Zadar

The town Zadar is a couple hours north of Trogir (well, with normal people driving it would be, but it took us 4 hours) and the main attraction is this thing called the Sea Organ (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_organ ). The sound was so captivating, hypnotic and indescribable.  I recorded it on my phone, but can't figure out how to upload a sound file to this blog - maybe after I get home I'll figure out how to do it. But it was really, really cool.  Totally worth the somewhat-out-of-the-way drive, just to have this surreal musical experience.  Even with the crazy crowds, the Sea Organ was truly worth the visit.

Near the Sea Organ is another art installation called Salutation to the Sun, made of hundreds of solar panels that light up after dark for a fun disco-like experience. 

Other than our fantastic hotel, the rest of Zadar wasn't much different from Trogir - very heavy Italian influence, old Roman ruins, etc. 

Krka, Biljane Donje

After Trogir, we began the journey towards Zadar, our next destination.  Have I mentioned that my friend Shannon lied about being able to drive a stick shift and I've had to do all the driving on this trip?  :-)  Yep, she did.  And for the entire trip our driving has taken us at least TWICE as long as it's supposed to.  Sometimes it's our own doing, like when we stopped to have lunch in a castle, or when we made a detour to the beautiful Krka National Park to go swimming in the lake!

We pulled into a rest stop for some coffee on the drive to Zadar.  While there we checked just to see how far we were from Krka, and it turns out we were really close!  So we made a detour and managed to jump into the lake for a quick cool down. It was really breathtaking. Since we were swimming we didn't bring our cameras, but just do a Google image search for Krka National Park and you'll get the idea.  :-)

Feeling a little more refreshed after our lake dip (have I mentioned that Croatia is in the middle of a brutal heatwave for the past couple weeks?), we got back on the road, driving through the countryside to Zadar. We passed this lady and her goats and stopped to take a photo:

As we drove further we started passing buildings that looked like they were falling apart...old bombed out buildings left from the war in the early '90's. One little town in particular was really sad (Biljane Donje) - there is a mass grave there from the Croatian War for independence from Yugoslavia. More than one person has brought up the war to us - it's still fairly fresh in the minds of many Croats.

We didn't take a ton of pictures along this leg, but here are a few. The student driver cracked us up.

Trogir

We've moved much further north in Croatia, out of the Dalmatian region and into Central Croatia.  There is definitely a different vibe here. In the south, there is more of a relaxed Mediterranean feel to life. Where we are now feels more like Rome - busier, slightly less welcoming, but still fascinating.  

Yesterday morning we left Split and drove about 1 hour to a small seaside town called Trogir. The towns in this region center around old Roman ruins, and this one was no different.  But Trogir has restored and preserved many of the ruins, and there are some very old churches still standing in the town.  If you've ever traveled to Italy, this place will give you a little déjà vu. Beautiful, nonetheless!

An Adventurous Day, Indeed

Dubrovnik was absolutely amazing - every where I turned was just incredibly beautiful. We walked along the old city walls, took a boat out to an island and hiked around, rode the cable car up above the city, and sweat our asses off. It was awesome!  

Today we started our morning with a delicious chocolate croissant and cappuccinos before we began (what should have been) a 4-hour drive to Split.  The drive out of Dubrovnik was just as breathtaking as the city, but we soon realized that we needed gas for the car and we were in the middle of nowhere.  We have a GPS in the rental car, but in trying to find gas she almost made us do a Thelma and Louise off the side of a mountain. We ended up waaaaaayyyyyy high up on a mountain-top dirt road, pretty terrified. Here is a view from the front seat:

And a reaction shot  :-)

Eventually we found our way back to the main road, no thanks to the GPS, and made it to a gas station just in time to avoid having to hitchhike the rest of the way.

New Rule: when you see a castle off in the distance, always go to it!  We took a detour to a place called Ston and Mali Ston, these little towns made in an old fortress, connected by a 5 km wall. We had the most wonderful lunch by the water, in an old turret or guard tower. It was very cool!

The waiter talked us into a local dessert, a chocolate "cake" made out of pasta noodles! It was weird and delicious.

