SPLIT, CROATIA

                                  Split is a City

            Split, with a population of 200,000, is Croatia’s largest city on the Adriatic Coast and the country’s second largest city. Founded in the 3^rd century, the picturesque ancient city lies between a high mountain range and the palm tree-lined waterfront pedestrian promenade. Strolling the waterfront or sitting in a café are popular pastimes. The ocean view includes sandy beaches, rocky cliffs and unspoiled islands. One of the sunniest spots in Europe, the   premier resort town has breath-taking views of beautiful blue Adriatic waters that contrast with high coastal mountains.

            The city is a living museum of classical and medieval architecture and archeology. Expanded industry, a shipyard, limestone quarry and a commercial-military port are all located on the north end of the city. An aqueduct built in the 3^rd century and repaired in the 19^th century is still in use supplying water for the entire city.

            Old town has two square-shaped sections; to the east is the Diocletian Palace and to the west lies the medieval town. The summer residence of Emperor Diocletian took ten years to build and was finished in 305. The UNESCO site was built as his retirement palace. In 600 AD, some 2000 people moved into the palace to establish the city of Split.

            One of the last buildings built by Romans, the palace is at the heart of Split’s history.  The fortress-like palace, with walls 590 feet by 705 feet, originally had 16 towers. One of the rectangle towers on the right is original. Small churches were built in several of the 16 wall towers and bell towers were added. Today 3000 people live and work within the palace walls. In the Middle Ages nobility and rich merchants built residences within the old palace walls. There are 200 buildings within the palace.

            Originally the palace south wall was at the water’s edge. Now reclaimed land provides  a wide street and a tree lined promenade, placing the palace several meters from the water.

            The Diocletian lived on the sea side of the palace with its 42 arched windows. Servants lived viewless on the inside. The front door was originally the back door, and when the water level was high it was only accessible by boat. The palace cellars, 305 AD, are Europe’s largest Roman underground structure.  Originally they held water, not liquor, and were built to level the lower first floor. Today it is a gallery for souvenir stands.

             Cathedral St. Domnus is located in the Peristyle, a square in the center of the palace.  Originally the octagon shaped structure was a mausoleum. After the fall of Rome, it was converted to a cathedral taking 300 years to complete.  Multi colored marble pillars highlight the baroque interior. The ornately carved Romanesque door dates to 1214. The cathedral remains in daily use. The church bell tower is 13^th century. The stone pulpit is unusual; the baroque altar is white marble. The   Golden Gate is the former main entrance. The entry vestibule to living quarters is impressive.  Emperors were believed to be gods, and called themselves Jovius, son of Jupiter, most powerful of all gods.

             Diocletian Palace was home to administrative prowess, but also was used for feeding pesky Christians, unwilling to worship him, to the lions. A gate in the palace wall led to a pillared courtyard where the emperor received homage of subjects. It descends into a maze of ancient underground rooms that apparently were used as a city dump until the 1970s. It also served as a discothèque at one time. The garbage of centuries ago has been cleaned out, but the place still smelled musty. It is the largest underground structure in Europe. Large stone vessels made from a single piece of stone once were used to store olive oil. Now many of them are used as flower planters.

            Marble paves Old Town’s streets. The black sphinx, one of 13, is the only complete one. The medieval town of Split took shape within the palace walls. The palace is the centerpiece of the old section of the city. The area is a virtual open-air museum with the city’s contemporary life bustling through it. The maze of narrow alleys is lined with fashionable boutiques, cafés and Roman artifacts. Red granite columns, from Egypt, can be seen everywhere.

            Just through the back gate stands a larger than life bronze statue of St. Gregory. It was removed from a small square where the huge statue overwhelmed it. Cut into three pieces it was moved and reconstructed. The huge statue showcases in the large courtyard. The tour of the Diocletian Palace took two and a half hours with a local docent. It is huge and considering its age and tools available at the time of its building, it just boggles the mind. It is an amazing feat and a big window into life in ancient times. It was a fascinating and informative visit.

