The day I nearly died

The morning I left Croatia marked the beginning of one of the most horrible days of my life. Sleep deprived, and still drunk, Chels and I painstakingly made our way to Milan. I was semi-comatose at Split airport and had a incessant urge to spew all through take off, and then burst into tears when I turned the water on in our Milan apartment to have a shower and continued to sob in self pity for about half an hour for absolutely no reason.

The photo above is of the bush fires that were raging across some of the mountains in Split on our way to the airport.

Day 7: Omiš, Split

I woke up in Omiš on my last day in Croatia with a big ass mountain looming from the coastline.

On an expedition to find water, Chels and I decided to try and find the huge Fortica Starigrad at the top of said mountain. The day before, Duayne had said that every week he takes up a group of people at 8:30 in the morning. So we spontaneously decided to attempt to climb up to the fortress in our thongs, and without any idea where to go.

We got about halfway, I think. We had to turn back when it got close to midday because we were afraid the boat would leave without us, our feet were covered in dust (thongs are definitely not meant for hiking) and we had essentially turned into puddles of sweat.

1. Wizard who is actually the guy who first translated the Bible into Croatian.
2. Inez bartending in Split.

There's a great little group of bars in the old town of Split that our guide Duayne took us to (even though he wasn't supposed to). I have no idea where they were all hidden but if anyone manages to go please locate them on a map for me! The back room in Ghetto club was eerily lit and we drank absinthe poured for us by an evil pixie-looking girl sitting at a table in the centre of the room.

I was devastated that it was our last night in Croatia, but no one was leaving without with a bang.

In brief, no one slept. Chelsea and I went home 'early' i.e. got back to the boat at 3am and had an hour and a half's worth of 'sleep', then caught a shuttle bus to the airport at 5:30 to get an 8:00 plane to Milan.

These 8 days in Croatia, on the M/S Plomin with our very own busabout family, turned out to be one of the best weeks of my life and I hope I never stop missing the boat, the people and (in my opinion) one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

Croatia

From the 11th of August we sailed for 8 days around Croatia on a boat of about 30 people.
We arrived in Split 2 days before we set sail, and the second we stepped off the plane into the sunshine and 30+ degree heat we knew we were in heaven. We finally had access to fresh food and inhaled fresh fruit all day and ate prawn and zucchini pasta at Villa Spiza for dinner where they use whatever is fresh on the market meaning that they don't have a concrete menu and just whip up something amazing with whatever they have. This is paradise.

1. Landing in Split.

2. 3. From the main boulevard in front of the old city.

4. Bačvice beach.

5. 6. Split at night in Diocletian's Palace.

On our second day in Split we woke up and walked straight to Bačvice beach. That was the 10th of August. I had not been by the coast since around the 20th of June, let alone gone for a swim in the sea. Lying in the blazing sun, swimming in crystal turquoise blue waters and feeling the cool sea breeze on my skin made me realise how much I'd missed it, I don't think I could live away from the coast for an extended period of time. It's just. too. good.