Split

The bus trip to Split was beautiful and long.  The Border guards in Bosnia Herzegovina were very stern, and the Croatians do not like them.  Split is yet another town with slippery stone and narrow passageways.  Which is particularly funny in the sheeting rain when you have to lower your umbrella and slllliiiiddddeeeee past people.

The center of Split is fascinating.  Imagine living in a palace/UNESCO site/archaeological site all at once.  Beautiful, but I imagine getting electricity and plumbing sorted must be a nightmare.  Diocletian’s Palace isn’t a museum, it’s just the town.  Though I did pay to go through the basements.  While I was down there (alone, again) the Ash Wednesday bells cut loose over my head and rang for 15 minutes.   

Andrew: do you remember when we met the loneliest Park Service employee ever, at Dinosaur National Monument?   His cousin works at the Split Museum of Archaeology.  He was so surprised to have a customer he offered to let me in for free (I paid anyway), urged me to take all the photos I wished, pointed out an unfinished exhibit I was allowed to see anyway, and when I asked about the 2pm closing time told me it was okay to stay until 8pm.  But he did not have a video to show me.  J  The museum isn’t huge, but it is a very comprehensive collection.  I appreciate that the nationalism of other places isn’t present here.  They admit that the Greeks got in first, then the Romans, and the Germanic Tribes migrated in when pressure from further east made the north uncomfortable.  It does explain the amount of Celtic imagery we’ve seen in Zagreb and Split.  It’s funny to see how the Roman elites sneered at the hicks and their customs.  The Croatians were early adopters of the worship of Priapus.  And despite Christianity, those sculptures are intact.  Ha!  

The Museum

Kitchen vessel, reused as urn for cremains.  Yes, I checked.  They're real.

The description says oil lamp in shape of gladiator.  I see maniacal beekeeper.  

Sarcophagus of a winemaker? 

Having said that about Christianity, I am surprised by the extent of outward religious devotion I’ve seen throughout Croatia.  I know it’s been Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday and all that, and of course I’ve been in a lot of churches.  But I was in Rome, people.  Plus a lot of other RC hot spots.  And they did not genuflect as much as these folks.  I had the idea that under Communism this had been wiped out, but apparently not.  I spoke with a Bosnian who felt she faced prejudice in Croatia for not being RC.   I can believe that.  I also spoke with an ag student who was happy with the level of religious expression.  That’s a bit contrary to most of the EU.  Interesting.