Split, Croatia

Our day began with a "quick" 30 minute walk at 0430 to make the three hour ferry from the island to Split. Our girls were actually quite spunky, but we did carry Mabel a bit to make it to the boat on time. This ferry was large with cushy couches, fresh cappuccino, croissants and picnic tables on the outside deck. Most of us fell back asleep during the ride.

We arrived in Split and zipped over to the train station with our fingers crossed that we could get seats on the overnight train. Again, the system in Croatia/ The Balkans region is not very connected or updated so we could not do this online beforehand. Luckily, they had seats for us, otherwise we would have been hotel hunting.

We got all our business done! Next we were off to explore. We had to kill roughly ten hours on foot with our packs and melty tired kiddos, so we tried to make it as fun as possible.

We decided to go on a kid's semi-submarine tour on the Adriatic. We road down below in a cabin with large windows to see ocean life. I will say this was fun, but Vela Luka Island water was much more blue and clear than off the coast of Split. We saw many large schools of small fish, sea grass swaying in the water, large rocks and other random sea treasures.

After lunch, we headed to find a playground and some shade because it was heating up quickly. The kids played, while we relaxed on a bench. The girls found a random pack of clean plastic cups that throughly entertained them. It's amazing when you do not have toys what can be exciting.

A few hours later we lost our shade, so we headed to the store for snacks and then the beach. This beach was highly rated, but could not even compare to the beaches we just experienced. However, the girls still enjoyed every moment playing there. Mabel loved to build and getting covered in sand. The girls appreciated the length of the shallow waters. They could walk out about the length of a football field and still stand with ease.

We had a few minor issues while in Split. Girls could not agree on ice cream (hard life right), our water platypus pouch busted in my bag with our laptop, Mabel screamed while getting cleaned off in the freezing showers (like I said pebbles are better) and I desperately needed to find bathroom with no luck. Don't worry, nobody died.

We got cleaned up, the clouds rolled in bringing a cool breeze and we found yummy pizza. I also found a bathroom that cost me a Euro and it was so worth it!

We started to head toward the train, but still had a couple hours to kill. Once we were able to begin boarding, we got settled in our sleeper cabin and then found out that we booked non-reclining seats with a stranger joining us by accident, instead of a sleeper cabin for just our family. Holy Cow! It was now approaching 2230 with everyone beyond melting point, since we were up so early and on foot all day. Seth went and bought sleeper cabin tickets right then. So so so so thankful that there was another sleeper cabin available and that Seth acted quickly. It was an interesting experience all together, but everyone slept very hard that night with a cool breeze coming in through the open windows and an early rising of 0600. Seth thoughtfully brought me a cappuccino, so I could see straight. Haha! Now for more adventures in Zagreb.Read more