They say you can never go home again, but I think they are wrong…

September 23,2021

One suitcase to my name, on a ferry boat to Ancona I left Split at 18 years old. Scared but excited I started my new life abroad. Day later Split was attacked and my life changed forever. At times, I feel like a ship with no home.

Many years later I found myself walking down the streets of the old town, meeting friends and listening to the stories from my life long ago. Split changed, there are restaurants and shops everywhere, people from around the world…but its heartbeat stayed the same. If I close my eyes, I can still hear the old songs, laughter, and unique Dalmatian dialect, smell the aromas of bakalar and homemade cooking. The spirit of the people remains unchanged, defiant and a little mischievous. Dalmatians are known for their love. Love of music, drinking a good glass of vine, eating and most of all laughter.

Coming home was a journey in itself. These recent months have left me unsettled, restless, but as soon as I walked through these old streets with my family, my heart felt home. Split has thought me that no matter where I am in the world, no matter who I meet or what I do, my heart is and always will be in a small town on the Adriatic sea.

As Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr once said “Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts”. My roots will always take me back to Split, as it is here that my story started long ago, and no matter how far I go, I will always carry my Dalmatia in my heart.

Cesarica

Cilega života ja sam 'tija samo nju

Da do njenog srca nađem put

Cilega života moje tilo je bez nje

Ka' cviće bez vode

One of my favorite songs written by Gibonni, sang by legendary Oliver Dragojević who we lost few years ago. Memories live forever.

KL