Three Nights In Zadar

After discovering the Sea Organ and Sun Salutation I sat on the wall to reflect on how glad I was that I didn't just hop on the next bus to Split (more about Split later). It was just before 7AM and it the weather was perfect. As I sat there, two lovely young women in sun dresses were walking along the embankment. The only thing better than a lovely young woman in a sun dress is a lovely young woman taking off her sun dress and jumping off the embankment into the water for a swim.

I knew then that Zadar was a special place. On a hunch I took out my phone and went to 'wifi settings'. Yup. Free wifi all over Zadar. From there I pretty much followed my nose into the heart of Zadar. After breakfast I found a place to stay in the heart of town for €37 a night and wandered around until 11:30 when I could be let in.

Like most of the smallish Croatian cities I've been to, there is a charming old part of town surrounded by some modern sprawl. The heart of Zadar is a 9th century church that was built alongside the ruins of a Roman forum. My cheapo room was in a perfect spot in the middle of the old city.

Ive been staying in 'guest houses' in Croatia. They're like pensiones in Spain in that the rooms are good, with a/c and wifi but there is no front desk so you have to coordinate with the owner to be let in. I can't imagine why anyone would pay double the price to stay in a proper hotel.

I realized another benefit of the Dalmation coast over Istria; it's a lot cheaper. Maybe because it's harder to get to from mainstream Europe. I'd say Dalmatia is about 2/3rds the cost of Istria. So anyway I decided to stay there for a couple of days.

The second day was kind of a waste - but a cheap kind of a waste I guess. Just more walking around for the most part. I was thinking about moving on when I read Robbie's message about Plitvice Park. It turns out that Zadar is the perfect place to visit it from. The organized excursions cost €75 and include a guide, transport, entry to the park (which is about €25), breakfast and lunch. The tourist office suggested I take a bus by myself and pay the fee, saving me €30 but I needed to socialize a little so I did the excursion and I'm glad I did.

The park is stunning. I guess it's a rare phenomenon that results in pools of crystal clear water that continually cascade into one another. Apparently the geology results in mineral deposits that define the pools into miniature lakes. Depending on the time of year and the weather, waterfalls form, promoting the cascades and further cleansing the water. I've never seen anything like it. Some of it almost looks man made.

To get from one part of the park to another you have to take a boat. Our guide told us we'd be taking a boat from the lower lake to the upper lakes. I pictured some sort of an uphill lake.

Anyway, thanks Rob! Not only did he read the inflight magazine but somehow remembered the name of the park. I'm very impressed. As Jill would say, what ya guy!