Thursday 16th
Leila woke up having had just a couple hours sleep. She found it really hard to fall asleep the night before. They headed down for breakfast (L had no contacts in) and they ate their croissants (which were nice but not as nice as Leila had dreamed about). A put cheese and tomatoes in his and they both had scrambled eggs on the side and a machine coffee. A showered whilst L tried her luck to order glasses in various opticians but her prescription is too weird. She then went on a wander and found a farmers market and had a coffee with Oatly from a really nice man but she hadn’t realised it was cash only and only had card, but the guy behind her offered to pay and then the coffee man just gave it to her for free. She went back to pick up A who was battling stomach issues still but they set off back again to the coffee man where A got one and paid for L’s and they walked through the farmers market. They went to Diocletian’s palace and read about his life whilst sitting on the steps. He was roman emperor born in now Split to civilian parents but the joined army and rose through ranks. He is famous for founding split and this palace is where he retired. He also cleaned up the tax system and made the rule of 4 I.e 4 emperors ruling at the same time, and he then adopted 2 of them so it was rule by one family. Sadly was also egotistic and made his servants lie on a floor when he entered the room. We were super impressed by how the Roman architecture held up and how quiet the area was. They decided not to go into the basement museum or Cathedral but walked around and found A’s mosaic skylight thing instead.
Then they headed back for a little break and got beach ready. L ran to Kruscic Bakery before it closed at 2 and bought a slice of a seedy looking bread with no flour, almonds, oats, seeds and salt. They ate it as they walked towards Marjan Hill and L loved it despite it being salty. They climbed the hill and saw a great view of a Split and the islands and a German lady offered to take a photo of them (not normal in Covid times). They followed a path which was beautiful along the coast and quite high up but quickly realised they had no water, it was middle of day and 3” degree sun and it looked like they still had an hour to the beach. They decided to take a little path going downwards not actually knowing where it was going and walked through the forests without seeing another human for quite a while.
Then finally A used maps.me (which he loved and then subsequently talked about for a while) and found a way to the main road where they continued their walk down to the beach. The walk still took quite a while but they were happy they did it and found a new trail that was not on google maps. The beach was heaving with mainly young people and they sat in a beach bar drinking a beer and L had a bottle of water which tasted so good. They walked along the beach to a quieter area and set their towel down on the pebbley beach. A went in the water and pulled L in and carried her for a bit and she loved it and forgot she was being carried. The water was cool but refreshing. Then L sunbathed for a bit and shut her eyes whilst A went swimming car out. L felt great and forgot about her tiredness. Then they walked 35 minutes back to Split along a main road for a while and arrived at a pizza place recommended to them by the hotel man. A ordered a pizza on it with meat by accident and L had a slice. It was very very good pizza, much better than everything they had in NY. L wanted to try a local seafood restaurant she had googled so they went there and ordered a grilled tuna salad after for £7 and it was enormous and so tasty. L discovered the liked capers and A fed the skinny cat under the table. L felt very lucky and happy that they hadnt really had fixed plans and could just decide at the time where to eat and go, particularly because There are very few tourists right so no bookings required. They headed back to the hotel and showered /had a chill before getting ready for the wine tasting.
Once tidied up, A in a shirt ( from yesterday) and L dressed up in a floral one piece, they walked over. They arrived to find a supreme spread on a slate tile indoors and a misleading count from 1-5 on a plastic mat. Monika came over immediately and offered them a table semi outside, A had meat tapas, while L had Aubergine and extra sardine. The first wine was a 2019 local Dalmatian wine she’d introduced, it was low alcohol, soft and dry, and they loved it. Each wine was paired with a tapas, inc, lots of cheese and they had bread and olive oil on the side. l loved the samphire and also the bread and oil. The white, was followers by a rose, 2 chardonnays (one very yellow), a standard red (merlot, Syrah, Malbec), a bordeaux-style Cabernet and then Darth Tannitus, which A liked which was a deep fruity, oak blend. They ate loads, with L requesting extra oil, and they are so much cheese it was absurd. The mussels, Sardines, Chorizo, Parma, Goats cheese deserve special mentions. Each wine had a story and felt super personal, which was wonderful. L was crazy happy and enjoying herself, and she shared a chair with A for a bit before the nice waiter (Matko?) called them lovers, making her move back immediately (gross). They chatted more about the vineyard and the family and L continued to eat more bread and finished off all the extra oil. L’s favourite wine was the 1st white wine and the 5th red. A liked the 1st white and 6th red. They walked back happily through the old town and to the hotel where L got ready for bed and A got ready to do his call with his ABD mentor at 11pm. They had a little time before the call and relaxed together. L dozed off watching friends whilst A did his call downstairs. The guy was really friendly and knew about the MPAID and A came upstairs afterwards to find L asleep. She woke up after a while and they chatted for a bit before A fell asleep, but L sadly couldn’t get back to sleep for a while so she watched Friends again. A woke up again and they chatted for a while which made L feel so much better and after quite a while she fell asleep again.
Coffee, Wine and Isolation 