All the country hopping the Hogz did for a year straight could drive an average sane person insane, but crazy feels good when you are a Travel Hog! The possibilities of what to do in Split are endless! The Travel Hogz certainly explored a lot this second time around!
Miro, their trusty driver and his friend Drago, promptly arrived to Voula Greece to retrieve the Hogz and head back to Split Croatia. 15 glorious hours they endured, and they were back in the coastal alluring city that attracts people from all over the world. Split Croatia.
This time, their desire was to settle a little closer to the center of town. Of course this is where all the touristy and cool happenings were. Their wish was granted, but not without a hefty scare.
A couple of days prior to leaving Greece, they were confirming their stay and asking the host, where they booked an Airbnb in Split, if she knew anyone who could baby sit the dogs in case they wanted to take off and island hop with the possibility of staying overnight or for a few days. Granted, the host's profile was listed under the "allowed pets" section of the Airbnb, and there was even a lovely photo of the host and her dog. Ahhhh...a dog lover the Hogz gleamed as they messaged her. The answer that came back was a complete shock! "No dogs allowed!!! I'm sorry you cannot stay here!" GASP! WHAT THE??? What just happened? A pet friendly Airbnb who does not accept pets, whose profile is has a photo of her holding a dog????? You've got to be kidding! Two days from departure to Split???? In the prime of summer????
The hunt for a new Airbnb began and lasted for hours. There were limited apartments available as it was summer and Split becomes extremely popular in the summer especially among Europeans. Most available apartments were further away from town. The only available places were sparsely spread 30 minutes away or more, and way more expensive than what they wanted to spend. There was no where to stay near town except one place. It was tiny, maybe for only one person barely maybe two people, but the only place left. They booked it. Pets accepted, done. Needless to say, they called Airbnb, reported the rude host who canceled and were able to get her blacklisted for a while on Airbnb. In addition to that, they were refunded the full amount of the 1.5 month duration they were going to stay. I wonder how she liked those apples! We're guessing she didn't! Don't mess with the Travel Hogz!
Upon arrival, the host Duje (They called him DJ, he laughed and said "OK.") was super duper awesome! On a side note, the Hogz love to rename people and things they can't really pronounce. Dj was very hospitable and accommodating. The walk to the center of town was 5 minutes max! DJ even offered to pick up and drop off clean linen even though they had plenty. He was a superb host!
His Airbnb was quite unique. A two story flat, but the bottom floor was below ground level and was great because it made it cooler with Split's summer heat. It was cozy and worked perfectly for the duration that they were there. The only problem was one of the Travel Dogz was blind and took a tumble down the steps butt over head, but thank goodness the little fella was ok. They ended up blocking the staircase so that there were no more accidents.
Since Split was like a second home to the Hogz, they rushed to the markets, their fav coffee shop, Basta, to say hello to old acquaintances, and began the hunt for new excursions. They were ready for what they came to do. Have more summer fun!
Things to do
MALL OF SPLIT
In the Split Mall, near Pujanke where the Hogz inhabited on their first Croation visit, a small neighborhood about 20 minutes from the town center, there is a sizable and yet very modern movie theatre. It shows the latest movies in English and prices under $7 for a matinee or $11 for regular price. Can't beat that with a baseball bat!
MARJAN PARK
You can also visit Marjan Park that has gorgeous views of the Adriatic and great swimming locations. Even one secluded Kasjuni beach has a bar called the Joe’s Bar with cabanas you can reserve, and a bar that serves great food & drinks as well. The Hogz took advantage of these amenities with their hand held e-scooters and k-9 back packs for easy navigation to the Beach about 3.1 miles from town center!
JET SKIIING
Jet skiing! Ok... They booked it! Hog #2 figured she'd try and look pretty and decided to wear make up and false lashes on the tour. Let's just say those lashes ended up floating around somewhere in the Adriatic Sea from high speeds winds of the jet ski!