PANAMA CANAL

                     The Canal Transit

            At 7:15 AM our Panamanian narrator was already on the loud speaker. He kept us informed all day during the eight hour, 50-mile canal passage. During breakfast we learned that forty ships a day transit the canal bringing 500 million dollars to Panama. In a year over 13,000 ships from 79 countries make the trip. The canal is often referred to as lifting a ship up and over Central America. If all the excavated dirt was put on a train it would circle the earth four times! The Canal saves 2000 miles if ships had to sail around the tip of South America. All arrangements must be made and paid for in cash in advance of transit and fees are based on tonnage; a different fee scale is used for laden ships and for ships in ballast.

It was a beautiful day and we spent all of it up on deck taking it in all the activity. For those who have not read any of the books on the building of the canal I’ll relay a few of the many things we learned.

In 1850 a canal railroad was built over a 300 year old mule trail. In the late 1800s a French Company attempted to build a canal but disease (malaria, plague, and yellow fever), rain, mud, scandal, corruption and the loss of 16-20,000 lives eventually bankrupted the company. The US negotiated a favorable treaty with Panama in 1903 and started construction. The geographically   stable area was a big consideration for the site of the canal.   

In 1904 Col. William Gorges undertook the problems of sanitation and the task of eliminating mosquito breeding areas in the jungle. Ten years later, in 1914, the canal was complete. It had taken 75,000 men to build this marvel, often referred to as one of the man made wonders of the world.

There are three locks 110-feet wide and 1050-feet long on each end of the canal. Each lock has two chambers, side by side, so ships can go in either direction at the same time. Four and a half million cubic feet of concrete were used for the locks and dam. The gates are seven feet thick. The drop and rise in each lock is 28 feet. The water drops 39-inches a minute through 18-inch culverts. All the water in the locks and lakes is fresh fed by the mighty Chagras and two smaller rivers.

The ship captain gives up  control of his ship to a canal pilot before the beginning of the transit. In the lock all operations are under the control of the lockmaster who sits in a small ‘lookout’ building—kind of like an airport control tower. Electric mules manage the lines once they are attached to ships in the locks. Each mule has an engineer sitting in the cab. General Electric built the original 39 mules for a total cost of $528,680. The new mules, built by Mitsubishi, cost  $2- million dollars each.

Miraflores Lake, at the end of the second lock, is a small lake with a yacht harbor at the north end. The Gaillard Cut, named for the engineer in charge of construction of this section, is now 500-feet wide, having been widened from its original 300-foot width. The cut is nine miles long and 40-feet deep.

The cook moved his kitchen onto the deck to provide us a wonderful BBQ lunch. He didn’t want us to miss any of the scenery.

In 1914 a mile long dam was built at the north end of Lake Gatun. The concrete spillway is clearly visible as you enter the Gatun locks. The dam is ½ mile wide at the base tapering to one hundred feet at the crest. It is 105’ above sea level and 20’ above the normal level of the lake. On the Atlantic side of the canal Gatun Lake is 87-feet above sea level. Gatun Lake was the largest man-made lake in the world until Lake Meade was created. It is a huge lake with many islands within its 164 square miles. The Smithsonian has a research center on Barrocaro Island, one of the larger islands. There are 140 miles of trails on that island, and it takes three to four months to obtain permission to land there.

The Atlantic entrance is 22 ½ miles west of the Pacific entrance. Because of the snake like direction of the canal the sun rises in the Pacific and sets in the Atlantic. The cost to build the Panama Canal was $400 million.

I made my transit before the canal control was handed over to Panama and there was a lot of controversy about it at the time. There also was a move afloat to enlarge the canal so newer bigger ships can transit it.

It was a long, hot, but exciting and informative day. I’m sure it becomes routine for the ship’s crew after a couple of transits, but for us it was a thrilling experience.

Columbus once described the Atlantic coast of the canal as a coast with contrary weather as it is most often rough. On our exit of the canal we were greeted with seven foot seas on the breach-- Columbus was right!

THE COTSWOLDS, ENGLAND

   Minack Theater   

         In the early 1920s a young girl named Rowena Cade had a vision of a theater by the bay to be built into the granite cliffside. She set out to accomplish just that. With the help of a couple men she did create and build a perfectly gorgeous theater in the most spectacular setting. The theater seats 750 and is truly magnificent. The acoustics are nearly perfect.

