We Wish We Spoke German: Croatia Part I: Split

Recently, we spent a little over a week in the beautiful country of Croatia. After hearing a lot about it and seeing countless beautiful photos, I had wanted to travel to Croatia for awhile. Matt was not too enthusiastic, but he is always willing to experience new places. Admittedly, we both had lower expectations. To our surprise, this turned out to be one of our favorite European trips, yet! Croatia is just stunning. A lesser-known gem in the Mediterranean, if you ask me. It reminded us a lot of Italy, but with less people and a more relaxed, calm vibe. Since we have so many stunning pictures from each of the places we visited, I will post separate posts over the next two weeks or so.

First, a brief history lesson on Croatia. During the early 90s the country had a bloody civil war as they were trying to break away from Yugoslavia. They were fighting Serbia for independence. Although it's approaching 20 years since the war ended, it has taken them a while to completely recover. Over the past few years tourists have realized how great of a country it is and started flocking back to it.

We started the trip in the city of Split. It’s not a huge city (population of only 178k), but it certainly is charming. When planning this trip, we had considered Split to be more of a “landing spot,” if you will, as there is an airport there and also, the national park and the island that we wanted to visit are easily reachable from here. Split really exceeded our expectations. It was a lovely harbor town with lots of character. The people are especially friendly, as well. There is a large promenade along the harbor, with cute cafes and shops alongside lovely palm trees. We really only had one full day in the city, which is definitely enough time, considering how small the town is. We spent the day exploring the market, enjoying scenic views from a hillside park, and relaxing along the water. We had a couple of delicious meals, including a spectacular al fresco dinner at a wine and cheese bar, and some delicious pizza and gelato. Italian food was everywhere in Croatia, so we definitely enjoyed our share of pizza and pasta. Although our time in Split was short, we really enjoyed it. It was the perfect start to our trip.