October 4 - October 17, 2024 Traveled to Croatia, to my father's homeland. Arrived in Split, which is the second largest city in Croatia. Stayed in a lovely, modern apartment with balcony, which was walkable to everything and in Old Town. Walked to the ruins of the Palace of Diocletian, built 295-305 ce, remains of the royal residences, fortifcations and churches. The Palace was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. Split has a scenic waterfront, where cruise ships port, along with yachts. We got the 11:00 am free park bus to go to Marjan Forest Park, is near the center of Split and called the "lungs of the city". Marjan offers the most beautiful views of Split, the sea and the islands. After 3 days here, we took the 11:15 ferry to the island of Hvar, took 1 1/2 hour ride on the Adriatic Sea, is the cleanest oceans water in all of Europe. Stayed on Hvar for 5 days. Lots of steep hills and steps throughout the town on the coast of Croatia, since many of the homes are built in the mountains, which is mostly limestone. Hvar has an Old Town where we stayed and a waterfront and three nearby beaches to walk to. The longest walk to a beach was two miles each way and a scenic trail along the ocean cliffs with homes built that had spectacular views. Lots of walking, everyday and enjoyable. Pokonji Dol Beach is rocky, but has beach chairs or one can put down a beach towel along a walkway. The Adriatic Sea is crystal clear with shades of turquoise. Our hotel owner drove us up to the top of a mountain where we visited The Fort (Fortica Fortress), since the walk up to this area consists of stairs and trails to very high, steep levels, knew going downhill would be easier. This site of an ancient settlement dates from before 500 BC and the Fortess was bulit at the beginning of the 16th century and rebuilt in 1579. Stunning views and windy, the day we went to visit. Evening events of music played in the town square. Went to two other beaches, where we both swam in the Adriatic, has a high salt concentration which contributes to its blue colour and one of the cleanest seas in the world. The sea is also very theraputic, containing over 80 minerals and elements perfect balance to relax and heal. The sea was prescribed as a cure in the ancient times, one of the reasons you see Croatians along the coastline swimming and where iron railings are built into the rocks with steps, to get into the sea. After five, sunny, warm days on Hvar we took the 3 1/2 hour ferry ride to Durbrovnik, along the coast and stopped at two islands for tourists to depart and pickup others. We stayed in Old Town, in a baroque, fancy style hotel, charming and suits Dubrovnik's famous City Walls and is an UNESCO World Heritage site. The walls were constructed during the 13th - 17th centuries, where tourists can walk on the path of the walls, takes about 2 hours to do. One can also take a cable car to the top, which is the highest mountain in Durbrovnik. Another historical feature is Rector's Palace, is a Gothic-Renaissance structure, where lots of tourists gather. Most of Game of Thorns was filmed here and no sets had to be built. Lots of Game of Thorns store around, selling items. All of Old Town Durbrovnik is busy and crowded with tourists, even in our visit of the off-season. We took a local bus, three stops to visit the abandoned resort Kupari, which is known as Croatia's gravyeard, now lies in war-torn ruins, severely damaged during the Croatian War of Independence and abandoned ever since. It consists of 448 acreas, onces housed 9 hotels, including the Grand Hotel and Tito's Mansion, sits on the bay, with a sandy beach that locals and tourists still visit. Investors are still in courts to redevelop this area for the past 30 years, with nothing being done. We found the area to be haunting and beautiful. After our stay in Dubrovnik we took a bus along the coast back to Split, a four hour ride for our last day in Split. Lovely, beautiful, peaceful Croatia, we have our memories that will be long remembered and where I felt a strong kinship with Croatia.