#3069 The Trip: Zadar, Croatia

 

ussie by the Adriatic Sea in Zadar, Croatia

Zadar was not on the original itinerary. Our last port of call was supposed to be in Slovenia, but a few weeks before the cruise, I received an email from Norwegian Cruise Lines letting me know that we would be stopping in Zadar instead. We hadn't planned an excursion for the stop in Slovenia, so we were ambivalent about the change except that we would have had another country on our list. The upside is that we were the only ship in port (!) in Zadar, so it was pretty wonderful. 

As was the case with most ports on this cruise, we decided to just go out and wander around. It was another scorching hot day, and the port was about a half hour walk to the old town, so we decided to take a taxi. Our driver told us the old town was small so we would have no problem seeing everything we wanted in a short amount of time. I'd looked up a few things for us to see, and we were able to see most of them. Here are some photos:

the Land Gate

I just want to point out the winged lion above the arch of the gate. The winged lion is the symbol Venice. The Venetians ruled Zadar for various stretches of time, the longest being from the 1400s to the 1700s. Zadar is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Croatia and in Europe with its origins traced back to the 9th century BC.

clock tower in the People's Square

bell tower of St. Anastasia Cathedral

Notice how few people there are! There is actually empty space on the sidewalk!

St. Donatus Church, the Roman Forum, and the bell tower

Yes, of course the Romans were here, too. They were here in Zadar from approximately 59 BC to 476 AD. St. Donatus Church is from medieval times, completed in the 9th century. 

Cathedral of  St. Anastasia 

MT and T decided to climb the bell tower for the views. Since I was melting, I found a shaded seat at a cafe and had a Coke while they climbed. There was a mass going on in the Cathedral, and when it let out, the bells started ringing and it lasted a long time. MT and T got out of the tower just before the bells rang! They enjoyed a cold beverage in the shade, then we decided to walk by the sea. There is a beautiful walking path along the sea. I don't know why I didn't take more photos, but here is one that MT took of me:

I'm in Zadar, Croatia!

One of the coolest things in Zadar is the sea organ. There are pipes built in to the walkway by the sea and when water flows into the pipes, it makes musical sounds. It's kind of eerie-sounding, but also calming. If I could figure out how to share my video, I would so you could hear it, but I don't know how to do that. I could have sat there for a long time listening to those sounds, but there was no shade by the sea organ, and it was hot! We started walking back toward the ship.

We passed by this Soviet-era apartment building:

that is not beautiful architecture

We spent some time looking at stuff in this open-air market:

souvenirs!

We walked back to the sea and found a cool statue:

statue of Spiro Brusina

Spiro Brusina was a naturalist and noted malacologist, which is a person who studies mollusks. He is apparently quite famous in Zadar. What an awesome spot for a statue of a man who studied sea creatures.

As we got back into the town, there were a couple more things on my list. The first was Five Wells Square.

5 Wells Square

These wells used to be part of the cistern built by the Venetians to supply Zadar with water with help from the aqueduct the Romans built previously. The square is large and easily accessible. There are many cafes around the perimeter. Behind the square, where the trees are, is the other place I wanted to see, Queen Jelena Madijevka Park. It was so lovely, and like most green spaces, there weren't a lot of people there. It is quite big; we only saw a bit of it, and it was so pretty. Look at this view!

Queen Jelena Madijevka Park

I wish we would have walked on the city walls, which this park is part of, but we were hot, tired, and hungry, so we found a taxi to take us back to the ship. 

Zadar has some really nice beaches, and many of our fellow passengers took a beach day here. I think that would have been nice as long as there was a cafe or somewhere I could have sat in the shade. I don't much like getting in the sea because I can't swim and I'm afraid of sea creatures. Plus, I think my sun-worshipping days are behind me because skin cancer is no fun. I enjoyed walking around Zadar, but it was really f**ing hot!

Here's a view of the city from the ship:

view of Zadar, Croatia from cruise ship

That ends of the cruise portion of The Trip. Our final port was Ravenna, Italy where we disembarked and started the last leg of the vacation in Venice with a stop in Comacchio.  I'll be writing about Comacchio and our first night in Venice in the next post. 

xo

#3068 The Trip: Split, Croatia

 

ussie in Split

For our stop in Split, we decided to buy a Game of Thrones (GoT) themed tour from the ship. The menfolk have watched the series a couple of times through, and I've caught glimpses of it while they watched, just enough to recognize and name some characters like Daenerys, Jon Snow, and Cersei. I also know Peter Dinklage is in it, but I didn't know his character's name. I also know there are dragons in the show. 

When we got out to the busses, there was a guy in a shirt that said "I drink and I know things" and I was thinking, "Okay, sir." Turns out that guy was our guide and that shirt is a GoT shirt with a saying from one of the characters, Tyrion Lannister. I would come to find out that Tyrion is Peter Dinklage's character. Needless to say, our guide, Ivica (Johnny in English), was a GoT dude who was really into it! For the most part, I had no idea what or who he was talking about for several hours, but I had a ton of fun on the tour. Now I am watching GoT and I get what the fuss is about. It's an epic story!

