Terroir Travel

Just for a few days

Featuring rovinj, piran and Sirmione

Split was where I spent most of this span, from Oct 31st to Dec 9th. As I have mentioned, Croatia wasn’t part of the EU at the time, and you could stay 90 days without visa. I secured a studio flat inside the Diocletian Palace, ground floor, a bit tight, but cozy and clean. Kitchen is limited- two hobs and a microwave for cooking, but I did manage to make myself a “proper” thanksgiving dinner, thanks to the fact that turkey is everywhere, and the BIO store had frozen cranberries.

Split is a great place to call “home” for a few reasons. Loads of good restaurants, and the winter tourists are the cruisers that go back to their boats in the evening. There’s also a very good hike up the Marjan Hill for some scenery and exercise. The local busses can take you to some cool places nearby, but I didn’t avail myself as much as I should have.

Okay, on with the pics!

Here’s a few pics of my wee flat, and my neighborhood toughs that pestered me daily.

Since I was running out of Schengen Area days, I hot-footed it back to Croatia, where over winter you can stay fairly cheap, the food and wine are good, people are nice, and there are plenty of opportunities for hikes.

Here’s having a bit of a look around in Zadar. (Easy flight from Brussels, which is why I went there). That hotel, the Maraska, I took a pic of it back in 2013, it was unoccupied then, and still was in 2017. It’s odd because it’s right off the old town, so I can only imagine that the cost of revitalizing it is prohibitive. Just found an article that in 2023 Hyatt started a renovation and it’s now a shiny new hotel.

The stature of the man with the shell- that’s Spiro Brusina. He was a natural sciences expert and founder of ornithology in Croatia, among other things. The last photo is just a representative of a charming side street with things for tourists.

I kept thinking that prudish Americans would have a cow at the art that’s all over Brussels. As you’ll see. I liked walking around town, but I was really only here as a jumping off point to Croatia where I could spend the holidays after running out my Schengen time.

Brussels has lots of weird street art. Look up!

My friend in Lille had just introduced me to Bojack Horseman, so imagine my surprise to find a large horse in an airport coffee shop.

Honestly, Brussels wasn’t my favorite. I stayed near the train station, which was find. I went into the city to see the old square, the Manniken Pis and the Jeanneke Pis, but I found the whole place rather charmless. Too many touts trying to force me to buy chocolate?