Thursday, 22 May 

Split - Trogir - Licko Petrovo Selo 

 

Lyra Hotel, Plitvice 

Weather - Sunny - 24c Max

We left Split at 9.30am and headed north on the main highway for half an hour and arrived in the small historic harbour town of Trogir. Our local guide took us on 1.5 hour tour of the canals, alleyways and through the old township. We saw the lovely town in perfect weather. Trogir is a town made up of palaces, churches and towers. 

We first walked along the Fosa Channel with its `little boats and an amazing footbridge which crossed the channel. The footbridge connects the old town centre with the coast and in one part it had a mesh/net structure which we walked on. We could see through to the water and the boats below. It was unique! We had good views up and down the channel. 

At the end of the channel was the Kamerlengo Castle and Fortress built in the fifteenth century. Built by the Venetians it is an imposing structure and lives up to its name as a fortress. 

We walked along Trogir’s elegant promenade outside the old town walls. On one side busy cafes lined the area and on the other side large sailing and motor boats were moored. On the hour the tower bells tolled throughout the town. 

Inside the town walls was a myriad of picturesque alleyways and little shops. It was busy and we keep saying how we would hate it in high summer with even more tourists. The bell towers towered over us as we walked through the alleyways on our tour. The Bell Tower of St Lawrence was a highlight. 

When we arrived at the town’s core there was many having morning coffee under the cafe’s umbrellas. 

We were taken to the portico of St Sebastian’s Church and we were met by four male singers. They only sang one song but they were very good.

We moved onto the 13th century cathedral which has a famous portal on the western side carved by a local sculpture. It was in excellent condition considering it was completed in 1240. The portal had Eve on the left and Adam on the right and I have to say they were the plainest Adam and Eve I have seen in any artwork. Eve was holding firmly onto her leaf. 

After the tour we had just over an hour to have a further look around. We decided to have a break and headed to an outdoor cafe. I had the best berry smoothie.

At 12.30 we headed inland towards our overnight destination of Plitvice. We stopped for lunch for an hour at a restaurant/cafe near the impressive Krka Bridge. We had good views over the bridge and the nearby town of Sibenik. 

When we started heading further inland the clouds were building. We passed the red Maslenica Bridge in the distance. During the Croatian War of Independence the Croatians destroyed their own bridge in 1991 to prevent crossings. 

The remainder of the afternoon was spent travelling. The temperature dropped throughout the afternoon as we headed through high mountains to our hotel at the small village of Licko Petrovo Selo. After a two hour drive we arrived at 4.30pm at a modern hotel after driving through rustic villages, green fields and high mountains. We will be at the hotel for two nights so we can visit the nearby Plitvice Lakes. We are also close to the Bosnia Herzegovina border. 

The hotel is in a remote part of Croatia and because of this there is little option but to eat at the hotel. Our dinner was booked in the hotel’s restaurant for 7.00pm. It was a tasty meal of vegetable soup, smoked freshwater trout, vegetables and salad and chocolate torte. Tomorrow the weather is not looking good so we’ll see how we go visiting the nearby lakes.