Anyway, here are some GoT related pics. I won't go into details because I don't remember and I don't think the seven of you who read this are really into GoT anyway, so it doesn't matter LOL

We left the city and drove up to the mountains to the town of Klis where this fortress as featured in seasons 4 -6. It was desperately hot, but the views were amazing!

the fortress is up on the hill above the town

had to walk up a large hill to get to the fortress itself

there were gobs of people

the view of Split and the surrounding islands was great

We rode back to the city and went into Diocletian's Palace. It's a pretty big draw in Split, but for our purposes on the GoT tour, we were interested in only a few spaces in the palace, and the main draw was the dragon's dungeon. Apparently, this is where the dragons had to go when they were naughty.

I managed a photo without any people!

From there, we went out of the dungeon to an area that was so incredibly packed with people that I can't even tell you where I was. Ivica did stop to tell us about this sphinx. It is Egyptian from the 15th century BC and was brought to Split by Emperor Diocletian around 297 AD. It's been there for 2000 years! That's just mind-boggling to me. It got cracked in an earthquake, I think he said.

Split's sphinx

there were gobs of people

When the tour was over, we left the palace and walked around the rest of the old town where we saw some incredible Venetian architecture, a giant statue that looked like a wizard but is actually a statue of Gregory of Nin, a Game of Thrones store which actually has an Iron Throne in it, and a Game of Thrones museum. We did not wait in the line for the photo opportunity, but we did go in the store. 

Game of Thrones Museum (we didn't go in)

Venetian architecture in a plaza

more Venetian architecture

Palace gate

statue of Gregory of Nin

We wandered around buying souvenirs, eating gelato, and sweating. (It was really hot!) On our way back to the ship, we walked along the pretty promenade that has palm trees, cafes, and local artisans selling their wares. At the end of that street, we came upon an open air market with lots of shade, so we had to go over there to look around.

flower stalls at the local market

We were quite tired and quite hot, so we headed back to the ship for a late lunch and drinks on the pool deck. 

view of Split from the ship

Overall, I'd say that I like Split, and I would like to go back when there are not four or more cruise ships in port. I would be glad to see more of Diocletian's Palace someday. The Game of Thrones tour was fun! Ivica, the guide, was funny and knowledgeable about the show. He had a few insider stories because his neighbor was an extra, or so he says. It may or may not be true, but it made it more fun. He also had still photos of GoT that he held up in exactly the spots the scenes were filmed. I thought that bit was really cool.

We're coming up on our final port of call, Zadar, Croatia. See you soon!

xo

#3050 it's good to go on vacation, and it's good to come home

 

family ussie in front of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice

26 days, including travel days.

Seven airports.

Five countries visited.

17 tours/excursions (some days had two separate tours.)

15 locations.

12 places I'd never been before. 

Six habitations - five cities plus a cruise ship.

311,289 steps for me over 25 days.

Transportation included planes, cars, train, cruise ship, buses, water taxis, and boats.

One birthday celebration.

Lots of family time.

SO. MANY. PHOTOS.

I'm looking forward to reliving the trip here over the summer. I hope you'll check back to see the photos and read my thoughts about this epic vacation.

Now I have to go pet my dogs again and hydrate. Jet lag is real, and I'm living it right now.

Talk to you soon!

xo

#3000 (!!!) pdin 19 Paris to Prague

First things first...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LIZZIE!!

CHEERS!

I could go on and on about how cool my sister is. She is simply one of the best people I know, and hanging out with her makes me feel happy. I'm not with her today, sadly, but I will see her next month and I already know we will have a good time.

~~~~~~~~~

Once you get on Viking Cruises mailing list, you get a lot of mail from them, both emails and real mails. Yesterday I got a Viking mailer that was a single card, front and back, with their Thanksgiving Sale trips. One of the advertised trips is called Cities of Light: 12 days Paris to Prague. I thought this trip sounded great. Paris! Prague! The thing is that Paris and Prague are not near each other. Germany is in between them, so most of the trip is through Germany, then you get on a bus to get to Prague. As cool as I'm sure Germany would be, I am really most interested in the cities on either end of the trip, Paris and Prague, so this probably isn't the trip I am looking for now. Not that I'm looking for another river cruise, but Viking sends the material, so why wouldn't I look?

There is a Viking cruise that I think would be cool. It's called Paris and the Heart of Normandy. I would like to spend a bit of time seeing France. 

France likely will not be my next big trip though. I've got my sights set on going back to Spain and seeing more than the Barcelona/Costa Brava area. I'd love to see the Alhambra in Granada, the capital city of Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, and probably other cities that I've heard of but don't have written down. Of course, I also want to spend time in Barcelona as well. I am looking forward to planning this trip!

I'm definitely in my Europe era. My 40s was the island era, and while I'd like to sit by the sea and stare, Europe calls to my soul. There are so many places in Europe that I want to see! I'd like to go to Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries. Switzerland would be amazing. I saw a video on IG of a train ride through Switzerland that looked fantastic. Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia...the list goes on and on. I want to go back to Italy. There are many places I'd like to spend time in there like Bologna, the Tuscan hill towns, and the southern part of the country, too. 

For now, though, I'm looking forward to staying home and finding out how I will pass the time when I no longer have to go to work.  I have lots of ideas - I'll tell you some of them tomorrow!