Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
My self-guided walk (described earlier) takes you through the main artery of town, but just
a few steps away are some delightful squares and other public zones that are worth explor-
ing.
The official name for this seaside pedestrian drag is the “Croatian National Revival Em-
bankment”(ObalaHrvatskogNarodnogPreporoda),butlocalsjustcallit“Riva”(Italianfor
“harbor”). This is the town's promenade, an integral part of Mediterranean culture. After
dinner,SplitresidentscollecttheirfamiliesandfriendsforastrollontheRiva.Itofferssome
of the best people-watching in Croatia; make it a point to be here for an hour or two after
dinner. The stinky smell that sometimes accompanies the stroll (especially at the west end)
isn't from a sewer. It's sulfur—a reminder that the town's medicinal sulfur spas have attrac-
ted people here since the days of Diocletian.
The Riva is a broad, sleek, carefully landscaped people zone. A clean, synchronized line
of modern white lampposts and sun screens sashays down the promenade. Some think that
the starkly modern strip is at odds with the rest of the higgledy-piggledy Old Town, while
