Split

May 13, 2005-Now
(photos:Diocletian's Palace,
Viki in gondola)

Still no Internet access but we have Maraska pear brandy so I don’t care. It almost made the 140-mile ride from Split to Dubrovnik during our 2nd day on the bus bearable. I’ve been trying to figure out how this tour could be run without the long stretches but the only way is to fly & that’s too costly.

Our city guide in Split was Damir. His English was impeccable even though he learned it all in Croatia and has never been to an English speaking country. He speaks five languages and says that German is his best. He brought us up to speed on modern Split. It has the youngest population of all Croatia with an average age of twenty-four. It’s the sports center of Europe and even though housing is dear buildings may only have sixteen stories. Winds coming off the mountains can be up to 100 mph and that’s all the structures can stand.

Then

The two-hour walking tour of the Palace of Diocletian was incredible. Diocletian was born in Salona in 237, the only son of slaves. Salona grew to be the official capital of the Roman colonies of the area. He joined the Roman Legion at the age of majority for boys, fourteen. He rose to the highest rank and when Rome needed an emperor he was tapped. He was a pagan and persecuted Christians.

When he abdicated the throne he moved back to his roots. The palace was built in ten years by 20,000 slaves one third of whom died during its construction. Diocletian died in Split in 316 leaving the legacy of being the only pagan retired emperor of Rome.

It’s thought that two Greek architects designed the 260,000 square feet of palace space 1700 years ago. Although it’s called a palace it was more like a fortress with government buildings, housing, stores, military barracks, and royal quarters within the walls. Diocletian insisted that his living quarter be over the sea and fifteen per cent of the structure meets that requirement. The architects built his quarters on the 2nd floor and suspended it over the Adriatic. In order to support it they built a ground level “basement” with portals that allowed the sea to rush in under his apartments at high tide. It only amounted to a variation of a foot since the tides in this region aren’t great, but water lines left after storms were over ten feet high. Somehow the enormous blocks that were the walls were held in place by their own weight and survived with no mortar to secure them. The upper walls and ceilings of stone and brick were cemented with a combination of sand, water, ground limestone, and egg whites.

Diocletian fancied himself the son of Jupiter and was enamored with things Egyptian. The palace was home to many Sphinx that symbolized immortality. Early Christians broke most of their heads and paws to destroy their pagan powers. The peristyle courtyard and crossroads of the palace is well preserved including the mausoleum of Diocletian. It has been in constant use since he was interred. Early Christians destroyed his tomb and threw his ashes out but it’s still used daily as a Roman Catholic Church. The carved entry doors are from 1214 and resemble bronze doors of the Duomo in Florence. The difference is that the ones here are wood. Garish light bulbs hang over them with the numbers 304-2005. Those dates refer to the span of years since the first bishop died.

The palace wasn’t allowed to enjoy a peaceful demise. In 612 Salona was attacked and people fled to the palace for shelter. They settled in and started building their homes and more stores against the walls and between the buildings inside the palace. Venetians continued the custom until they ran out of room for garbage. It was easy to remove pieces of floor and dump trash into the still empty “basements” until those too filled up. The trash heaps kept the lower level intact until 1956, when archeologists began excavating. Nothing of importance was found but with the upper level in shambles from over-building, they were able to see the exact layout of the original rooms since floors of buildings in those days echoed the ones above them. There are still people who live in the medieval houses wedged between the 1700-year-old palace structures and who drink water from Roman aqueducts. It encompasses most of the old city of Split and bustles with shops and businesses sequestered into a UNESCO treasure. We could have stayed there all day, but our bus was leaving. The only consolation was that we got to sit on the Adriatic side of the bus this time.

Bosnia to Dubrovnik

Back to the pear brandy. Viki didn’t tell us in advance that we’d be stopping at a discount store on the way to Dubrovnik. If she had we might have waited to make some purchases. In any case, she gave us tastes of the brandy and we were hooked. Did I mention that it was in a Bosnian discount store? We didn’t realize it but we had to go through a tiny piece of Bosnia-Herzegovina to get to Dubrovnik. Num is the only Bosnian seashore left. It’s a resort comprised of rich Germans, Austrians, and their yachts.

We rode along the Dalmatian Coast parallel to the island where Marco Polo was born until we got to the village of Komin where Viki was born. There was no electricity when she was growing up tending her family cows, crops, and citrus trees. Her brother still lives there, cares for the farm, and is the town postman. He and his wife met our bus bearing fritoles (beignets) for all. Viki almost caused a stampede when she got into the old family gondola and paddled along the river. All forty of us were on the other side of the busy highway and we charged over for the photo-op.
After our last pit stop at a “smiling room” we were anxious to get to the Hotel Palace. The guides call rest rooms smiling rooms because we go in looking worried but come out smiling. Dubrovnik took heavy shelling during the war. Our hotel at the tip of the Lapad Peninsula was an easy target. Rebuilt last year it’s now a luxurious resort with all rooms facing the sea.

It was Shabbat tonight and we invited all the Jewish people on the tour to our room. There were fifteen in all. Judi Cope brought a loaf of bread that served as challah. Laura Lee supplied the pear brandy. We had traveling Shabbat candleholders and candles. We said the blessings, sang mi-shaberach, and said Kaddish. Judi Cope had yahrzeit for her father and Bob Epstein for both his parents.

Tomorrow we start at the late hour of 9A.M. for a twenty-minute drive into Dubrovnik and a walking city tour. It will end at lunch and we’ll have several hours to wander the streets and walk on the old city walls before our bus comes to fetch us.

Toby