We ate bobsled today.
Not all of it.
But actual bobsled.
And you thought that stuff was just for Olympians.
We also met Kairos: The Greek God of The Happy Moment.
You gotta love the Greeks.
We took the 5:30 ferry back to the mainland. I hated to leave Vis so early, but the other ferry wasn't until 13:30. We figured if we left early we would have time to walk through Trogir, possibly hit the beach and still enjoy the evening.
We might even get into our room early.
We scored an impressive 90% on this plan.
The room was ready for us at 9:00, we did the walking, but it rained in the afternoon, so no beach.
We hit a small snag this morning when we were packing up and I discovered that the guesthouse had not returned our passports. So, 4:30 I rang the bell and pounded on the door (they live right here). I don't know who felt worse, them or me.
A couple late night drinks were stumbling back to their boats, trying to board via the narrow, swaying gangplank. I watched, hoping to see one go swimming, but no such luck.
The mornings in Vis are so lovely.
It was pretty quiet when we rolled down the street. The last of the drunks had flopped into whatever sleeping place they could find on board the packed sailboats.
We picked up coffee and pastry at the bakery, where I said goodbye to my caffeine suppliers.
I was sad to leave.
That's the thing with going to more out of the way islands, taking ferries. You are totally dependent on their schedule, or you just don't go.
Is a 5:30 ferry ideal? No. But it's part of the deal if you want to go to Vis.
Though in all fairness, if we hooked on a trip over to say Hvar, then we could take a different ferry.
So we made Split at 8:00, looked up tickets for the Rejika to Rab run on 3 July (not available at this ticket office), and then looked for the yellow bus 37 to Trogir.
I went to the ticket booth in the main bus station right there at the ferry docks. Sure, there is a bus going to Trogir, leaves in 20 minutes, but it is huge, it is blue, and it is not #37.
But the driver confirms so we board with a shrug.
Turns out this is the long distance run to Zagreb, via Plitvice, and they stop in Trogir to pick up a few people. On the way out of Split I saw the other bus station with yellow bus #37. I have marked it on the map below if you want to save a couple bucks in bus fare.
But we got there in half an hour, no problem.
A small pedestrian bridge connects Trogir with the mainland. There is also one car bridge that is totally jammed, all the time, sending traffic from the mainland over to Trogir and then on across to Ciovo. They are building a bridge direct to Ciovo that will bypass Trogir, and it should be completed in a year. That will help a lot.
I put a little photo of the tourist map in the photos below so you can see it.
It is a walled city. Of course it is a designated UNESCO sight.
The street plan was laid out by the Greeks, and the buildings are by the Romans and later the Venetians who ruled the area.
UNESCO: "Its beautiful Romanesque churches are complemented by the outstanding Renaissance and Baroque buildings from the Venetian period.
Trogir is the best-preserved Romanesque-Gothic complex not only in the Adriatic, but in all of Central Europe. Trogir's medieval core, surrounded by walls, comprises a preserved castle and tower and a series of dwellings and palaces from the Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods.
Trogir's grandest building is the church of St. Lawrence, whose main west portal is a masterpiece by Radovan, and the most significant work of the Romanesque-Gothic style in Croatia."
And it is a cool place. You tend to get your money's worth with these UN designations.
So, in short it was settled around 300 BC by the Greeks who came over from the island of Vis (and who also planted more wine grapes here!). The name originally meant "goat."
Then the Romans, then Byzantines, then Venice took over.
Cool Fact: the King of Hungary hid out here in 1242 from the Mongols. After the fall of Venice in 1797, Trogir became a part of the Habsburg Empire (Austria), which ruled over the city until it became part of Yugoslavia.
A few years back the people here were cleaning up and restoring an abandoned house. In the trash and ruins they found a (now) famous Greek Relief, with an interesting little detail.
The relief is of Kairos, who someone designated as The Greek God of The Happy Moment.
I left the photo big so you can see his happy moment.
The legend is you have to seize Him on his way by, or your opportune moment is lost.
It does not say exactly where, or by what part, you need to seize him.
Get this: the original, real Kairos is kept in the Benedictine Nunnery here.
God this story just gets better and better.