Back on the road, we drove for a while and came upon an elaborate toll booth. There were two booths to stop at, and at each the guard just waved us through without speaking to us or taking our money.  After driving a bit, we realized that what we had passed through was not a toll booth, but actually a BORDER CROSSING into Bosnia Herzegovina. We drove around a bit in Neum until we found our way to the next "toll booth" and at this one the guard lady said "passports" but by the time we pulled them out of our purses she was waving us through.  Strangest border crossing I've ever seen!

A couple hours later we found our way to Split, but again the GPS gave us crappy directions.  We drove around for at least 30 minutes in the vicinity of our hotel, trying to find it. Some old men yelled at us, we drove around in circles past them at least 4 times. Finally we stopped and called the hotel and they sent a nice man named Carlos to rescue us! He found us and jumped in the car, but as my husband can attest I am incapable of parallel parking a vehicle. Carlos tried really hard to guide me into a spot, but the three of us were all laughing so hard (at me) that we all finally gave up and drove around until I found a spot to park ON THE SIDEWALK. I parked that car on a sidewalk like a boss!!!

Split is pretty cool, but both Shannon and I agree that we prefer Dubrovnik and the countryside. In Split, the Old Town is a UNESCO heritage site and it's really neat - an old palace built by Diocletian that's 2000 years old is what the entire city is built inside and around. Inside the walls of the palace are hundreds of shops and restaurants and promenades where people hang out and walk around. Very cool.

Driving in Croatia

Today we drove from Dubrovnik to Split. It was an ADVENTURE - more on that later. Just happy to have wifi again and be out of the car!!!!!!

I can't believe how beautiful this place is!

Dubrovnik

Shannon and I successfully navigated multiple airports and connected in Dubrovnik yesterday. Our hotel doesn't have wifi in the rooms because they "want people to enjoy their holiday" so I can't upload any pictures right now, but it is BREATHTAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL here!! Today we are going to explore the old city   of Dubrovnik, gotta go catch our bus!

Suburb of Zagreb

I arrived in Zagreb yesterday evening, grabbed a taxi to my hotel, took an amazing post-travel shower (those are just THE BEST), and then passed out for 10 hours straight. Bad news is I didn't get out and about...I didn't even eat dinner.  Good news is that today I'm no longer jet-lagged and I'm ready to rock!

Woke up feeling starved and had a yummy breakfast at the hotel - I just love vegetables for breakfast. If only I could make myself prepare a breakfast like this every day at home! 

Because I have to catch another flight in a few hours, I booked a hotel that is close to the airport and not in the city. It's a beautiful little suburb of Zagreb called Velika Mlaka. Other than proximity to the airport, I don't know why they built a hotel smack dab in the middle of a residential neighborhood, but that's where it is! Unfortunately I don't have a car yet, so I just wandered around the neighborhood this morning, sweating my ass off at 9am and waving at the neighbors.

Croatia seems to have a lot of space - the homes are on bigger lots than I expected and there are plenty of open areas, lots of undeveloped space. It's nice. And the homes are quite beautiful  and modern.

The silence is also striking - in between the occasional car or motorbike driving by, it's very quiet. You can hear all the birds chirping, children playing in their homes, and the infrequent dog barking.  I guess it's because nobody has A/C here, there's very little noise pollution. Peaceful!

Speaking of dogs barking, I noticed these signs on people's gates.  After the first few I realized that they are custom / individualized and started taking pictures. 

That last one is my favorite - I think it must say "Warning - Dragon Wolf!" 

This final bit I don't really have an explanation for. It was difficult to get a good picture of the rear because the homeowner was laying out topless right behind the statues and I didn't want her to think I was taking pictures of her. But this little cluster of statues flanked her driveway / garage. Made me laugh!

Yes, that's a Prince-style assless dress on a statue.

Almost there

I've arrived in Amsterdam, a giant airport that seems to be always under construction. Getting from one part of the airport to another is quite a hike! On the departure and arrival screens, they actually show how much time you need to give yourself to get to the gate.  

I always forget that the rest of the world thinks "air conditioning" is about 8-10 degrees higher than what I consider to be air conditioning.  I suppose all the sweating this week will be a good detoxifier for me!

An Adriatic Adventure Awaits!

I'm leaving Thursday to spend a week in Croatia with my friend Shannon. Can't wait to sink my toes into the pebbly beaches of the Adriatic coast!