ATVing
Another excursion, ATVs! What a great tour. The country side of that region of Croatia was a field of Daisies....literally. Nothing like the smell of the fresh air. While riding in a single file caravan of ATVs at 6o mph, they spotted dear speeding diagonally in front of them. Beautiful and rare experience! Rain that began to pour down on your way back which turned into hail and smacked their arms and backs like you're getting plummeted with a pellet gun. As the tour guides stopped the tour to give everyone rain jackets, the Hogz could not stop laughing as this was a wild and free moment in their travel experience that once again they will never forget! Done & fun. NEXT!
RIVER RAFTING
The search for a great price on river rafting began, but Hogz 2 had never done it before. She was a bit fearful. Thoughts of rafting to her were thoughts of going over a large water fall then over a cliff. Thank goodness there were different levels of this! Otherwise, she would have declined.
They find a tour company, booked it, and went. It started off great. However midway, things started to go a little south. Slow river flow with wonderful scenery in the beginning, but as the rapids got stronger, the more they got stuck on rocks. You could tell the tour guide was a little annoyed as he was always yelling at them of what not to do. If you could read his mind it would display a thought of, "These silly Americans are driving me nuts". The Hogz got very chummy with the bushes on the sides of the river a few times which wasn't good because even from a distance you could make out tiny insects all over the branches.....which happened to be baby spiders!
In another section of the tour, Hogz 1 fell out of the boat, then floated past the boat. As the rapids hurled him towards rocks, Hog 2 started to worry.
Hog #2 bounced down the river through a couple of rapids, but couldn't hang on to the rocks. The tour guide could see the fear in Hog #2's face and assured her that he would be OK. Yelling stay there, the guide was trying to make his way to Hog 1. The boat floated past him as he clung on to the rock and tried viciously to grab onto the boat. Unfortunately, he missed. He then let go of the rock and floated towards Hogz 2 who hand floated off to the side of the river and was luckily unluckily stuck in the bushes...as she began to freak out from her arachnophobia to the point of shear panic, Hog 1 was able to pull himself into the boat and paddle them away to safety in calm waters. Whew...what a day these folks were having.
VOYAGE OF CROATIA BOAT TOUR
One excursion that undoubtably raised the bar, in particular, was "Voyage of Croatia" which they found on Airbnb. A speedboat private tour which included a trip to and around Hvar Island, an ancient bathhouse owned by a great Croatian philosopher, a WWII submarine bunker in water, not to mention the clear blue waters of the Adriatic Sea, homemade delicious lunch, a tour to a masonry college, hours of swimming on a private beach with large pool floaties & paddle boards (Hog 2 is addicted to these by the way especially a giant pink flammingo), and swimming around a sunken ship??? They thought if they skipped this tour, then they would be missing out on ! SOLD!
This was the best tour they had ever encountered. Deliciously fun! So great that they did it twice! The second time around, one of the Travel Dogz was authorized to join them based on his level of cuteness. What a blast! Marko and Duje (not the Airbnb Duje...that's DJ), were the best guides and hosts! On the second trip, Hog 1 informed them of Hogz 2's birthday.They surprised her with delicious Croatian treats after a terrific meal, sang Happy Birthday, and gave her a wonderful gift of lavender oils and sachets where it was grown on the Island of Hvar. An amazing and simply superb celebration! During the swim around the sunken ship, there was even two guys on a tiny boat making and selling mojitos as you lounged on the tour boat. Croatian hospitality and coastal towns are comprehensively two of the main reasons why the Hogz are so attracted to it!
These mentions of things to do only touched the surface of what the Hogz got their busy littler selves into. There is plenty more indulgence for those looking for even more adventure!
Well Hello There!
Its not often you get to live in Split Croatia and it is very rare to have familiar faces meet you there on a separate trip! The Travel Hogz's brother and niece from California booked a tour of Croatia and one of the stops was, none other than, Split! It was great having lunch, getting ice cream, and riding to Marjan park with them! It's always great to see family! After all, it had been six months since they had last seen them!
After a month and a half, it was time turn their gaze to a new city and head to a new part of Croatia. Rijeka (reeyekuh) 162 miles from Split. A few acquaintances in Split asked them why stay there for a month and a half. Their answer, "You never want to limit your horizons." Now they know why the question was raised. Never the less, champagne bottle in hand as a gift from DJ, bags packed once again, and a professional Miro behind the wheel, they left for Rijeka, Croatia.