They sell chocolate Kairos in the shops here, so you can eat him if you wish.
I know you don't believe me.
See the photo of chocolate below, and see this link.
The best quote from Wikipedia is, "...What is happening when referring to Kairos depends on who is using the word."
God I just love the Greeks. Finally, a god I can support!
But we are not to the souvenir peni yet.
Gail stops to look at a dress.
"English or German?" the shopkeeper lady asks.
"English," says Gail.
"Gut!" replies the lady. "Es ist am besten. Sie mussen es haben."
And she literally threw the dress that Gail was just considering, literally threw it on over her head while yelling at me about the price. She cut it in half, from 400 Kuna to 150, or about $22.
Gail bought it.
Sehr gut.
The church bells are clanging and bonging almost continuously. Is it always mass?
There are a lot of churches packed into the walls of this tiny village, including the biggie, the stunning Cathedral of St Lovro, (13th century) with the magnificent stone entrance,. And Kamerlengo Castle (15th century). The Lucic Palace.
In fact, there seems to be hardly any room for the villagers. There are some tiny houses on the outside of the protective wall. Perhaps they were the "offering" to the invaders.
There is a nice park full of trees running along one side of the island. It used to be the sheep and cow area, but now it offers a quiet break from the really crowded, narrow-twisty cobblestone streets.
The flights roar in low from Split airport only 7km away.
SAS, Easy Jet, Whizz, Norwegian, Lufthansa... I am thinking... this would be an easy hub to come into. Who knew Split was so busy?
Seriously. It took us all of two hours to explore.
Pretty interesting people watching however and we sent a few good hours doing that over wine.
It is so much more relaxed and manageable than Split.
I am glad we had the visit.
In hindsight we could have cut it out. Bring the early ferry over, take the direct bus to the airport, pick up the rental car to Rovinj.
On the other hand we are seeing new places which is the point.
And if we hadn't stopped here, we would not have walked through the outdoor market place.
Food, clothes, and oh so much more.
So.
Much.
More.
We have an excellent, huge room with hallway and sitting room at the Hotel Pasike. It is nicely located on the island, in an old family home.
Stuff We Ate:
In the market square, near the edge of all the activity, is a little food stand called TUO Bikoni. She has fat shrimp frying out on a grill, and for less than $5 you can get the shrimp sandwich of your dreams.
OK.
Not actually.
I have never had a dream about a shrimp sandwich, in fact until that very moment I didn't even know such a thing existed, let alone want one.
But suddenly I was all about the shrimp sandwich.
I used the pepper paste on mine, and it was pretty good.
We ate at the local restaurant Pasike with traditional food items. They cook using locally sourced organic foods. For instance, their olive oil for the bread was fantastic. It actually had a taste, a clean, smooth taste of actual olives. It is not watered down with other oil, colorless or runny, but a lustrous, thick looking yellow. He told me it is cold pressed just at the farm out of the valley.
We ate three totally new, local specialties.
First was Trogirski Škartoci which is a beef steak flattened, then rolled up with bacon, garlic, and parsley stuffed in it. It is served with home made gnocchi.
Second was Janjetina na Bokune. This was lamb chunks cooked with Dalmatian smoked ham, peas and bobsled.
Yes, it said "bobsled" and then went on to say, "...it is truly an unforgettable delicacy."
Pass the bobsled.
The last was a dessert: Torta od Blitve, which is a Mongolian Swiss Chard Cake.
Yes, Cake made from Swiss chard.
I am not making this up.
We had the usual coffee, sparkling water, and a bottle of local rose wine (our first in Croatia, made from Plavic Mali) and a really great Zinfandel from the village between Split and Trogir. The zin was spicy, with a nice oak finish and a great nose.
We wanted to get a gelato. Gail's was good, mine was terrible. Hard to ruin a gelato, I think.
For breakfast I had marinated anchovies and sardines (yum) mussels (yuck) ham, bacon, cheese, and champagne.
Because I could.
Also the most bitter coffee in history.
So -
If you want a Croatian Penis, better drop me a comment below, really quick.
Please specify color and size.
I put the food photos first, because who is going to believe I had a shrimp sandwich, ate bobsled and had Mongolian Swiss Chard Cake for dessert?