Week 52: Croatia

52 weeks. 365 days. Wowza. One year ago today, we left Canada behind and embarked on this amazing adventure around the world. We had no way of telling how many wonderful people we would meet or how many incredible places we would visit. I could go ahead and get SUPER reflective here, but I’m going to save that for a final post later on!

Instead, I’ll introduce you to the focus for this past week: pomalo. Pomalo means to take it easy, slow down, relax. No stress, no worries. This word represents the Dalmatia coastal lifestyle, and we set about adopting this blissful state of slow enjoyment right away. With the weather as hot as it was, there wasn’t much chance we’d be moving quickly anyways!

I’ll also start off with a little “know before you go” list about the beaches here. We are certain that our dreamy month on the Greek islands during shoulder season spoiled us rotten, but we still find ourselves surprised by the Croatian beaches, and here’s a few reasons why: 

• Aside from the sandy beach in Nin, all of the ‘beaches’ we have visited so far are made up of concrete, small rocks, large sharp rocks, or broken up terracotta shingles. 
• For the above reason, and because there’s also sea urchins lurking about, you needwater shoes. 
• Beach chairs are basically non-existent, so you need to bring a thick mat if you want to do any beach sitting.
• You will also want a blow up floatie, since it’s a lot more comfortable to lay in the water than on the beach. 
• We have yet to find a beach with shade, so you’ll want to bring your own umbrella or pop up sunshade. 
• From what we have experienced, the beaches range from moderately crowded to packed. 
• The water is clear and beautiful, so you might want a snorkel/mask to go exploring. 
• The water is warm and often shallow for quite a ways out. 
• Aquaparks are found at nearly every beach. 

Although not related to beaches, there are two other things that we have noticed about Croatia that feel worth noting. One is that the campgrounds are absolutely packed with tents and trailers side by side in simple fields. After camping in a lot of pretty spectacular places, this isn’t the place we would be in any hurry to camp. The other thing we need to tell you is that there are ice cream stands everywhere. I, for one, am certain that this is imperative information for travellers considering Croatia as a destination. 

Now, on to our week! We started the week with a slow morning, enjoying a drawn out breakfast chatting with other travellers on our patio in Korenica. Later that morning, we caught a bus to Zadar, where we would be sharing an apartment with a few other travellers for four nights. After dropping off our bags, we walked downtown and wandered along the old cobblestone streets through the old city. We walked along the city walls and the waterfront, and sat to listen to the sea organ. We finished the day off with dinner next to the beach.

The following day, we caught a bus to Nin, a historical town on a small island accessible by walking bridge. This area suffered a major flood this past September, which caused great damage to the bridge and the salt ponds next to the city. After a slow walk through town, we headed over to a long sandy beach (the only one of its kind around here). We spent a good chunk of the day rotating between splashing around in the warm water and reading in the shady forest. We enjoyed some drinks at the beach bar before heading back to Zadar in the evening. For dinner, we treated ourselves to two Dalmatian specialties, lamb and veal peka. A peka is a large metal baking dish with a bell-shaped lid, which is placed inside an open fireplace, with hot coals and embers placed on top of the dome. Yum! 

On Friday, we spent the full day in Zadar. We took some time for shopping downtown before finding a shady spot near the water to set up shop. We fell into the comfortable routine of reading and swimming for a few hours. Later in the afternoon, we toured the Ancient Glass Museum, admiring the blue and green glass, along with tiny bottles once used for medicine. 

The next morning, we headed down to a park in the middle of town. Surrounded by trees and music, we sat at a coffee shop for a few hours. In the afternoon, we returned to the shady spot we found yesterday, and continued our new routine of swimming and reading. Later in the day, we walked down by the waterfront and then returned to our apartment to enjoy a small storm, complete with thunder and lightning. 

Each of these slow days also provided time for activity that I love, such as yoga and running!

On Sunday, we headed down to Split by bus, enjoying views of grassy hills and coastline as we drove along. We settled into an apartment shared with a great local couple, and then headed back downtown. Although we have seen a lot of old towns now, the architecture here really stood out. We especially loved the archways over the cobblestone streets and the tunnel below the Diocletian Palace. This city has a lot of character! We walked along the seaside promenade lined with palm trees, and then part way up Marjan hill for a view of the city. 

After this, we were in need of a dip, so we headed down to Bacvice beach. This was the busiest beach we have ever seen! We stayed long enough for the shock to wear off a bit as we cooled ourselves in the water, and then got ourselves out of that intense sun again! 

We ate dinner at one of Split’s oldest restaurants, Fife, and then sat on a bench along the promenade for sunset. We walked through the city streets again at night, enjoying some live entertainment on a stage on the promenade and in one of the city squares. 

We spent the next day in Trogir, which was about 1.5 hours from Split by bus. This old town’s narrow alleys were filled with tourists. We visited a few different squares, including ‘ice cream square’. These old towns all seem to have an old church or two, a clock tower, many small staircases, old windows with wooden shutters, and potted plants. Here we also admired the bougainvillea, purple flowers that seem to be dripping off the branches. We ate lunch by the waterfront and watched a few yachts moving around in the harbour. 

We then walked about 3 km up and over to a long, rocky beach. We hopped in the water for a refreshing swim, and then got out as it started to rain. For the next couple of hours, we sat at a beachside café reading and watching as it poured. I love a good rainstorm! The rain stopped late in the afternoon, so we walked to the end of the beach and caught a boat back to town. This allowed us to see the beach and town from the water. We then ventured through the market, where locals were selling honey, figs, olives, olive oil, soaps, and lace items. We had a long wait for the bus with a growing crowd, and it was slow moving most of the way back to Split. After grabbing a late dinner, we enjoyed a few hours chatting with our AirBnB hosts! 

On Tuesday, we caught a ferry from Split to Hvar. After some time on the mainland, we were excited to explore a couple islands. But you’ll have to wait until next week to hear about that!