May continues to be a very busy travel month for us and this weekend is no different. This time, we are off to Croatia for more travel adventures in a new, unexplored country. We flew to Zadar early on Friday and had a whole day to tour the city. After landing, (apparently) everyone on our flight booked rental cars through Hertz, thus we had to wait in line for an additional thirty minutes after passing through customs (Croatia is not in the Schengen Area). Luckily, we had some free entertainment while waiting; two pilots performed airplane acrobatics around Zadar's airport. Once we confirmed our reservation, we slowly drove to our rental apartment through an abundance of road work, although; that was the least of our inconveniences. Our booking agent (from HomeAway) provided little information on their location, making this venture more of a scavenger hunt than helpful directions. We needed to look for a "landmark" (restaurant) and our destination could be found "a short distance away;" challenge accepted.
Apartment found!!!
View of Adriatic from balcony
Our attempt to use the GPS failed, bringing us to an area near some construction dumpsters with a great view, but less homely than desired. Eventually, we found the (landmark) restaurant, but still struggled to locate the apartment with twenty-plus homes to choose from and no house number disclosed. Returning to the restaurant, Julie asked the owner if he could help us, but he didn't speak English. Fortunately, he spoke German and I was able to garner enough information on distance, locale, and house number. We made it! Apparently, (and to our surprise) we were lucky enough to have someone there when we arrived an hour past our scheduled meeting at 12:00 on Friday. There appeared to be some confusion during our correspondences; the renter thought we were going to arrive at midnight (0:00, not 12:00 anywhere in Europe) and not noon. Regardless, we were able to check-in and settle. For the remainder of the afternoon and evening, we foraged for lunch and would later explore Zadar.
Roman Forum
Saint Donatus and Saint Anastasia Bell Tower
Streets of Zadar
Before heading to Zadar, we thought we would eat in the nearby town of Biograd na Moru, where Julie had found a restaurant with solid reviews and was relatively close. Unfortunately, everything went the opposite to plan. Biograd na Moru was ten minutes away and finding a parking spot proved to be of great difficulty. Well, not finding parking, but a means to pay severely complicated the menial task. I squatted on the spot while Julie went to get change for the parking machine that wouldn't accept paper notes or credit/debit cards. For fifteen minutes I watched yachts and boats come to the dockside gas station, but no signs of Julie (had she been taken...? do I have to go Liam Neesson*...?). I continued my duty in the event a parking attendant neared while expanding my outpost radius, but; still no sign of Julie.
Bell in a bell tower...so literal
Fibonacci staircase
Ha-zaah!!! you made it to the top
Turns out, she went to the same convenience store numerous times to exchange coins the machine instantaneously denied. Her frustrations were compounded by an increased hunger level, creating a perfect storm of frustration, irritation, and exacerbated disgruntlement - an emotional whirlwind I unassumingly took head-on. My unbridled optimism for the day's adventure was welcomed by silence and scorn, an unusual greeting (yet, mirrored most of the Croatian disposition in our experiences). Although, after enjoying some calamari and mussels (at the first restaurant we found, not the one intended), I learned of the worst parking experience ever. A language barrier and the refusal of the vendor to exchange the coins (that didn't work) for others of the same value without making and additional purchase (apparently coins for coins was too difficult a task) resulted in a shouting match. I was a little bit disappointed to have missed such a grand event, but Biograd has officially received Julie's stamp of disapproval - it was time to get out of dodge.
View from tower, looking west
View north and northeast (left to right)
Getting back in the car, we drove back through all the road work, but fared better, hitting all the green lights along the way. We parked outside Zadar and proceeded to walk into town from the east gate. We quickly discovered a centrally located tourist information center and acquired an ever important city map. Outside the center we saw the City Sentinel, a clock tower and what appeared to be a church we could visit. However, when trying to enter, we were miffed. There was a woman sitting at a counter of a confusing museum/restaurant combination (not entirely sure what was going on) - quickly having us redirect ourselves towards the Church of Saint Donatus (Crkva Sveti Donata). There was an admission to enter, but we have an aversion to pay to see something we have seen hundreds of in Europe - we have no problem avoiding fee-based churches (some exceptions).
Self-portrait
Small marina near city gate
Kopnena Vrata (City Gate)
Next to Saint Donatus is Saint Anastasia Cathedral Bell Tower (Katedrala Sveti Anastazije) which also had a fee to walk up, but a more palatable price for the city-wide panoramic view from the top. Leaving the tower, we walked around the corner to the Roman Forum; location of ruins, Saint Mary's Church (Samostan Benediktinki Sveti Marije), and a path leading to the Adriatic Sea.
Sunset over the Adriatic
Sun still setting
Going, going, almost gone
We proceeded along the promenade parallel to the sea and made our way north to the Sea Organ (Morske orgulje) - a seaside instrument continuously played by the ebb and flow of waves crashing into a series of pipes under the dock. We enjoyed the resonating sea symphony and listened to the soothing sounds of the organ, finding much needed solace long after the parking fiasco. We returned here Sunday night following a visit to the Plitvice Lakes Naional Park to watch the sunset on our last day. When leaving the sea organ, we followed path along the water to a small harbor near the City Gate (Kopnena Vrata). We took a few pictures of the gate and later had dinner`(calamari and mussels of course) to end our visit to Zadar.
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