“Life gives us back what we give to others.”

Ivo Andrić

Ahhhhhh. A wonderful night’s sleep, and awake at 7:00, Frank gone down to the patio for coffee already. I meet my friends, Po & Geoff, and we walk after a cup of coffee to Diocletian’s Palace. A few shops are open already, and the streets are not that busy yet. We see the marina and we buy sun hats and have breakfast at an outdoor cafe by the sea. It’s so hot! By the time we get back to the hotel, I am ready for nap. I fall asleep to work off the jet lag in my quiet, cool, dark hotel room for two hours. Wake feeling better, and feel absolutely terrific by the time I am in the sea again. Frank and I uber to the same beach for the hot, hot, hot afternoon. I doze, and he dozes, and I take a wonderful swim. It’s not a holiday, still, many beach goers. The water is lovely clear and cool. I talk to my daughter at home; Wave has a fracture in his ankle after all and must get a boot. Going the for the xray, she says he greets everyone he meets at the hospital, asks their name. He is cheerful and friendly, and one man says to my daughter, “You don’t know how much his greeting has made my day.” It’s truly exciting to be here. To meet our large group of Ivan’s friends from so many places. A very long, late, lovely dinner in town tonight. It’s after midnight, and we are just back to our hotel. Tomorrow we board the boat. I’m so excited to see the next part of this journey. The Croatian people here in Split are friendly, welcoming, kind and TALL!

Diocletian's Palace (Croatian: Dioklecijanova palača, pronounced [diɔklɛt͡sijǎːnɔʋa pǎlat͡ʃa]) is an ancient palace built for the Roman emperor Diocletian at the turn of the fourth century AD, which today forms about half the old town of Split, Croatia. While it is referred to as a "palace" because of its intended use as the retirement residence of Diocletian, the term can be misleading as the structure is massive and more resembles a large fortress: about half of it was for Diocletian's personal use, and the rest housed the military garrison. ~ Wikipedia