So, here's what the view is normally looking directly down from our cabin, er, stateroom balcony:
Here's what it was like this morning:
They used the lifeboats as tenders to shuttle us to and from Split, because the ship is too big to dock in the harbour itself. We'll be fine unless another ship rams us.
Here's a view of the harbour on the way back:
I didn't take one on the way there because the sea was so rough I didn't want to risk losing anything by sitting out in the open, for example my breakfast.
The historic centre of Split is, er, split into two halves. As you look at it from the harbour, the right half is the Diocletian Palace and the left half isn't. The palace part has been built in over the centuries, so it doesn't feel like a palace so much as a little town with an unplanned street layout. Here's the main way in:
Here's some of the later buildings higher up that have been plonked on top of the Roman ones:
Oh, see that tower in the third picture back there? This one:
Guess what we did?
The views from the top are pretty good:
Well worth the wait for 25 French people on a different cruise to descend from the viewing platform so there was room for us. I guess French septagenarians are fitter the British and American ones (or, indeed, British and American people of any age).
Here's the ship from the tower:
Yeah, that wouldn't have fitted in the harbour, for sure.
Here's an almost-typical mazy Split street:
It's almost typical because it has no grafitti. Speaking of which:
It looks as if my daughter Madeleine's reputation precedes her.
So let's see:
That's one French onion soup, one corn soup, one strawberry cold soup, a rack of lamb, the shrimps and the duck à l'orange, yes?
What's the name of the local football team?
Ah, yes, I remember. Those are windows in a Roman wall that scarf's hanging from, by the way.
Somewhere, I have a miniature lead figure in this exact same pose from my D&D days:
Look out! He's about to cast Finger of Death!
I may know nothing about naval architecture, but that doesn't stop me wondering just how stable this ship actually is:
Finally, here's a warning next to the lavatory in our cabin, er, I mean stateroom:
So that's no sanitary towels, no nappies, no hand towels and no cars. Gotcha!
Bye, Split! Oh, except to mention a handy cruise-traveller tip: if you buy your mother a fridge magnet, don't put it in the same pocket as your ship pass. If you do, the magnet will wipe it clean and you won't be able to get back in your cabin, er, stateroom without an embarrassing trip to Guest Relations.