Cro-A-Ti-A The Real Day 4 (because yesterday was Day 3)

Exploring Some Kastels

I believe I previously mentioned that we are staying in Kastel Stari, one of 7 Kastels located on the Adriatic that comprise the Kastela. Kaštela (pronounced [kǎʃte̞la]) is a town and a suburb of Split, in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. The town is an agglomeration of seven individual settlements which are administered as a single municipality with populations individually ranging from 3,000 to 7,000 residents. The town is located northwest of the city of Split, west of Solin and east of Trogir, on the central Dalmatian coast. With a total population of 37,794 as of 2021 census, it is the 14th largest town in the country.

The Kaštela Riviera is a fertile area, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) in length, featuring the first Roman floating docks and 50 places on the long, verdant area, northwest of Split. It is divided into Gornja (upper) and Donja Kaštela (lower), and it consists of seven old and two relatively new settlements. The Kaštela region with its Mediterranean tone, picturesque landscape and unique composition of natural environment attracted people since prehistoric times. From ancient Greek sailors, Roman patricians, Croatian kings, rulers, Venetian royals to the present sun and sea lovers, as well as mysterious legacies from the past.

Once an ancient Greek port, a stopover point for Roman veterans and a summer place for Croatian kings is today a tourist resort, carrying the same name.

The more you know...

Yesterday morning began with driving down to the waterfront where My Friend Jeanie, Bill, Tyson, Alison (Tyson's wife), Dan and I meandered through a couple outdoor restaurants until we found one serving breakfast. The food, even on the water, seems very inexpensive to us. For example, a dinner plate sized omelette with cheese and ham was 5 euro 50. And delicious.

Back to the house, where a couple different expeditions were heading out, along with a contingent to took to heart what had been previously identified as an at home pool day, along with a laundry day. Dan chose house and pool. I tagged along with Marcy, Marty and the kids down to the waterfront, intending to find a church Tyson had seen earlier that morning along with a couple of the Kastel towers.

A map identifying the location of the 7 Kastels. Each has a tower and throughout the day, we can hear the bells toll the hour.

We headed I don't know what direction but down the waterfront just to explore. In the joy of such exploration, we came across a group of young boys jumping into the water off the rocks and the kids joined in. Marcy took this photograph

Bonus points if you are not a family member and can identify this Bonus grand. (ps--it's Millie Luft)

and almost immediately thereafter one of the young men frantically asked, in Croatian translated by another of the kids (always sobering how good Europeans' English is) if she had taken a video/photo of him. At first we thought he wanted us to take a video, but no, he just wanted to ensure his image had not been captured. We assured him it hadn't and wondered why he was so concerned about Americans taking his picture. Much later, Marty told us it was because at the same time Marcy was taking the photo, the young man had dropped his bathing suit, exposing his butt to the great delight of his friends. He simply wanted to make sure we weren't going home with a different kind of Croatian souvenir.

Marcy, MaggieRose and I chose to find the bell towers (and churches) of Kastel Novi and Kastel Staflic. Marty and the rest of the kids headed back to the beach at Kastel Stari.

There are beaches in each Kastel, as well as outdoor restaurants, lovely little parks, the towers and churches, which were all closed to our disappointment, and narrow streets where drivers zoom through without regard for other vehicles or pedestrians. We learned yet again that pedestrians appear not to have the right of way, a difficulty as in some spots there are no sidewalks, leaving walkers no alternative other than to hug the curbs on the street. Another observation: Croatians walk head down and do not make eye contact, so when we Americans say Hi, or Excuse Me, no response.

From clerks in the small shops we stop at frequently to replenish our water supply, we've learned how to say Hello: Bok which works as both hello and goodbye; Thank you: Hvala; Goodbye: Dovidjena and Adio, which one clerk says works as goodbye but only on the Dalmation Coast.

We met up with Marty and the kids and McB, John, Lillie and their friends from Des Moines the Delanceys, ending up on the beach in Kastel Stari. Marcy discovered that if you hand-panned through the pebbles on the beach, sea glass and very tiny shells were to be found. At one point all 7 kids were lined up on the shore, finding treasures. I wished I had my camera to get a photo as it was quite lovely.

Home, with a very late dinner that offered time to react to President Biden's announcement that he would not run again in 2024. We offered our own learned (ha) opinions, speculations, predictions in line with what many were reading aloud from various sources on their devices. Before I went to bed last night, I listened to CNN on my Sirius app and decided I will not listen again. I am exhausted by the opinions, speculations, predictions, opinions, including my own. Get on with it, Dems. Your decisions have the potential to save the world, as My Friend Jeanie's exchange son, Nico, and his wife Sybille from Hamburg and who arrived early last evening with daughters Luise and Clara (the parents also of Reike and Henri--yes, there will be a quiz) reminded us. If Trump wins, not only is the US screwed, they opined. So is the rest of the world.

Let's end with a few photos from yesterday's adventure. Today at least one contingent will do more Kastel exploring and we have engaged the services of a Croatian chef to cook dinner for us!

I hope you're enjoying reading this. I really do love blogging the trip. Thanks for following along and tell your friends.