To eat in Split you must either pay $20+ for a fancy meal at at sidewalk cafe or settle for 'Fast Food'--hamburgers, turkish-style sandwiches, pizza...grease, grease, grease. I decided, since I had a fridge and oven in my room, to use the local grocery store. First I visited an ATM then I bought bread, yogurt, and fruit juice, then headed for the outdoor market to buy cheese and fruit.
Timid dude that I am I always try to rush through the grocery line, fearful someone will scowl at the foreigner holding up the line. I stuffed my goods in my backpack and put my wallet back in the outer pocket of the backpack where I could get easy access to it. As I put my wallet away I thought about all the stories I'd heard of pickpockets walking behind you to pluck things out of the pack. But I knew that things like that never happened to me, and I wanted my cash near at hand so I wouldn't hold up any lines.
When I found a cheese place I gestured to the woman so she could cut me a moderate-sized piece. I pulled my backpack to the front and reached in to get my wallet.
The back pocket was open. "Odd," I thought, "I'm usually punctilious about closing those pockets."
No wallet was inside.
My heart stopped, my face, I'm sure, went chalk white. I stared at the lady with the cheese. Then I began racing for the bank. I rehearsed my speech. I'd ask, first, for them to help me cancel my ATM card. Then I'd find out if I could use my credit card to get cash. I imagined all the problems ahead, all the contemptuous stares from the banker, the traveller infamy I'd face when everyone found out what I'd done.
I opened up the main part of my backpack. My wallet was there. I stopped in mid stride and hustled back to the cheese lady.
It was a particularly enjoyable lunch. The sea breezes conveniently waft up the hill towards my room. I was able to sit on my veranda and over-eat in the shade, massaged by a gentle cool wind.
It isn't any warmer here, though. It was 37 C at 9:15 this morning so I expect it will hit very close to 100 F by 2pm. But if I stay down by the water it's quite pleasant. I'll take some pictures and add them later today. I'm going 'canyoning' (some sort of floating down a river thingee) then, maybe, sea kayaking over the next couple days. I'm also thinking about renting a scooter for a day trip. All to be decided later today.
Split seems to remind me most of the obvious comparisons: Malta and Piraeus (the port at Athens), but there are elements of the Jersey shore, too.
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