9 - 10 ZADAR, THE UK AND CONTINUING CROATIA
I hadn’t planned on writing a blog for the past couple of weeks simply because we were so busy between all the travelling and Cam’s graduation that I thought I wouldn’t have time to write anything (I have subsequently found this to be true given that it’s over a week late). However, it came to me that the time sandwiching our six-day home visit was full of memorable, noteworthy commentary and therefore I should take notes regardless.
PART I
Prior to catching our early flight to Liverpool on Thursday the 13th of July, we spent some time driving down the coast between Rijeka and Zadar. We were pleasantly surprised to find the most beautiful coastline, full of pebbled beaches glued to that same turquoise sea Croatia seems to host throughout. We visited a couple of stunning beaches, memorably plaža Lukovo and snorkelled on a WW2 Nazi (boooo) warship wreck (Uvala Zavratnica) which was still in incredible condition given that it was over 70 years old.
Possibly the greatest surprise of Croatia was Zadar. We had booked our flights home from Zadar for no reason other than they were much cheaper compared to other cities like Zagreb or Split. I hadn’t even heard of it prior to researching flights home. So, once we had parked Bert safely at the airport, we caught a bus in for the day to see what all the fictional fuss was about. Having now visited Dubrovnik as this is written , I found some resemblance in that it is also a walled city and boasted the same seaside atmosphere (minus the ridiculous prices). However, Zadar appealed to me as it felt a lot less established as a city reliant on tourism. It had plenty of history as is exhibited throughout the old town, and amongst all the touristy tatt-shops there was a real sense that people actually lived there and we were amongst not only tourists, but locals! Nevertheless, we did the touristy things of course, like visit the sea organ, which, as the name suggests, is an organ of which its sound is created by the movement of the sea (it is very cool but slightly eerie).
It was the first day of the European heatwave which was forecasted to last a few weeks, so we decided to head to a beach a 10-minute walk from the old town. However, on the way, we came across a twelve-meter concrete diving board which we were lured to instead. With not a lifeguard in sight, Cam and I questioned the safety of having at least twenty people of various ages (8 to 65 as an estimate) jumping simultaneously. In fact, from the middle platform, it wasn’t possible to see if people were jumping from the platform above, so it was a little bit of a gamble whether you’d jump to discover someone from above had also jumped to create an inevitable (and painful) pile-up in the water. Thankfully, despite some close calls, we were not involved and did not witness any collisions.
PART II
Our return back to Britain was brief but brilliant. Being reunited with family and friends in on the Wirral and North Wales was really lovely and a great mini-break from the trip. Furthermore, I’m now finally able to share some good news: I have finally been granted my Belgian passport, which, although I haven’t discussed the nightmare I’d been experiencing in the blog, had been a huge strain on my mind as it was near-enough impossible to stay in Europe for more than 90 days without being a member of a European Union country or getting a working visa. It’s such a relief.
Cam’s graduation was also super lovely and it was very wholesome seeing everyone in Liverpool once again. We celebrated with good food and probably too much drink. We had a really fabulous few days !
Arriving back in Zadar was a huge shock as it had virtually rained during the entirety of our visit home. Europe on the other hand was experiencing an awful heatwave. The rest of the week proved a real test. We continued our trip down the Croatian coast, making stops in Split and Dubrovnik (only very briefly - due to the weather we were desperate for regular swims to cool us down). Split was pretty but there didn’t seem to be much to do except look around and take boat trips to islands we couldn’t afford. Therefore, over a couple of days, we meandered down the coast, stopping at some really lovely beaches. We arrived in Dubrovnik in the evening as we had booked to see the much anticipated Oppenheimer (no spoilers but it was amazing and has only fuelled by unconditional love for Cillian Murphy).
Our morning in Dubrovnik was short but sweet. It was uncomfortably hot, almost unbearable. And the prices - also unbearable! Simply to walk around the walls of the city was €35 each. Two tiny glasses of orange juice, that’ll be €10! We did however find one free activity. We coincidentally walked through a tiny opening in the wall protecting the city to the north, and found an area where we could jump in the sea and cool ourselves down.
It was a really beautiful city with some amazing history, and I can definitely see the attraction to visit again. It’s just a shame you need to take a loan out to do or buy anything.
To end our time in Croatia we camped at a gorgeous spot on the coast, not far from the sleepy village of Molunat. We had planned on visiting Mostar in Bosnia, but unfortunately the thought of being away from the coast for more than a day was not very appealing given the current European heatwave.
SUMMARY
Croatia was really lovely and I couldn’t recommend driving down the coast more. Some areas were very touristy, so I’d maybe suggest sticking more north to avoid the crowds rather than the bigger cities like Split and Dubrovnik. Anyway, thanks again for reading and join us next week in Montenegro, Albania and on to Greece !
