My partner for the day, Toby, is one of those guys that likes to keep the television on in the background when getting ready. I used to always think it a distraction to whatever you are doing but today it reminded me that one's mind does have this impressive ability to gloss over news that doesn't interest you, but still have a sixth sense to pick up on the ones that do. Today one news story dominated and it was the material shift in sentiment over the vote for Scottish Independence. By the time most of you have read this the decision will have been made but it was on September 10th that the 'YES' campaign seem to take the lead for the first time and cause those in Westminster to reach for the whiskey - not Scotch of course. I thought just then about the country I was in and the chasm of differences between the 2 countries vying for independence, not all that far apart in years in the grand scheme of things. Croatia, desperate to leave socialist Yugoslavia and become a soveriegn country, was forced into war against local Serbs living in Croatia loyal to maintaining a united Yugoslavia and the ruthless Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army. The war lasted 4 years with an all out victory for Croatia as they managed to keep both their independence and also their borders. As I listened to the news, it seemed the driving forces behind Scotland's desire for independence were pride and nostagia; this lies in real contrast to the city I was in today where the driving force was to rid themselves of communist oppression. It was time to take a look how much damage had been done.
Thankfully Split, like so many of Croatia's costal cities, managed to avoid shelling from the Serbs, especially so because it is home to such man made beauty dating back literally thousands of years. For example, the head of the Sphinx (see above) was brought from Egypt under the orders of Emperor Diocletian 3500 years ago; Diocletian was building his country palace and it's this palace that makes up the focal point of Split layout. Like Dubrovnik, the old part of the city is laced with polished white stone walkways where it takes little to imagine a group of Roman toga-clad men discussing the events of the day.
Toby is a great tour guide which is unsurprising given he's spent his life living in different corners of the world; Toby now lives in Cuba and runs Havana Concierge, an agency specialising in giving tourists the inside track to the mysrical country. For more info about his company click here. We spent the morning and early afternoon marching as Roman soldiers might have done around the old part of town taking care to avoid the cameras crews from Game of Thrones that were filming there at the time. After lunch, I couldn't resist going for a run in my penultimate destination and I limbered up for a run around town. Awkwardly dressed in my Brooklyn half marathon shirt, I set off west outside the city up the hill to Marjan which overlooks the city.
On running, well jogging, ok limping back to the city I strolled back through the old town to have one last look when I was met with the most sudden of commotions. From the other side of the square I noticed two men chasing another down through the outdoor seating of a restaurant, as the would-be heroes tussled to get a handbag back off the apparent perpertrator. Like I was watching a wildlife documentary in fast forward, the criminal gave up the ghost and ran for it. Acknowledging full cliche warning, it really did all happen so fast. The whole square momentarily came to a standstill before resuming at a slower pace like I had just watched a flash mob video on YouTube. Sadly, the story ends here and there was nothing I could have done so far away but I did spend my walk back wondering if I'd been close by, would I have done the same. I certainly like to think so and it was seemingly seconds before I was back at the apartment. Note to self, if you want to pass time very quickly, just imagine yourself in potential handbag saving situations - it's time eradicating.
Iron 3D map of the city of Split aka the opening credits of Game of Thrones
Marco looks a little older than 34 but that might just be his choice of look which is a shaven head and stubble. Toby had been in town for a cigar event histed by Marco and his membership club which is called Club Mareva. For more information on it click here. Every year, Marco hosts an event to see who can smoke a Monte Cristo 4 the longest, subject to a certain set of rules. The event draws people from all around the world, and this year the record was broken; if memory serves me correctly, it took the winner 1 hour and 52 minutes to smoke it from tip to lable. More interesting for me (being a non-smoker), was his background; Marco's father had been a very famous doctor shunning his parents wishes to become a priest which would have been a very dangerous move at the time. Instead, he chose to fight communism by publically sticking to his views and also helping as many people all his life as he could to show that both states could co-exist. It blew my mind that 12,000 people came to his funeral. With my body still below par in the 80's, I plumped for an earlyish night ahead of the big day.