Tag: Europe

The Most Beautiful Library

Paying my €8, I grumbled about the cost of a visit to, what was in fact, one room. I soon regretted my grumbles. This ended up being the best €8 I spent in Vienna by a country mile.

The State Hall aimed to be a demonstration of grandeur and power when it was first built. A show of grandeur and status. Baroque in style, it was designed to embody excess to the fullest, containing huge detailed domes and floor to ceiling bookcases.

Like something out of a fairytale, the artwork on the ceiling depicts the different types of books housed in the library – science, art, philosophy and music. A handy electronic guide highlighted sections of the ceiling and their meanings, providing a more detailed understanding of the imagery.

Currently housing around 200,00 books, the hall is two stories high, boasting huge bookcases that, to my delight, opened up to reveal yet more books in the hidden rooms behind. It was easy to imagine the secrets they might hold.

Darkened bookcases, ladders leading up to dusty tomes and ominous statues decorated the library. Person-sized globes were dotted between the bookcases. Imagine everything you think should be in a library located in a magical kingdom and this place would live up to the expectation.

As an avid reader and someone who loves nothing more than to curl up with a good book, this place captured my heart immediately. The romance and mystique of the hall was permeable from the first step over the threshold.

I was lost in imaginings of how this place would look when it was first built. Flickering candles lighting the towering rows of books, the watchful eyes of the central statues and the lone reader, curled into a semi- comfortable corner, surrounded by the familiar bookish smells, their world only perforated by the crinkle of the page.

Adding to the mythology of the hall, Gia and Atlas stand on the roof outside, holding up the globe and watching over the hall. The two huge pillars on either side of the hall, know as The Pillars of Hercules seem to push against the oppressive weight of the books, stopping them from closing in on the tiny visitors in the room below. It was as though this room, built by giants and filled with mythology had allowed the mortals to roam its halls for a day, sharing some of its dusty secrets.

Sunset Boat Trip

One of the best ways to get a sense of a place is to have a view of the shoreline. That way, you get to see the whole of the city, wrapped up, postcard perfect, containing everyone as they go about their lives. Split was no different and sailing away from the shore slowly removed the bustle of the city. The sounds faded. Our boat was quiet, and the sound of the sea soon took over.

The outline of towers and buildings set against the silhouette of the mountains in the distance was captivating. We had been promised incredible sunsets and Croatia delivered. I’m a bit of a sunset/ sunrise collector (see here for more pictures from our travels) and this was definitely one of the more memorable.

The further out to sea we traveled, the more the light faded, creating beautiful patterns on the waves. Lights glimmered from the houses on the shore and beach stragglers waved to the boat as we passed.

As the temperature dropped and we sat in near total darkness, the trip back to the city brought burning lights – creating a snapshot of a city brought to life.

Is that a Wizard or is he just taking a selfie?

One of the most striking sights around the Diocletian’s Palace is the huge statue of, what appears to be, a giant wizard.

We found him outside the Golden Gate of the palace, towering over the walls and surrounded by onlookers and two Roman guards (actually, two dudes in fancy dress, but who’s checking?!).

Despite looking like a wizard, the statue is actually of Grgur Ninski. Playing a huge role in preserving the old Croatian language and supporting catholic practices in local languages rather than in Latin, our tour guide described him as a symbol of national pride.

She told us a further story about how the statue had moved locations a number of times, with locals protecting it from destruction before it was located in its current resting place. The way our tour guide told it, the statue had been broken down into small pieces and hidden across different locations until it was safe to reunite the statue in a safer location.

The biggest stand out feature of the statue is his huge, shiny toe! The toe has been worn smooth by thousands of visitors rubbing it for good luck or to have their wishes granted. So much so that the toe is now a completely different colour to the rest of the statue.

Although an imposing statue, it feels completely at home in its current location, watching over the palace walls.

It’s stories like this that peppered our visit to Split, learning more about the history and culture from the stories of locals – in my opinion, that’s the best way to learn.

Diocletian’s Palace and the Basements Below

Diocletian’s Palace is a sprawling network of twisting, turning streets, ruins and basements. Whilst the palace walls house the marbled streets above, below street level are a warren of passages more fitting for a horror set than a palace of wealth.

Most famous for their use in Game of Thrones, as a place to keep dragons, the basements have an interesting history.

They have only recently been cleared out and made accessible (some parts are still closed off) following a clean up operation spanning the last 50 years.

Filled with debris, rubbish and rubble over the years from the development works above, the basements had become an inaccessible time capsule, the hallways blocked with remnants of the changes taking place.

Slowly, the basements have been cleared, opening up section by section to the public. We overheard this story from one of the tour guides, her disembodied voice echoing through the underground rooms to where we stood, looking up at one of the huge piles of remaining rubble. It was amazing to think that the high ceilings and pillars had recently been hidden by the things discarded by the people in the city.

Walking through the basements, dimly lit with the sound of water dripping down the walls was a haunting experience, contrasting with the bustle from the markets in the halls above. The only noise echoing though the corridors was the rustle of birds and the slight echoing of other tourist’s footsteps. At least I hope that’s what it was……