Exploring outside the city walls

One of the most magical things about Split was beautiful Marjan nature park just outside the city. A few days into our trip, we walked in the opposite direction of the town center and spent an entire day exploring the huge park, which is situated on a small peninsula that juts out into the sea. Yuriy mused how cool it would be to grow up in the city of Split as a kid and have such wilderness in your backyard. Dirt trails took us up and down hills and ended at the sea shore. Along the way, we ran into a few tiny stone churches overlooking the big blue sea that have long since been abandoned and boarded up. I couldn’t help wondering how the elderly of the congregation got to church walking up the hills and climbing the stone stairs. And what made them decide to build a church so far away from the town center? Maybe they feel God’s presence more out in nature. I know I do.

On the way back, we walked along the coast and peeked into people's yards and gardens in the countryside, climbed over big boulders because we're too cool to stay on the path, and perfected our stone skipping techniques in the Adriatic Sea.

One of my favorite things to do while traveling is nudge Yuriy and say… I wonder why this? I wonder why that? Why do you think they do this? Why do you think it’s built like that? Then we muse about the people who were here long before we were. And we always have a list of things to Google about the places we go and the things we see.   

- Julia