We watched part of a rehearsal for an upcoming play, and seated halfway in the theater we could hear everything word---without the use of any microphones. The summer theater season runs 17 weeks and puts on mostly Shakespearean plays.

            Ms. Cade never married. This was her life’s work. Fortunately she lived until 1983 so she could enjoy the fruits of her labors.  There were interruptions, like WW II and hardships along the way, but her dogged determination produced a positively lovely theater. Flowers were growing everywhere in the theater in the form of rock gardens. The ocean many many feet below made a wonderful backdrop for the theater.

            What a wonderful lasting legacy. The scenery and surroundings are superb!

 Unusual Wall Covering

          In one English castle I visited the walls in the ‘king' room were covered with the most magnificent Chinese wall paper. It actually consisted of many oblong canvas panels about 40 X 24", floor to ceiling.

A docent told us, “No two full-length panels are the same. The design depicts all seasons, except winter, with trees, flowers, and birds. About two feet from the floor on each panel you’ll see a different decorative vase/jar. The birds are done in pairs, but no two pair are the same.

            “In days of old, wallpaper was precious, and when one moved they took their wallpaper with them, therefore the ‘paper’ is not glued to the walls.”

 It appeared to be stretched canvas, and the designs matched perfectly at the seams. All I could think of was what a job it would be to move and reassemble all those panels—like a Chinese puzzle!

Bamberg, Germany

               BAMBERG’S CATHEDRAL

      In Bamberg, Germany it was a gradual uphill climb to the Cathedral where the docent said, “The Cathedral  is the origin of the city. The large 15^th century buildings along the side of the Cathedral  originally housed the kitchens and stables. In the Middle Ages the Cathedral was painted and the paint was not removed until the 19^th  century.  This is the third Cathedral built on this site. The first burned in 1007 and the second one also burned. This structure was built in 1237 and is of Romanesque and Gothic design. Instead of building from the ground up this was built from side to side.”

       Before going into the Cathedral we walked out to the rose garden which was in full bloom. The garden contains 4500 rose bushes in 40 varieties.  From here we had a panoramic view of the city below. It was a clear, cloudless, hot day. Easily visible were the old medieval curved streets with the houses built helter skelter, not in neat little rows. All the old buildings except the church had tile roofs. The church had  a slate roof. Slate had to be imported and only the church was rich enough to afford it.

        In the distance high on a hill we could see St. Michael’s, a monastery built in 1015. The docent told us, “There is a heavenly garden there---a flower fresco painted on a ceiling. At one time there were several orders of monks here including Franciscan, Benedictine, and Dominican. There are none now, and there are only four nuns left. Monks established the first brewery. During lent they fasted, but were allowed 4-5 liters of beer a day.”

       There was no stained glass in the church, as the windows were removed years ago. However, there has been discussion about replacing them. The columns inside were stone and there was statuary along the walls. Pope Clement I, who was pope only nine months, is buried in the church  making it  the only papal grave north of the Alps. The Prince Bishop was the religious, spiritual and political leader, something unique to southern Germany. The 16^th century sarcophagus contains the bodies of Henry II and his wife, Kunigunde.

      The docent explained, “The Bamberg Horseman (1235) here in the cathedral was the first life-size sculpture made. He is in 16 pieces and is attached to the wall. Note the crown over his head.  He symbolizes the order of things, first the ground and plants, then the animal, followed by man and finally God.”

      Moving onto the left side of the Cathedral, she continued, “This Christmas altar is carved of linden wood and dates to the 1520s. Over the centuries parts of it have been lost as we think it originally was twice the size of these five panels.” Then he briefly described what was depicted in each panel.

      Leaving the Cathedral the guide stopped by a pair of rather primitive 1000-year-old stone lions that once stood outside the original cathedral. It is not certain what effect a thousand years of weather have had on the lions or what they might have originally looked like. Very likely the sculptor never had seen a real lion. Locally the pair of creatures is nicknamed cathedral toads.

EDINBURGH CASTLE

        Or The Rock

It seems that everyone who goes to Scotland, runs up from England to spend a bit of time in Edinburgh, with of course a visit to the famous castle. Therefore, I hesitate to even write about the castle. Personally I love Glasgow and if I had to chose between the two cities I’d chose the lovely Victorian city over the more popular Edinburgh. If all you’ve seen is Edinburgh and you think you’ve seen Scotland, think again. The country has so much more to offer!

