Split (Croatia)

Since we were only carrying passengers for one of our legs today, we (me and Charlie W.) asked our schedulers if we could remain in Croatia for some sightseeing. Our request was approved and we then convinced the rest of our crew to go on the adventure with us.  After checking out of the Capo Inn at NSA Naples this morning, we departed (early) from Capodichino and had an easy flight to the Dalmatian Coast (landed early).  With the passengers offloaded, we had six hours to explore! Because the airport looked to be pretty far from the historic center of Split, we rented cars and drove into the old city.  We immediately located a palace of the Emperor Diocletian - wow! The architecture was spectacular and there were lots of churches, Roman artifacts and open air markets in the vicinity. After several hours of exploring, we sat on the harbor front to have some lunch. We asked the waiter for a local specialty and he brought out a stew with gnocchi - it was good! After some shopping in the markets, we had to head back to the airport. The crew was universal in their approval of the time we'd had and happily got the aircraft ready for our departure.  [Our flight back to Sicily was uneventful.  Staying at Bachelor Housing for NAS Sigonella.] It was a great day!