Is this not a fantastic beginning?  If you are not positive, then let me reassure.  It is indeed an excellent frolic.

 

 

While we felt we already had half a day’s adventure in Split the night before, this was our one full day to soak in the wonders of this early Roman and medieval city. We were going to fully engage in this city in our short time here.

I was wagging my tail to see it all, with no better plan than to shoot off in whichever direction looked the shiniest. I’m our group leader only because I walk the fastest and with the most (unsubstantiated) confidence. When I get myself hopelessly lost, I wait for Dwayne’s practicality to catch up and straighten us out.

But in Split, it’s hard to go too wrong. We quickly found a stairway up an old (repetitive, I know) lookout tower. We can separate our family into two camps: those that care ….  

…and Wes & Piper.

And then as a sign of our divine circumstance, we heard singing–just as St. Rick Steves anticipated.

You can imagine the acoustics of a stone tower. Heavenly.

Outside the north gate stood this statue of…someone famous. But he has a golden toe, that if rubbed, will bring the doer good luck.  As if one needs more luck than to actually be in Split.

The youngers were saved by frequent kitty spottings.  Even I was not thoroughly off put by the feline population of Split.

Great view of this coastal town, though!

A swim followed by Nutella crepes for the kids and spinach smoothies for their keepers firmly put the day on good ground.

It was the perfect time to leave the kids at the hotel with their electronics while Dwayne and I toured the cathedral, crypt, and baptistery, before prowling more alleys and shops.  A white linen shirt for Dwayne and a red dress (with pockets!) for me meandered their way back with us through the farmers market, port, and side shops of this charming city.  It was a good strategy for us—family adventure for part of the day, and then let the kids recover in air conditioning while the grown ups explore unencumbered. 

By the time dinner time (formerly and quaintly known as “bedtime”) rolled around, we had added more to our step count and underestimated our kids’ stamina a bit.

We reluctantly checked out of our hotel, with it’s lovely deck and spacious sleeping areas, that was built upon 4th century Roman baths–not that we got to experience them, as they don’t seem to exist anymore outside of historical record.  What I remember best about our lovely stay is that when we seemed to turn a random corner (random to me, not Dwayne) and spotted “our” stairs, it felt like a homey miracle. 

 I hope this isn’t the last time we see Split!

 

We didn’t arrive in Split until 10pm (22.00), and during the short ride from the airport, I wondered if I would be able to feed my family dinner so late at night.

Nightlife was in full swing when our driver dropped of us on the Promenade, with another porter guiding us the last few minutes through the alleys to our hotel.  We quickly changed for a night on the town and set off to find the perfect place to dine.  In our case, perfect meant “Pizza, pasta, and something good for the adults”.  We found just the spot and quickly embraced the late night dinner schedule.  Dinner was good, but really just fuel for some more exploring.  

People were sitting on steps, drinking wine and enjoying the ambiance that an ancient Roman-built palace square effortlessly radiates.  I was determined Dwayne and I, sans children, would be back the next evening.

Our marvelous travel agent booked us a very fine hotel right in Old Town, just a few minutes meandering from this gorgeous center.

More, more, more tomorrow.

A morning hotel check out before a late afternoon flight is always a bit awkward, as we were hours away from our next airport and had to drag our luggage with us as we did a few final hours in London. I am very grateful that we each have a rolling suitcase and a backpack, so it’s not too inconvenient, but I already can think of things I could have left at home. 


Gatwick Airport could only be accessed through Victoria Station, so I looked around the area to see how we could entertain ourselves for our last few hours in London.  A few royal gardens (parks), Buckingham Palace, and Trafalgar Square were all within walking distance, so off we went, luggage trailing behind. 

We stumbled across Buckingham first, and I think the flag signaled that the Queen was at home.

Even Dwayne couldn’t find fault with the Trafalgar Lions—they were impressive!

 

A little lunch in St James Park before heading back to the station and making our way to our least favorite part of our adventure: catching a cheap flight to Split, Croatia (“EasyJet” is woefully misnamed).  Forget the pseudo-wisdom “journey is the destination”; sometimes the journey must be endured to get to the prize.

Fare thee well, London!  I am more inspired to show our kids New York now.  

We started the morning taking the trains to Paddington Station (again, you can get around London easily, but not quickly), where we caught the first stop of our Hop On, Hop Off tour bus.  It was fun to have a good guide narrating the sights as the bus—clearly a close cousin of magical London’s Knight Bus—made impossible feats along crowded, narrow roads.  We saw quite a bit from the top deck before we disembarked at the Tower of London, a place Dwayne and I wanted to see, and with the Crown Jewels and Armory, hoped would be just as fun for the kids.

But we found something better.  Margaret and Jeremy and their two kids were finishing up a week in London and our trips overlapped by an entire Tuesday before we both flew out the next morning.  They had already been at the Tower for hours before we showed up, but there was still plenty to see and we joined forces.  And I have firmly believed in the power of kids playing with someone they haven’t fought with for the last 24 hours.   

The White Tower was really interesting, with a small collection of Henry VIII’s suits of armors, showing a history of impressive girth increase.  

But we all giggled at his, ahem, largest one.  Definitely compensation going on.

I must be compensating, too!

We had almost talked ourselves out of seeing the Crown Jewels—the line was ridiculous, but the 9 of us were together, and standing in a long line was a great time to catch up and hear about their five weeks in the Ukraine.  And, honestly, I would have regretted getting all the way to London, and then the Tower, and not seeing the lavishness that is the royal coronation regalia.  Was I the only one disappointed that the golden Coronation Spool was used to dribble blessed oil over the proceeding, not for a morning yogurt before the hoopla begins? 

  

The Tower of London has been, in its time, a dungeon, palace, living quarters, commmand center, and hundreds year old second story pit toilet.  We enjoyed walking through the re-outfitted royal chambers, where the finest of that period lived half as comfortably as the least of today’s lower class.  But they did have thrones.

We were all feeling a little this way towards Wes towards the end of the day.

 

Why?  

Well, this is the best shot we have together…

….after I cropped his butt out of this one.

We closed down the Tower at 17:00 but with an entire evening ahead of us, we hopped onto the Thames and made our way up to the Parliament area, where the nine of us had a nearly perfect dinner—less by food standards than we sat the five kids at one table together, and then got to enjoy an adult meal at a separate table.   

It is our only full day in London, but we enjoyed ourselves immensely.  We’ll be back, Brits!  (Sorry again about Wesley.)

“I confess a small wee in my pants” is going to be my tagline for years…. 

I won’t bore you with the many animal mummies and ancient gold shields and plates we saw–turns out, we pretty much bored Wes and Piper, though I carried each of them in turn for much of the tour as the half-slept in my arms.  I would blame jetlag more than amazing historical artifacts.  

I like how the reflection makes it look like Kyla is wearing this ancient decorative gold cape.  

Sunday-Monday: Seattle to London
Wednesday: Fly to Split, Croatia
Friday: ferry to Hvar, Croatia
Monday: ferry to Dubrovnik, Croatia
Wednesday: fly to Venice
Friday: fly home

It’s almost go-time!  We’re about to go across the pond for almost two weeks, and we did two necessary things before leaving: pedicures and underwear.   I got it in my head earlier this week that everyone needed to have a 3 pairs of travel underwear–basically noncotton underwear that dries quickly.  We are traveling each with a carry on and backpack, so ease of laundry is near the top of my packing priorities.  

Piper has other priorities.  

As I handed out underwear, I had done some reminiscing about how the kids used to like putting on unders as a super hero masks.  Piper obliged.

And here’s her pedicure.  The cat faces are a perfect touch for her.