Tag: got

Diocletian’s Retirement Home

M's Adventures
The vestibule at 9 am in early May.

Diocletian was an emperor who managed to retire near his hometown, in modern day Croatia, and build a huge palace. He managed to abdicate. I am sort of fascinated by this. His palace is the old town of Split.

You can eat sort of like a Roman (they lay down).
Romans!

Now, Split is very famous because of Game of Thrones. I was not there for GOT so I enjoyed the Roman ruins without searching for dragons.

The cellars where the dragons are kept.

Apparently during peak season, the rows of tourists go in a conga line down the narrow streets, one row going in one direction, the other going in the opposite direction.

A lovely archway.

Perhaps ruined by tourism. But if you visit during off season and go in early in the morning, you will get the sites a bit more to yourself. Even the vomitorium. I went in search of it, but it was just a ruin.

This is one of the few extant Roman walls visible today.

Split reminds me of towns with marble lined streets in places like Apulia in southern Italy. I have a weakness for these white marble streets. I guess it makes it look clean. I did not see any trash but I also didn’t see any trash cans. But, I did see garbage collectors so I guess they do a continuous cleaning service? It should be noted that it poured and flooded while I was there adding a nice freshly washed look to the town.

One of many courtyard restaurants.

The old town of Split is quite small so you can see most of it in a day or so. But, that allows you time to settle in a cute cafe (maybe in a ridiculously photogenic courtyard) and enjoy some gourmet coffee. I was pleased to see that most restaurants stayed open all day from breakfast through to midnight.

Tourism makes up 18 percent of Croatia’s GDP. I can see why. Split is a lovely town, even with 75 percent tourists. There are other things to see and many experiences that are made special by the tourist machine. I was in the oculus when a choral group began to sing. Magical. When I told the receptionist at my hotel about this, she said that even though she lived in Split, she had never had that experience. Probably because she was working.

The oculus.
The chorus.

Again, to see the locals and how they live, get up early. Visit the market even though it is touristy. Maybe even visit the supermarket out in the edge of town. You might find some locals there. Or look in the fish market. I am fairly sure that no tourists go in there.

The fish market.

Having now seen Diocletian’s retirement home in person, I am even more impressed by his choice.

Budva, Montenegro’s Mini Dubrovnik?

M's Adventures
The old town seen from top of the citadel, with the modern city in the background.

As my time living in Rome draws to a close, I decided to travel to see other parts of the former Roman empire. One such place was just across the water in Budva, Montenegro. Budva was part of ancient Greece and it became part of the Roman empire in 200 BCE (150 years before Caesar, 200 years before Jesus).

If you want to avoid the crowds of Dubrovnik, visit Budva in the off season. I recommend staying at La Villa boutique hotel. Be silly and enjoy yourself making your own Game of Thrones video clips. Even if you have never seen GOT, Budva will charm you.

The citadel. One has to pay an entrance fee but it was worth it for the view.

The old town of Budva is a walled medieval city sitting on a peninsula in the harbor of Budva. It’s a tiny walled town with paved streets that match the same taupe stone buildings. Most of what one can see today in the old walled town of Budva was build in the 15th century CE (500 years ago).

The old city at night. I highly recommend off season as it is very crowded in the summer.

Montenegro is part of the European Union. If you enter by land from Albania, the border crossing may take you over an hour. Once we got on the road, Budva was only a couple of hours away (if you land in Albania), mainly because there is a stretch of road that is not highway. One gets a nice “local” route, bumping through neighborhoods and increasingly beautiful views. It all seems like potential for commercialism. Budva seems to be all resort hotels and construction, which contrasts so nicely with the old walled town. The staff at La Villa gave us good advice to park in the public parking and pay for a day pass (minimum is two day pass at 20 Euro) because otherwise the rate is per hour!

Sveti Stefan from a convenient overlook along the road.

On your way in or out, visit the other towns of Sveti Stefan and Bar. Sveti Stefan is another tiny jewel of a town. It was bought by a private resort so no longer open to the public during tourist season. Can you imagine?

Malta, the Fantastic

M's Adventures

One of the things to see in Rome is the keyhole of Malta. Visiting Malta is so much more than that glimpse into the world of the knights of Malta. The tiny central island just off of Sicily is as fantastical as one imagines it to be.

Upper Barakka gardens, Valletta.

I visited on a cold winter day with torrential rains bucketing down like biblical times. Yes, I still loved it.

Photogenic shop in Valletta.

Maybe because of the weather, it was a better experience — free of the millions who flood the island every year searching for Gladiator or Game or Thrones…

Valletta, tourist and native.

We did a food and cultural walking tour. It was a great introduction to Malta.

Lots of streets in Valletta are steep.

The island of Malta has a long history as a embattled island due to its central location in the Mediterranean. To borrow from the Visit Malta site, “the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Romans and the Byzantines” and then the Berbers, Knights of Malta, French, and British all had influences on the island.

Famous harbor seen from the Upper Barrakka gardens.

St. Paul was shipwrecked here in current era 60 (AD). This is a big deal. Christianity is a big part of the island. The Knights of Malta were a Christian order which is considered sovereign, but now they are a Christian humanitarian organization. They have had different names at different times in history but they ruled Malta from the 1500s (when they were given Malta as a territory after fleeing Rhodes after the rise of the Ottoman empire) to the 1800s.

This mall also has subsidized public housing, right downtown, for as little as 30 euro per month.

Valletta has been the capital for 450 years and has a uniform look to it because it was built in three years. The buildings of the old town are all made of the same pale yellow rock that was quarried from the exact place where the buildings were built. In some ways, Valletta reminded me of the towns of Apulia like Lecce, Bari, and Polignano a mare. Maybe that is why I liked it so much. The stone is the same color as the stone used in Jerusalem.

Another instagrammable shop and remnant of the British influence.

Malta had a capital before Valletta was chosen. The old capital goes back 4,000 years and is located about 20 minutes drive from Valletta. Mdina, not to be confused with Medina, is the old capital and right outside its gate is Rabat, not to be confused with Rabat.

Gate of Mdina, the former capital.
Mdina is crushingly quaint.
The eight pointed star is symbolic for the eight “langhe” or rulers of Malta.
Mdina is a perfectly preserved walled city.
Mdina has a few pops of color other than the sandstone color of the native rock.

The language of Malta, like the people and culture, is also a mix. It has many words that are the same in Italian but I did not understand Maltese at all. No matter as they speak English as well.

The Beheading of John the Baptist by Caravaggio is in the church in Valletta.

Another reason to go to Malta is to see a Caravaggio painting. The church is also beautiful but to be in front of a Caravaggio is a special moment. This brings a visit to Malta full circle. Many consider Caravaggio to be the first cinematographer for his use of dramatic light and shadow. Malta, with its dramatic history, seems most famous now as a movie location.