Mediterranean Iconic Shores Ocean Cruise

Day 17: Saturday, November 15, 2025 - Split, Croatia

The day's statistics:
-  Weather: upper 40s, overcast
-  Steps: Linda: Linda: 10,820; Steve: 11,783

Breakfast was what-is-becoming-the-usual World Café fare: egg benedict with bread for Linda, an omelet or scrambled eggs with a couple sides. We sat next to Nora and Steve from Florida.
I got a couple shots out the window from the Café.


We stepped out onto the deck and took a selfie by the railing.

Then it was back to the cabin for brushing and gathering our excursion items before heading out at 9:15.

Today's excursion was "Split Walking Tour", and our guide was Nikola.
After the group gathered, we headed out. On foot...
We had a bit of a walk from getting out of the port (which was actually very short), across a ferry parking lot, and to the first main terminal building.
As we walked, Nikola told us about the difference between Tourists and Visitors - that being primarily how long the person is staying in the city. Also, the country includes 66 inhabited islands with 1,000 residents, while the entire city has a population of 200K..
On the way during this walk we passed these pretty clever benches that have solar panel built into them with charging ports for people to charge their devices.

There was an unexpected bagel shop at the ferry terminal.

At the end of the long walkway, as we turned left at the fortress, on the right there were a large number of booths being set up for the Christmas Market.

On the corner was part of the fortress.

To the left of the corner was a sea-side face wall that is rather obscured now.


On the way to the city map, we passed a sign that had the city name on it. No, that WAS the city name...

There was an interesting top on the parking posts.

The map showed what the original city looked like.

The group headed across the street to head toward the entrance to the old city.
I spied this exotic, a Porsche GT3 that sells for over $200K. The juxtaposition with the scooters was interesting.

This pedestrian roadway is very busy during the summer season.

The group passed through the gate and entered the old city, crossing over the royal symbol.

Just inside the gate is a passageway to the far side of the palace section of the fortress, and entering the city.

The group turned left and entered the lowest level of the palace - a UNESCO World Heritage site..

Before going into the palace, we saw a relief map of the entire region.

The first room was a large open room that is believed to be a welcome and gathering hall.
The structure is a combination of original and restored brickwork. The difference is evident in the coloring.

Part of the structure wall was designed to actually be earthquake resistant. Rather than just stack stones, even in an offset pattern, there were notched stones to help control movement. The notches are highlighted in the second photo.


It is believed that these openings were used to channel, umm... waste, from the rooms above.

We started our walk through a number of different rooms, including one with a domed ceiling that had great accoustics for announcements, a room with a flood line still showing, and a couple others as our route returned to the main hall.








Admittedly, in a couple spots, members of the group were given a moment to view a room - because it was closed - as we took turns in a line. Unfortunately, Nikola was moving a little fast and it was difficult to keep up with him (honestly, mostly his fault as he could have told us via the VOX devices where he was going). By the time we got to the end, a couple travelers yelled at him for leaving them behind. It wasn't us. But I understand.
The group emerged from underground going up a slightly shorter staircase than that in the entry image way above.
Eventually the route opened onto a small plaza - with an interesting weave mosaic on the ground - that was in front of Saint Domnius Cathedral and its bell tower.




The next stop was an upstairs rooftop patio-like area that had a nice view over the harbor and the surrounding city.








After leaving the rooftop, we passed by a palace entrance that was designed with an Egyptian motif.



The last section of the palace that we visited was the vestibul - a tall, round area much like a traditional foyer would be.

In the vestibul there were four male singers performing Traditional Dalmation Singing.

Incidentally, the Dalmation area is where the black-and-white dogs are from.
At this point, we began our exit out of the palace and out the far end of the walled city.










We passed a couple stores that, while modern, where constucted over or incorporated ruins.


We continued onward theough the old town, toward the rear (from the perspetive of the harbor).






Upon exiting the walled old city, we happen to come across a Statue of Gregory of Nin, a medieval Croatian bishop known for advocating the use of the Croatian language in religious services, opposing the Latin-only practices of the Catholic Church.



We headed west across the exterior back of the walled city.




We passed another Game of Thrones store. I got a picture of the dragon as best I could wihtout actually going into the store.


This collection of Christmas ornaments is mostly in the shape of a famous design that is limited to Croatia, called a "Šibenik button".

And we continued on to the pedestrian street we started on before entering the old city.







One of the fortress towers.

Nikola informed our fellow travelers about the routine: the ship was right over there, and it was departing port at 4:00. Anyone that wanted to stay in town was welcome to, anyone else that wanted to return with him was welcome to too. We chose the latter. In fact, we were the only ones that chose the latter. We had a nice conversation as we made our way back to the ship.
At the beginning, I got another fashion photo, and then we purposely passed by a 3D map of the entire city of Split, as well as another one of the Old Town.

After returning to the ship, we dropped our excursion items and headed to the World Café for lunch.
Linda had a sandwich and some salad, and a fruit tart for dessert.

I had a small slice of roast beef, some curry chicken, and a slice of pizza (I don't usually do pizza, but this was shrimp pizza and worth a try). I also had a couple desserts.

The view during lunch.

Before heading to the Explorer's Lounge for some cards, we saw the city from our cabin.

There is a passageway while entering the Explorer's Lounge that has star consellations on it that light up.

There are also stars on the wall behind the bar in the Explorer's Lounge, as well as along the front of the EL above the large bank of windows overlooking the bow.

And just like that, it was time for dinner.
Of course we headed to The Restaurant and saw the ladies performing on the way.

We sat at table 53.

Linda had the Insalata Primavera (not pictured), Herb Crusted Tuna Loin, and Chocolate Potato Cake.


I had the Seafood Patties (not pictured), Jamaican Jerk Chicken, and Chocolate Potato Cake.

After dinner, we paused in the atrium again to hear some music.
Tonight we played trivia in the Explorer's Lounge.
Our team was Yang and Gary; and Suzanne and Kate, a mother-daughter pair from Dover, Delaware (rhyme not intended).
We didn't win, but we were second - we're getting better!

After trivia, we headed to the Star Theater for a show by the Viking Performers - The Beatles. It was pretty good.
I captured a few stills from the performance.



I'm glad I didn't record the entire show because: 1) it was about forty-five minutes long, and B) it had a lot of music we are all familiar with, and that wasn't really necessary.

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