Day 2 - Zadar

 

Flag of Croatia

Today we disembarked in Croatia, our 60^th country.  Croatia was once part of the Republic of Venice, the Austria-Hungarian Empire, the USSR, but has been its own country since 1991 (a year longer than Theresa and I have been married).  Zadar has been a settled area for over 3000 years, so it’s not really “new”.

"Croinut"

We had breakfast in the main dining room, and tried to eat enough since lunch would be late.  But, didn’t want to stuff ourselves.  We shared a “Croinut” (cross between a croissant and a donut and absolutely stuffed with chocolate cream).  It was NOT the goal of eating substantively.  But, we’ll get over it!

An early breakfast was critical as there was a lecture on exploration...or something.  It didn't exactly line up with expectations.  But it was decent.

Lecture time!

The Dalmatian Coast

The departure was (honestly) a little dysfunctional.  They seemed to have too many excursions at the same time, so there was a huge line.  Anyway, we got out slot, and out to wait for the bus.  We headed to the “Old Town” and dock next to Old Town.  We got a little tour.  There is a big …thing? An art display with over 300 solar cells that collects sunlight and then “gives it back in a multicolored display of light” at night.  (That makes no sense to Bill.)  And another "art" display that set up a series of tubes to harness the tide and waves to create an “organ-like” “music”.  Honestly, it was a little cacophonic, but OK.  It’s “art”.  We were intrigued at seeing people swim, since being in Venice, where it was not legal to swim in the channels, it seemed starkly odd.

Welcome to Hrvatska?

An ancient city wall from Roman times.

The Adriatic Sea

A "roman forum" in Zadar.

The Cathedral was built on the ruins of the Roman Forum columns.

Columns from the centuries.

Old and New.  The Roman "gods" and the Catholic church.

An image of "Jupiter" and the ruins of the the altar.
The groove was a drain for the blood of the sacrifices to "Jupiter".

St. Anastasia Church.

When we got a few free moments, we jumped into St. Anastasia church.  It was good to be in some sort of cool shade, as Theresa was getting heat stressed.  We went into the crypt, which was very interesting (and also cooler!).  Bill went out to climb the tower and see the city from the peak.  It was 3 Euros, and 180 steps (as I counted). 

Back on the bus, we headed toward this overlook of the sea.  But first, the A/C in the bus cut out.  So, we pulled off to the side and the driver trouble shot the issue, and finally got it going again.  Yikes!  Anyway, we got to the top, and they really were great views, but it was almost 4PM and we hadn’t eaten since 8AM.  They served a Fig liqueur, which was tasty, but hard to enjoy as hot as we were.

The angel rotates to face the wind.

A random courtyard we came across.

In the crypt of St. Anastasia

The altar in the crypt.

Inside St. Anatasia.

One of the bells in the tower.

A view from the tower.

The Cathedral in Zadar.

The walk platform on top of the tower.

The bells.

Closer to the bells.

Once, there was no grate to keep us back.

Time to go down!

He said it was only 200 meters...but...?

A nice overlook of the islands in the Adriatic Sea.

Lake Vrana and the islands.

Us!

Smokva Fig Liqueur (served at the overlook)

Maybe I took the road less traveled...?

Finally!  Lunch!

FINALLY, we went to the place for lunch.  It was an old Moorish fortress, and frankly the food was REALLY good.  But it was almost 5PM.  It would have been so much better at 2PM.  But it was good.  Wine was included, but Theresa decided the beer sounded better, so we got that for her.  It was a good beer, and adds a good Croatian beer to our list of experiences.  (No McD, unfortunately) 

We got back to the room and just spent time cooling off, and then took showers.  We went to dinner and had a GREAT time.  The food was good.  But we were sort of out of sync, so it seemed like the staff was hurried and harried.  Finally the bar waiter showed up and she was frazzled.  So, naturally, it was necessary to play it up!  The poor girl told us about the wines, and mentioned the red wine as “from Washington DC” (should have been Washington State).  I called her out on it, and teased a little and she smacked me!!  (I wonder if she regretted it immediately, but still.)  I commented it was not the first cruise ship server that hit me and Theresa took her side.  But it gave us lots of laughs!  😊

After dinner, we headed to the show.  It was a compilation of various artists with singing and dancing.  It was somewhat interesting to see how the choreographer kept people on opposite sides of the stage to make use of the stage and keep some action near most of the people in the front rows.  At least that’s what Bill got out of it.

We ducked into the nearest bar to grab a nightcap before coming back to write this and go to bed. Tomorrow is a full day at sea! Phew!