The majestic landmark, Edinburgh Castle, dominates the city’s skyline just as it has colored Scotland’s long and colorful, albeit bloody, history. The fort was built right into the rock, and good evidence of that can be seen as one walks around the castle. At one time 5000 people lived on the rock, today only about 500 live there. After New Town was built in the mid 1700s, people of means moved off the rock. Buildings were 12-14 stories high with no plumbing or running water. A warning shout of gardie loo was given before waste water was thrown out of the windows! Built on a plug of volcanic rock left by glaciers, there were seven barriers to get into the fort. After Mary, Queen of Scots’, husband stabbed her secretary, David Rizzio, 56 times in her presence, she moved to the castle not desiring to stay any longer  at Holyroodhouse. She delivered her son in the castle.

The castle has been a fortress, a palace, a military garrison, and a state prison. Much of the castle today is home to the military with men living in the barracks on the rock.

We climbed the tower to see the crown jewels as well as the 26 X 16-inch sandstone Stone of Destiny, weighing 336 pounds, housed there. In 1296 Edward I took the Stone of Destiny to England where it stayed under the coronation chair in Westminster Abbey. England returned the Stone of Destiny to Scotland in 1996 after holding it for 700 years. Several kings were crowned on the sandstone block.

Afterward, we stepped into the small 12^th century St. Margaret’s chapel which is the oldest building in Edinburgh. King David I dedicated it to his mother after she became a saint in 1250.

            The Castle cannon fires at 1PM each day as a time check. Our docent was cute when she said, “Most cities sound bells or some another signal at noontime, right?  But we’re Scots and we are frugal. If we send off the cannon at noon we have to shoot it 12 times, at one o’clock we only have to shoot it once.” 

            Believe it or not the crowd gathered, cameras were poised, and the cannon misfired! Why me?

            The castle was the last stop on a long city tour. After the cannon misfire we retreated to the café for a good lunch of summer cullen skink--- haddock and potato soup.Who could resist anything with a name like that? It was excellent. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch and respite before tacking the walk down the Royal Mile.

DACHAU

 The First POW Camp

At Dachau, the WW II concentration camp, just outside Munich, there are no docents so it is a self-guided tour. 

Dachau was being built in 1933, even before the war started! It was the first concentration camp and the only one that lasted the whole twelve years. It was constructed under the direction of Heimlich Himmler. There were only 30,000 documented deaths; the operative word here is documented. At the time of liberation it is estimated that at least 67,000 deaths had occurred.

Dachau became the model for other camps. It occupied a closed munitions factory. The first prisoners had to make electrical and plumbing repairs, build a fence, lookout towers and kitchen. By the end of 1933 prisoners numbered 2700. The camp was planned for 6000.

Looking at a map on display I counted 75 camps had been built by the end of 1935! Nine more were added between 1936-1939.  After 1939 and the start of the war, conditions within the Dachau deteriorated considerably.

On arrival each prisoner surrendered his property, his rights, and his human dignity. Men from 26 countries found themselves inside the walls of Dachau. At times 400 men were in a room meant for 50. The camp was liberated on May 1, 1945 and 2226 prisoners died after that from illness and starvation.

A memorial plaque in the front courtyard at Dachau reads: May the example of those who were exterminated here between 1933-1945, because they resisted Nazism help to unite the living for the defense of peace and freedom and in respect for their fellow man. The message is written in four languages on the black marble plaque.

Solidarity and brotherly love within the camp meant survival. For some reason the gas chamber at this camp was never used. No one seems to know why. All priests imprisoned were sent to Dachau and there were over 2000 of them. They were not prisoners, they were just sent there for protective custody!

Since this was my fourth concentration camp visit, I felt Dachau was rather sterile and of the four camps I found it the least compelling; maybe because this is a reconstructed memorial rather than the original camp. Others did not agree with me, especially those who had seen only Dachau.

Only one barracks was erected. Behind it was the foundation outline of others.

I have been unable to find how the original camp was destroyed or to what extent it was destroyed.  But the present memorial is from the efforts of those imprisoned there who somehow formed an organized effort to memorialize the camp after the war.