About The Adrien and Martin Joly Blog

Brothers Adrien and Martin follow in the footsteps of many travelers who crossed the Balkans from antiquity to modern times. But they do it by bicycle! Starting on October 6, they have given themselves one month to cycle the nearly 2,100-kilometre distance between Venice and Istanbul. In their blog, they reflect on and document their journey as they travel through Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey.
Their blog in French is at http://balkansavelo.unblog.fr/

From Rogosnico to Split

October 22, 2008 • Comments Croatia

We wake up at 7,00, unfortunately we have no showers, just two snikers to share… Martin was worried about the bikes and didn´t sleep at all.

We only have 45 km to reach Split, so it wont be too hard It takes us two hours to reach Split.

As we are getting close to Split from the North, we have to go through the Industrial Part of the city..

Very ugly, and hard to avoid the huge motorways too dangerous for our bikes.

But we are rewarded as we are entering the old town.

Split is an amazing city. Originally, it was the Retirement house of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. After the fall of the Roman Empire, it was converted into a city.  Looking at the architecture of Split, one can see 1600 years of history,  all cleverly mixed up.

We spend a few hours on terrace, looking at the People…

As we are a bit fed up of the E65, we decide to take a ferry to reach a Croatian Island.

Most Croatians working with the public have a strange attitude to their customers, they seem deeply annoyed by us…. We should know that there is a ferry leaving at 8.23 every Friday for Hvar Island, it is common knowledge. Well, we find a solution. We will go to Hvar, visit the Island, and from there, we will take another ferry to reach Dubrovnik.

In split, Adrien buys a fantastic helmet after a few complaints from his family members about his unconventional cyclist attitude.. The helmet is a bit unusual. Little stop at the laundrette, where mysteriously, “Connor” gets a puncture.. That we fix.

At 8.23, we embark in a crowded Ferry… We arrive 1H30 later at Hvar, where we find another abandoned camping a few kilometer away from the port  where we can sleep..