Sweltering Split

*Travel*

The internet café proved to be more the former than the latter, but it only cost 10 Kuna (£1) to make my previous post.

You can find out from the internet that the Croatian currency is the Kuna (about 10p), made of 100 Lipa, and they use plugs like those in The Netherlands. What you couldn't find out from the internet (until now) is this: I like Split.

The middle of the Old Town is small, based on Roman Emperor Diocletian's 3rd Century retirement home, a large, walled "palace". Most of the outside walls seem to still be standing although, as happens, they've been incorporated into later, smaller buildings, resulting in new, smaller windows where the old ones weren't and at least one door half way up the wall, with no marks to suggest it ever had stairs leading to it.

Among the higgledy-piggledy buildings within and around the walls is Split's St. Dominus church with its 60M bell tower which, of course, I had to climb.

*Waffle About Tall Buildings (in a single bound)*

You see, I'm a big fan of big buildings, going up (among others) Toronto's CN Tower, Chicago's John Hancock building (the Sears building was shut that day), a tower in Auckland, a 50-floor building and a gold mine in Johannesburg (taking me the same distance up as down on a single day). I took in the Empire State and World Trade Center buildings in New York, and had climbed several of the top ten tallest before the Far East building boom took off and changed things. I went to Kuala Lumpur, but plebs like me aren't allowed up the Petronas Towers, so I had to be content with the communications tower there (whose local name I knew I'd never remember).

In case you don't know, there are rules about tall buildings. There
Are two llists - one for habitable buildings (like the Empire State) and one for communication towers (like the CN Tower). Pinnacles do count, but aerials don't.

Once I was doing so well ticking off visits to the top 10 mast-towers that I idly considered getting to Tashkent to get up the huge tower there. Idly, I say - I expect it isn't even open to the public.

It now occurs to me that I've been waffling for a while and should go back and put in an appropriate subheading.

*More Tourism*
(written in an Italian restaurant about 9:30pm)

Reservations are needed for most or all of my train journeys. I saw what I guessed was the station from the top of the bell tower and went to find it, round the side of the harbour.

There were 4 staffed desks in the ticket office, but only one had a queue in front of it. Two were Domestic and the lady behind the other International desk appeared to be doing admin. "Split to Zagreb," I thought, "that must be domestic." But no - I guess the train I wanted was an IC service, so I had to join the queue while the staff at the domestic desks sat chatting.

Is it the attitude of the staff to do this? Of the employer? A restriction of the computer system? Training? It's pretty poor, anyway.

The lone lady doing all the work didn't seem especially warm to people ahead of me, and I was worried about having the right change, so when I got to the front of the queue I put on my best winning smile and was especially clear and polite. The lady was helpfulness itself! Happy me!

Next came beers by the harbourside and lunch in a coffee bar/pizzeria in front of Diocletian's gaff. I had a fabulous Pizza "Skalinada" with
Tuna, sweetcorn, onion, cheese, tomato, mozarella, asparagus, oregano, olive oil, oodles of garlic and an olive (just one, as the menu promised, when I checked).

I've also acquired a taste for Karlovacko beer (large).

*Yet More Waffle*

After lunch I faced the serious question of "the Siesta". Can
I afford a couple of hours to snooze when I only have one full day here, perhaps ever?
Well, those who know me (at least outside work) know I'm never hesitant to rally to the clarion call of idleness.

I call this the "sabbath" question (after the biblical query: is the sabbath made for man, or man made for the sabbath?) Should I stay on a tourist treadmill to see as much as possible or chill out at the expense of sights-seen?

This is aligned with the question: "why am I here?" No, not the religious question, the holiday question. At work I've been doing a project that's sapping, with a host of distractions preventing progress. Hence I feel I need a rest. I did think of renting a cottage in Scotland and sitting relaxing, but I'm here.

The reason is my dream of taking a year off and "going round the world." But what if I put in all the effort to organise a year off, then set off but found after a few weeks that I didn't like it and I'd rather be at home?

So this is a sort of trial run. If taking a siesta makes me happy then screw the tourism. The trip overall has to make me happy, or I'd be better off doing something else.

There is another angle on things. After my siesta I walked through lots of backstreets seeing what homes are like and glimpsing how people live, just a glimpse. Then I walked round the Old Town, ending up with another beer. Now I'm sitting in an Italian restaurant (there are a lot more places to drink than eat here).

I'm sitting here alone because I'm travelling alone. This is a shame, in a few different ways. Having travelled in company, I know that it can intensify the experience: "Did you see that?" / "Why do you think it's like that?" / "Isn't this wonderful?"

Tapping away at the PDA is better (I feel) than reading a book or staring at the walls. It isn't that I'm not enjoying myself, or actually "suffering" in any way, it's just that travelling alone is unusual and one feels as though one stands out for it in "social" places.

If I did my "world tour" I'd mainly be alone too, as I don't currently know anyone else in a position to sod off round the world. I understand there are websites to meet similar types, and on tour one (apparently) keeps bumping into familiar faces.

In any case, solo is the default, so I'd better see whether I still like it. I didn't have any problems in Scotland or Central Europe, but then I wasn't thinking about a whole year.

Just finishing my Sundae, then back to pack. Key handover at 10am then 10:53 train to Zagreb.