I woke up at a leisurely 8am this morning. I had very little expectations for the day, other than my eventual obligatory Game of Thrones tour. My big fear going into today was, “how was getting the luggage dropped off going to affect my schedule?”

I knew that they did not want to drop off my luggage at Gus’s when I was in Split, and since I had a tour at 4pm, what happens if it comes while I’m at my tour? I had hopes that they could leave it at the Zagreb airport for me to pick up, but they seemed to want to hand it off to me specifically.

With that nagging feeling in my mind, I went off for a walk. I started my day with a small box of raspberries that I bought at the farmer’s market. I then had a quick breakfast in the touristy neighborhood, which provided me with a much missed coffee, some bacon, eggs, and tomatoes. With a satisfied belly (and a second cup of coffee) I took a walk to Marjana Park, where I climbed to the peak of Marjan hill, and was given a gorgeous view of Split and the surrounding water.

Checking my email on the way down the hill, I noticed a message from the baggage recovery people, telling me to call them. They said that they found my luggage, and provided a phone number to talk to for more information. I called that number, and it turned out to be the same guy I had talked to yesterday, the manager. He said that he didn’t have any more information to me, and that it should still be in split sometime later that day. Expect a call between 2 and 3. That’s fine, I guess, but it was getting awfully close to when I would no longer be available.

Finishing my descent from Marjan hill, I stopped at a little restaurant for a quick sip of local beer, then continued my way back towards the city.

 

 

 

 

 

I made it back into the city, and proceeded to hit up the big tourist spots. I hit up the Split city museum, which offered a few historical artifacts and stories to fill my head about the city. From there, I climbed Saint Domnius’s bell tower (which you can make out in my selfy) to get an up-close elevated look at the city.

 

 

Getting close to 2pm, I had heard no phone calls, so I called the manager back. I was going to propose that the delivery agent leave my baggage at my hostel, but he wasn’t having any of it. He just kept repeating that the bag would arrive at the Split airport between 2 and 3. He would not tolerate further discussion, and hung up. I went back to my hostel and waited for a phone call.

It was 3pm, and my tour was to start at 4pm. I began to make preparations for what would happen if he came while I was gone. I had the hostel’s office make a copy of my lost baggage report, as proof that I really wanted them to leave it at the desk. While doing so, I got a phone call.

It was from the K.L.M. lost baggage people at the Zagreb airport saying that they were getting ready to send it to Split. My understanding was that it should already be here, and I told her as such. She said no, and that in fact, it was there with her in her office. Talking schedules, she suggested that maybe I pick it up in Zagreb when I’m at the airport.

Brilliant! That’s exactly what I wanted to do anyways! Since I was to be there on Thursday for my return trip to Copenhagen, it was an obvious solution.

I was in a hurry to make my 4pm tour, so I rushed out of the office toward my destination. It started to rain.

I had always assumed that Croatia’s climate was like Hawaii’s, where it would get cloudy, but never rain. Was I ever wrong. The downpour hit hard.I stopped inside a grocery store in hopes that they had an umbrella I could purchase. They don’t really do supermarkets, so I was aware that selection would be very limited, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

I could see the edges of the umbrella, but there was no card showing the full pattern, so I was surprised when my purchase looked like this:

With an initial feeling of regret, I decided that this was maybe my new favorite umbrella.

After finding my tour group, who were hiding from the rainstorm away from otherwise exposed meeting place, our tour commenced! I opted in for what in my mind was a somewhat expensive, yet very highly rated, tour of Split, focusing on both it’s history, and how it was used as a filming location for one of my favorite shows: “Game of Thrones”.

We were walked through the basement of Diacletian’s basement, which was extensively used for the scenes of Season 4’s conflicts between the Unsullied and the Son’s of the Harpy. We saw more scenes from that location as we wandered around Diacletian’s Palace, and eventually drove up to Klis, which was the setting for the outside of Meereen.

After touring Klis, we made our final stop at the home of a small food producer. They make their own olive oil, vinegar, and grappa, and are situated on a stream which provides them with fish and powers their flour mill. Their property was littered with mulberry and fig trees. We ended the night sipping on local wine, and eating delicious Peka.