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Split, toe and sun

Split/Plitvice 31/08/2010

We stirred from dreams surrounded by our belongings which we had neatly strewn around the camp. After collecting the chaos the road called once more. A short drive brought us to Split and the Roman Emperor Diocletian's retirement home. His palace has been built on, in and around over the centuries and makes for a curious, amalgamated piece of architecture. We ate breakfast (byrek) and stumbled upon a giant man with a well worn toe. Gregory of Nin was a man who had some affiliation with a place called Nin, er...that's all I know. I do know that his big toe is reputed to bring luck to the rubber. After the calamities of the previous day a simple stroke of a digit was a superstition worth indulging.
The day had brought precisely zero auto incidents thus far. But that is not how we roll so Mike smacked the car into a kerb upon entering a tunnel and we were only saved from a head on collision by his excellent driving (note, part of this statement is b*llocks). We came to the conclusion that his remaining behind the wheel endangered our lives, those of the road users around us and our rental car deposit, plus we didn't have another spare tire. Therefore I should give it a bash. It turns out that I am an excellent driver cruelly deprived of a license by one way street facists. My time in the driver's seat was the safest on a road all holiday and Mike agreed. There is a roadside memorial roughly every 30 centimetres in Croatia, obviously not all have been gifted with my skill. We pulled into Plitvice in the early evening, located a campsite and cracked open a bottle of dreadful red wine. By faint, flickering candlelight I gave a masterclass in the game of blackjack, Mike you owe me £50.
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Location: Plitvice Lakes National Park, 53231, Plitvička Jezera, Croatia

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