Sightseeing - Split city centre

Hello

So - the past week has been rather impressive - thunderstorms, more road flooding and not much venturing out.  However, yesterday it was sunny and hot again - so I wandered into the centre.

Kiki has joined the writing team from Germany for a few weeks and we met up for lunch at a restaurant on one of the piazzas.  Grilled tuna and a salad - as the temperature picked up.

A couple of photos of architecture, the old and the new, and a statue - more about that in a minute.



"Gregory of Nin" 1929 - by  Ivan Meštrović

Off to walk along the beach!

Thursday is Cake Day

Once again - it's going to have a rather heavy food theme.  Thursday was my birthday - and it's always an experience celebrating abroad.

There were presents from the team - bouquets of yellow roses and a traditional floral arrangement. 
 

 

A basket of lush lavender products and a rather enormous bottle of extra virgin olive oil.  And then there was cake.  Well not just cake, 6 enormous, chocolate or tiramisu or fruit or meringue or ice-cream cakes. 

Enough cake perhaps!

After work we went along to "Ghetto", a beautiful courtyard bar in the centre of Split.  Good music, chilled atmosphere and warm weather.  Probably the first birthday in decades where it hasn't rained!

That, however, changed this morning.  It rained; hail stones the size of golf balls, roads flooded.  The crew shooting the titles sequence are currently trapped in the studio (which is on an industrial estate) because the access road is flooded.  At least Tina planned ahead - she's trapped in the bakery!

It's stopped now - so guess I should venture out before the next deluge.

But it's all about the work ....

So, it appears that some people are unhappy that I've been showing off Split and not paying enough attention to the job in hand.

So, to why I'm here.  RUŽA VJETROVA (Rose In The Wind) is a 190 episode drama series which starts to transmit some time later in the summer.  The actual first transmission is under wraps as there's a competing drama being created in the same city.  No-one films here and then two come along at once!

I'm here to lend a hand - support - interfere - consult - whatever is required.  For these first two weeks it has been making charts!  Lovely, multi-coloured charts for the script teams and the post-production.  There's something comforting about a nice chart! {Sara and Hazel stop laughing!}.

It's been a while since I've been at the beginning of something on this scale - and it's interesting to watch how another country sets it up.  The cast are great, the team have been welcoming and put up with the vast amount of questions I ask.  I've also been extended for a couple of weeks - so due back at the end of August {sorry, Piu, Alison and Kimberley and Susan - once again, Plan B}.

And for the Cambodian and Dhaka teams - the word for "marvellous" in Croatian is "prekrasno".

Can I go back to the sunshine yet?

Yesterday I went for a walk along the sea front and to the old part of the city - sunshine with a gentle breeze - and back in the room before the "mad dogs and Englishmen" time of day.

Especially for Catharine and Sallyann - You were there in spirit.
  

At 10 am the beach was just getting started - although the volume carries for miles.  During the day it's families and fun and in the evenings it's parties and late night swimming.

The walk to the centre takes about 15 minutes - as long as you remember to follow the directions given by the hotel receptionist .... Oops.  A nice walk along the front and then wandered off towards the markets and into the centre.  It's a mixture of old and very modern.

       

I stopped off at a beautful art gallery - the E Vidović Gallery which exhibits the work of Emanuel Vidović.  A mixture of still life, religious art, cartoons and portraits, it was an interesting exhibition and in a lovely art space.  The gallery has recently been remodelled - taking into account the old building but incorporating new features for modern day exhibiting.

Then a brief stop in the church - trying to find the name - which has a stunning Madonna picture over one of the side altars.

This was where the ice-cream came in.....

A wander back along the front - some lovely souvenirs.  Now souvenirs present a bit of a problem ....  This Croatia is new (I think 20 years old) and it hasn't yet decided what souvenir represents the area.  The team told me to take back anything with a donkey on it .... 

My treat for the evening (a birthday advance treat) was to try out the (only one month old) health spa in the hotel.  A bamboo and hot stone massage followed.  Darin - you would love this - a bit of pain from the bamboo and then the warmth of the stones.  Yummy.  Feel very very relaxed this morning - even after she wrestled with the alignment of my neck!

Just wandered along the front and found lunch.  It's a really nice temperature - cos we've established that I'm trying not to go crispy.  The breeze as you walk along is gentle and warm and smells of sun cream ....

Okay - it's back to work now - have a massive story conference tomorrow so need to do loads of reading.  And one last look at the pretty chart!

Croatia - it's all about the food ...

Despite stating that I wasn't going to talk about food all the time - here we go again.

The restaurant at the hotel where I'm staying (Hotel Park) allegedly has the best restaurant in Split.  It was time to venture out into the unknown.

This was confirmed when the waiter asked if I wanted my usual order (calamari and salad with a pot of tea).  Hmmm.

He brought along a complimentary fish pate whilst they prepared my salad.  The salad arrived as a mound of rocket, cherry tomatoes, prawns and shaves of parmesan with a little drizzle of balsamic accompanied with a glass of champagne if I wished.

Then the main course - roasted aubergine and courgette with spinach in garlic to accompany a local grilled fish.  All rather yummy.  In fact so yummy that I forgot to order tea!

Not long before I go back to my hotel and work out whether Wednesday night is pizza night!

Other inconsequential things ....  The soap in the toilets at the studio smells like 'Playdoh' despite the picture on the label being peaches.

The view from the offices overlooks the mountains - see below.

 

 








Yesterday was the highest temperature recorded in Split since records began (a measly 37 in the cold part and 43 degrees in the shade and 50 degrees in the sun where I am).  My factor 40 is now being applied as emulsion factor.  Not attractive, but I'm not crispy either.

Lastly, but not leastly, any thoughts on Kiev?  Had a call about some potential work in the autumn and I'm very aware that this breaks the pattern of only working in places ending in "a"!  (Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Nigeria, Bulgaria, Romania, Dhaka, Croatia).

So - off to look for pizza and gaze out over the sea (sorry, that's worse than talking about food!).



Live from Croatia ....

Hello Everyone

Rashed has very kindly set this up for me - and so now I have my very own blog .... 

You may have noticed the title.  It means that wherever I am in the world, for you, there is no escape ... 

Apparently I can add photos - so going to give that a try in a minute.



View from the coffee shop to the sea

What am I doing?  Well today was a leisurely
walk along the sea front, a drink shaded in a café overlooking the blue sea, reading a book and then a little further along for a large pizza.  Found it difficult to do - but I'm the woman to do nothing for the day!

It's the Dalmatian coast (so let's get all the jokes out of the way).  And anyway, I've only seen poodles and shitzu.  Temperature today was going to peak around 100 degrees and I'm trying so hard not to go crispy - which I achieved very easily a couple of weeks ago just by sitting in Hazel's garden.


The hotel (Hotel Park, Split) is shabby chic - the locals say it should be a location in 'Poirot'.  Comfiest bed I've slept in for ages (must buy new mattress when I return).

Food - because I always manage to mention food - well lunch at the studio this week has included vegetables - which is good.  But it appears they can only be served if they are a consistancy that can be eaten by a baby - so lots of mush.
Anyway, I'll endeavour not to make this one of those annoying blogs where I tell you what I'm eating all the time (oops, failed already ... twice) and keep it interesting - or at least not mind-numbingly dull.

Now to try and upload it - and then work out how you access it remotely ....  Technology (off to hum "I will survive" ...).

Mx 


Terrace at Hotel Park, Split