Split, Croatia - a modern town in an ancient palace

I took the ferry from Ancona, Italy to Split. The best time to visit the coast of Croatia is during the summer when it's a beach paradise. However I couldn't resist visiting Split - a 1700 year old city originally built by the Roman Emperor Diocletian.

Diocletian grew up poor and worked his up through the military to become Emperor. When he decided to retire, he moved to Split and built himself a huge palace. Eventually the Roman Empire fell, and Slavs from the east moved into the ruins of the palace. The cool thing about the Diocletian Palace is that rather than being a "museum" like most ruins in Rome, it's a living, breathing place. People still live and work in structures built over the centuries. You can even buy an apartment in the palace if you've got a spare million euros lying around.

From Split, Croatia

I met up with a cool dude from Split through CouchSurfing who showed me around Split with a friend of his. He even gave me some really good Croatian chocolate as a welcome gift. As a parting gift he gave me a bag of local lavender to put in my backpack - hopefully he wasn't hinting at anything :) He offered to host me in Split next summer for some island hopping. I will definitely be back...