Hitting the coast again we made it to a town called Biograde, which was overrun by bikers for the Croatian Harley Days.  Deciding we didn’t want to be surrounded by rowdy tattooed bikers and women in their bras we moved further south to seek out a quieter spot.  Stopping for lunch in Pirovac it still didn’t have the vibe we were going for.  Meandering through the next couple towns on the peninsula we found a great area with signs for apartments to rent.  After striking out at about the 10th apartment speaking to elder owners who spoke to us in German, we worked our back to the little town of Tisno to settle into an Aussie owned guesthouse where we were the only guests for 3 nights.

Coastal Driving

Love birds!

More and more sunsets

After a refreshing sunset run and another seafood dinner of octopus stew we were excited for our anticipated beach day the next morning.  But instead waking up to pouring rain at 5 am to run out to the patio to grab our soaking clothes and towels!  We ended up with a lazy rainy day topped with a great sunset with wine on our balcony over the bay.  Before the rain settled in again the next day we got an open water swim in then headed South to Split in an unhurried manner taking in the coastal views.

Once in Split we settled into our little apartment for our final days in Croatia.  Split is a large city but has a quaint old town, beaches and an amazing city park called Marjan that is surrounded by coastline.  For 3 days in a row we walked the marina to the park separated ways to get lost in the vast trail system.  An hour later we would meet back in a state of exhausted bliss.  It gave us the trail running fix we miss from home as we try to get our legs Colorado ready!

Goal!!!!

Our evenings were spent staying up way too late watching as many World Cup games as we could.  Croatia played the late game one night so we dressed in Croatian football shirts and towels heading into the madness.  There was electric national pride in the air. Everyone was dress in the appropriate red and white gear gathering around the jumbo screen in the marina.  Every time they scored the cheering, sparklers and fireworks would fly!! They scored 4 goals so by the last goal the explosives were out and only shouts and song were left.  The next morning everything was closed, even the construction crew working outside our apartment didn’t show up and we concluded they must have declared a national holiday since they won the game!

The sun decided to make an appearance our final day for us to squeak in one more beach day here. The beach had shallow water and was perfect for families and the like playing all sorts of water games that were new to us.  There were multiple groups of leathery tan, older men in speedos playing a simple game with a small ball diving in all directions having a blast, you couldn’t watch them without a smile on your face.  At the airport we read an article finding out these men were playing a game called ‘Picigin’, is only played in this part of the world and they were practicing for the World Championship tournament coming up on that very beach.

View of Split

More Pics:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105315223482012434599/Tisno_Split

From here we flew to Rome, Italy for our final country and final 3 weeks.  Excited for some family time as Katie’s folks joined us after their flight landed in the wrong airport in a horrible thunderstorm and their luggage was lost for a day!  We had a great 10 days with them in Rome and on the Amalfi coast.  Today, they flew back to the states and we have now arrived in Florence.  From here we will visit Tuscany and our beloved Cinque Terre for our final stop.  Hard to believe we have 10 days remaining in this journey!!