, the one closest to the city centre.
Did I tan? Hardly at all, but at least I’m not too blue now 😂 There were showers at the beach but they weren’t that effective so I’m aware that almost every part of my body is still slightly sandy, and I’m writing this at 9.30pm! I was intending to shower before going out to dinner, but it’s late, it’s dark, and I don’t smell that bad 😂
To get to Dubrovnik from Split I took the ferry rather than the bus. There was a bit of enforced sunbathing as I waited for the catamaran to start boarding (it began shortly after “last boarding time” – welcome to the Balkans) but as the afternoon wore on it got darker and darker until we were sailing through a thunderstorm. It wasn’t too rough, though.
I found the accommodation down the charming lane/dodgy alley and met my landlady, Senada, thereby unlocking a new achievement level in Croatian: I said something in Croatian, she said “Oh, you speak Croatian” and I understood what she said and replied.
Either because of my effort to speak her language, or just because she likes the cut of my jib, she has offered to make me Turkish coffee tomorrow morning and has recommended a lovely restaurant where I have just enjoyed a truly delicious octopus salad with a very nice house wine. I’ve just been chased inside the restaurant by the increasingly heavy thunderstorm Now if I can ever catch the attention of a waiter, I’ll find out if the tiramasu is just as nice.
K C Murdarasi 
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