Weekend 5: Croatia

October 01, 2023 Location: Zadar, Croatia

Weekend 5: Croatia

Thursday, September 28th

We didn't have class on Thursday in observance of St. Wenceslas Day. Because of the extra-long weekend, Christine and Katelyn planned a trip to Croatia that Lilly and I hopped on. They had booked an AirBnB for up to six people, but it was just the four of us.

We flew out around 2pm and landed in Zadar an hour later. We checked into the AirBnB, got dinner, and then had gelato at the beach. We tried out the AirBnB's hot tub, which was more like a luke-warm tub.

Dinner

Sunset at the beach

Friday, September 29th

I booked myself a walking tour of Zadar's Old Town on Friday morning. We were meeting at The Greeting to the Sun, which is a monument that "consists of three hundred, multi-layered glass plates placed on the same level as the stone-paved waterfront. It consists of a 22-meter diameter circle, with photovoltaic solar modules underneath...The entire system annually produces about 46,500 kWh...half of the energy needed for lighting the Zadar waterfront" (Wikipedia) and there's a "light show" each night after sunset. It was two miles from the AirBnB and I left early to make sure I had enough time to get there. I spent the extra time at the Sea Organ (an organ played by the sea), which is next to The Greeting to the Sun.

Sea Organ

Entrance to Old Town

Another view of the entrance

It was just Brian from Ireland and I on the tour. We saw a lot of churches and the shame column (when the city was under Roman rule, they would tie people to the column as a way of shaming them; the longer you were chained to the column, the more shame was bestowed upon you) and tried Moraschino, a liquor made from Morasca cherries, and locally-made cheese.

One of the churches

Main street

Another church -- St. Anastasia's body is in this one

Maraschino

Local cheese

Shame column

After the tour I got a pastry the guide recommended to me that ended up being breakfast, lunch, and dinner throughout the following 36 hours.

Looking at my pastry

Pastry looking at me

I met up with Christine, Lilly, and Katelyn at the beach. The beach was less of a beach and more of a choice between a rocky shoreline or a cement shoreline. Even without sand, it was nice to be by the sea.

This cement "dock" was our beach for the day

Me at the beach

Reading at the beach

Pastry at the beach

We went back into Old Town that night for dinner and dessert. I wanted to see The Greeting to the Sun light show while we were close by so I wouldn't have to make a separate trip the next night.

Entering Old Town

Strolling the streets before dinner

Dinner

Strolling the streets after dinner

Dessert

Me on The Greeting to the Sun

Us on The Greeting to the Sun

Scary movie

Saturday, September 30th

Sunrise

I had booked myself a day trip to Plitvice National Park. It was a 2-hour drive from Zadar, but definitely worth it. We hiked between the lakes and saw the largest waterfall in Croatia. We spent about two hours hiking the upper lakes, took a ferry to the picnic area where we had a 30-minute break for lunch, and then hiked another two hours around the lower lakes.

View on the drive

Boardwalk

Lake

Rainbow?

Pastry made a return for lunch

Small waterfall

Average-sized waterfall

Big waterfall (up close)

Big waterfall (far away)

There were some points throughout the hike where I couldn't help but be annoyed by the people constantly stopping to take pictures, especially if it was on an iPad. I've gotten good at taking pictures on the go and know when I can stop to take them without causing everybody behind me to stop in their tracks. The boardwalk also wasn't very wide and didn't have a railing, so it was impossible to pass anyone. At one point there was a man with a tripod taking up the whole boardwalk with at least 40 people waiting behind him. I can't imagine having gone during the typical visiting season, I probably would have shoved someone into the lake.

Please let me through

Do not fear -- I didn't let the frustration take away from the amazing scenery!

I got back to Zadar around 3pm, stopped by the Sea Organ, treated myself to some ice cream because I'd already walked 25,000 steps that day, and met up with everyone else at the beach where I'm proud to announce that I did go in the water! I stayed there to read while they went out to dinner because I still had two-thirds of a pizza in the fridge.