July 16, 2012
I name this town...: Split, Croatia
I NAME THIS TOWN... after a thorny bush I saw on the way in. I know it sounds improbable but that's what happened: Split is named after a thorny plant in the area. The town grew around an old palace which once lifted its walls to the ludicrously blue sea. Most of the palace has fallen down but the surrounding streets have kept an enchanting and maze-like appearance not wholly disserviced by the thousands of tourists.
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We got up shortly after the angelus sounded from a nearby church tower and walked to the outdoor market a few streets away.
For about 20 minutes we had it to ourselves and the locals. But getting up early to see the "real" Croatia isn't a unique thought and little by little there were more people toting cameras than cauliflowers.
The traditional route from here to Dubrovnik is along the coastal highway. Everyone who has ridden it says two things: that it is exquisitely beautiful... and that it is narrow and horrendously busy. Well, to every problem a solution. If the road is beautiful, it must be for the view of the islands, of which there are a great many, in the Adriatic. But those islands are visible from other islands, and with ferries between them it ought to be possible to jump from one to the other and have only the last dozen or so kilometres to ride to Dubrovnik itself.
Of course, problems produce not only solutions but further problems. To get from Split to the island of Hvar (K'vah) isn't difficult. All the ferries to Stari Grad, the main town and port, take bikes. But getting to the next island, Korcula (Kaw-choo-luh) is possible only twice a week. With a bike, anyway.
Well, let us smile on life's shortcomings. Croatia is the skinny-dipping capital of the world. Hvar is a long thin island with a road which, like all roads, will look different coming back from going there. There is a naturist campground near Stari Grad and another at the other end of the island. We'll ride there tomorrow, then back next day to Hvar town and spend a morning on one of the naturist islands. I may not look beautiful without clothes but I shall look tanned!
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