Split: a sight for sore eyes

Our ferry

We travelled to Ancona from Naples by train, then took an overnight ferry to Split. Eleanor and Leo liked being on a ship, although as we boarded around 7.30pm (nearly bedtime) they didn't see much of it. The ferry is an easy way to travel between Italy and Croatia and as it is a 10-hour trip, overnight was perfect. We sailed at 9pm and arrived at 7am, so were at our apartment by 8.30am. Fortunately, it was unoccupied the night before so was ready immediately. We dropped our bags, took advantage of the laundry facilities and headed off to explore.

Split is a beautiful seaside city built in cream-coloured stone. It has a compact centre, is clean (particularly noticeable after Naples!) and friendly. English is pretty widely spoken; very helpful when your only Croatian is 'hvala' (thank you).

At the market

We wandered around the town and went supply shopping at the fruit and vegetable market. Mmmm veges; it has been a good few days since we had home-cooked vegetables, so they were a welcome sight. There was also a small local cheeses section in the market. Ideal for the cheese-hounds among us!

Stony beach

There are a number of swimming beaches around Split, all within walking distance. Those on one side of the port and harbour are stoney and on the other they are sandy. Our very helpful apartment-owner (he had a city map that he spent 15 minutes talking us through as well as fruit, beer and juice in the fridge when we arrived!) recommended the sandy beaches for children and the stoney ones for adults.

After lunch and naps we walked to the first sandy beach. The sand is very firm and not great for sand castles, but the sea is warm, calm and shallow. We spent an hour or two swimming. Leo decided the sea was a little short of sand so spent ages ferrying yoghurt pots of sand from the beach to deposit them in the water.

Our first experience of local food involved lots of chips; chicken and chips, sausage and chips..., but was tasty.

On our second day, we walked to one of the stoney beaches. It was a good walk and we were ready for a swim by the time we got there. The water was deeper, so cooler (very refreshing!) and just as calm. These beaches are much quieter than the sandy ones and there were few tourists around.

Jumping about in the Diocletian's Palace

Later in the day we visited Diocletian's Palace, a Roman Fortress that remains very much a living part of the city; people live within the walls and it bustles with locals and tourists visiting the restaurants and markets.

After a vege and kransky-packed dinner [Adrian: there's an entire kransky section at the market, bliss!] we walked to a look out for a view of the city by night. Eleanor started a game of princesses and knights. This meant taking took it in turns to be knights defending the princesses (the non-knight family members) from the monsters coming out of the dark.

Split by night

Tackling the four (that turned out to be five) hour bus trip to Dubrovnik required a bit of planning. First: take a lunchtime bus in the hope there will be sleeping. Second: book three seats to allow space and hope there might be a fourth if the bus isn't full (it was). Third: pack lunch, not too rich as the roads are a little windy. Fourth: feed Leo half an hour before the bus leaves to minimise the chance of him vomiting everywhere and take a towel just in case. Fifth: be ready to play lots of I spy and sing 'the wheels on the bus' many times over. Sixth: prepare good answers for the inevitable 'are we there yet?' questions. Seventh: don't be afraid to pull out the ipad in emergencies.

We made it in one piece although the towel was required. Adrian and I who should know better (Leo has been travel sick after yoghurt and chocolate milk in the past!) bought Eleanor and Leo an ice cream at one of the stops. Sure enough after half an hour or so it came back up; all over Leo and me. With carrot. The good news is that the towel saved the girl sitting next to us and we were only 15kms out of Dubrovnik. Not fun for Leo, poor thing! Thank goodness our apartment here has a good shower and washing machine.

The route is incredibly scenic, it would be great to have a couple of weeks to crawl along the coast a couple of towns at a time. The Adriatic coast is to die for.