We went to Split on a whim. It was a decision taken more or less at random, as I needed a destination for my Easter week with the kids, and knew they wanted sun and warmth. I was so overwrought at the time tho that I only checked Momondo for reasonable flights to anywhere in Croatia, and then promptly forgot about it – to the point where I thought we were going to Zadar until mere days before departure…!

Split proved to be fabulous, however. It’s an old town, built up around Diocletian’s retirement home; one of the few Roman Emperors ever to step down voluntarily, the guy was clearly a bit of a planner, since he spent the last ten years of his emperature(?!) organising the building of this vast palace on the Adriatic coast.

When he wasn’t doing that, the Big D was busy making a name for himself as the last emperor to prosecute the Christians, which was kind of lucky, because after his death, Christianity was made the state religion, and what with old Dio being out of vogue, the Christians pillaged the palace and tossed his remains in the sea. Why lucky then? Because the palace was too good to tear down, the pillagers moved in, and turned into villagers. The palace is better preserved today than any other similar construction precisely because it has been continuously inhabited ever since. Sure, you have to look a bit to see it under the Venetian influences and the mishmash of buildings that have been torn down, erected, repurposed and re-erected over the centuries, but it’s still a wonderful edifice, and massive at 30,000 square meters.

We explore its nooks and crannies, alleyways and hidden squares, and delight in finding new, hitherto unseen gems, like a perfectly preserved temple to Jupiter, the Letmepass Street (all five meters of it) where we stop to watch American tourists get stuck (it’s not a meter wide), and the cellars of the palace, where Daenerys kept her dragons. (Lots of scenes from GoT were filmed here…), glimpse inside the cathedral (which is housed in Diocletian’s mausoleum – how’s that for revenge?!) and stroll along the promenade feasting on gelato (Italy being but a stone’s-throw away).

The region of Dalmatia has more to offer than just Split, too: we take a ferry out to the island of Brač and have this year’s first dip in the Mediterranean, then go up into the mountains to take on white water rafting down the Cetina river; we’re in an inflated canoe rather than a raft proper, and it’s exhilarating and exhausting in equal measure, as I’m the only one paddling most of the time, and steering us through the eddies is hard work indeed. The kids are very good though, and not the least bit scared, save for when a spider boards our craft…

Then there’s the impenetrable fortress high above the city that has served as its main defense since times immemorial: Kliš. When the Turks came the battles fought beneath its walls were so fierce that the village that later grew up there was called Savaś Alanì (Battlefield in Turkish). The Turks took the Citadel, but never the city, and the locals (who knew the land) would scale the battlements under cover of darkness and assassinate them on a regular basis until the invaders finally exvaded.

More recently, Split was spared during the civil war that tore the region asunder, but Kliš has a renewed claim to atrocity fame, for it was here that the Khaleesi had hundreds of Meereen slave owners crucified. (My daughter has recently discovered that she looks quite a bit like Emilia Clarke, who plays the Mother of Dragons, hence the interest in what the character gets up to…)

Finally, we go on an excursion to Plitvice National Park, to see Croatia’s most famous landmark, the thousand waterfalls of this river land. It’s a long journey by bus (it’s easier to get to from Zagreb), but it is worth it. The park isn’t huge, and it is obviously full of people (although the guide informs us this is nothing), but it is nicely done, with wooden walkways leading across the delta and natural paths along the river and lakesides.

The waterfalls are absolutely everywhere, from small brook-like ones where ponds overflow one into the other, to great cascades up to seventy meters high where tributaries come crashing down into the ravine – if like me you like water features, this is a wet dream (in a manner of speaking) come true.

All in all we spend a very pleasant week in Split, not least due to the fantastic hotel we find right on the edge of the old town. In Aspalathos Residence, rooms are spacious and stylish, the food is wonderful, and Tatjana reigns supreme.

Will we be back for a Split second? Who knows. I certainly want to see more of Croatia – Dubrovnik and Zadar, specifically – and the island of Brač is a kite surfers’ paradise, so chances are.

Hvala lipa!