Flying Solo in Croatia Part 1!

Greetings, friends! I have safely returned from a fantastic 10 days in Croatia, and am now attempting to get caught up on all the emails, errands, and work that I happily let slide while away. Here’s a recap of where I went, what I did, and my general feelings on the country of Croatia!

Zagreb: A conundrum of a city

I began my trip in the capital city of Zagreb. I had read that Zagreb is often wrongly-overlooked by visitors anxious to get to the coast, so I thought I’d check out what the capital has to offer. To be honest, I’m not sure how I felt about it all in all. Granted, the weather was pretty terrible, which probably skewed my view a bit, but I didn’t really LOVE the city. It was nice, but I didn’t feel any kind of strong attachment when I left. That said, there were some really cool aspects. The city is divided into Upper Town and Lower Town. Lower Town is the newer part, with lots of museums and some very nice parks. Most of the architectural gems are in Lower Town, but I liked Upper Town better. It had the narrow cobblestone streets, random staircases, smaller and quainter homes, and hidden alleyways that are typical of an old country town. I climbed to the top of Lostrscak tower, which offered a 360 degree view of the city as well as the mountains that surround the city, and it was really gorgeous. All the roofs have the same red-orange tiles, so they look really cool from above. I have to apologize because I don’t have any pictures from Zagreb. I dropped my camera in the ocean in Zadar, so I lost my Zagreb pictures. I know. It’s horrible. But that’s what the internet is for, so if you’re really interested in Zagreb you can google it.

The only picture I had on my phone from Zagreb. A horribly-executed selfy of me in front of my favorite building in Zagreb, St.  Mark's church. The roof is so cool!!

My favorite museum in Zagreb was called the Museum of Broken Relationships. Basically it’s a collection of artifacts people have donated that represent their own broken relationships (some break ups, some deaths). Each item is accompanied by a description, or in some cases, a stpory. There was everything from photos to stuffed animals, to dresses, to an axe. There was even a lock of hair. Gross. Some stories were heart-breaking, some were hilarious, but all were super interesting. The museum claims its aim is to act as a cathartic outlet for the trauma associated with heartbreak. It was a really really cool museum, so I highly recommend a visit to anyone who goes to Zagreb!

The other highlight of Zagreb was Mirogoj, the city cemetery! As someone who truly loves cemeteries, when I heard that Zagreb’s is known as one of the coolest in all of Europe, it was top of my list of attractions to see. It definitely lived up to my mental image! One thing I thought was especially cool was that everything and everyone was mixed together. Graves with crosses were next to graves with Jewish stars. People who died in 1860 were buried next to those who died in 1995. All the grave markers were really beautiful and not tacky, and there were super interesting monuments. I loved it. I only wish I spoke Croatian so I could read the dedications on the graves. I had fun trying and filing to read the Hebrew inscriptions—there were a surprising number of them! (The website is in Croatian, but at least pictures defy language barriers!) Apparently Mirogoj is extra awesome on All Saints Day because the graves are all decorated, but I was in Split by then, so I missed out. 

ZADAR: Where my camera went to die

Stop two was a city on the coast, Zadar. I LOVED Zadar. It is situated on a peninsula and is still surrounded by the 600 year old walls originall built as protection from the Venetians and later the Turks (as my super chatty-chuck waiter told me very proudly while I was eating dinner one night: Ghenghis Khan, the Ottomans, and other bullies who tried to expand their empires never made it past Zadar!).  Inside the city walls are a lot of roman ruins, scattered amongst the stuff built later, so you can really walk, climb, kick, or picnic amongst them as you please. There are several old churches and palaces as well, and since I love old stuff, I found all of it to be very cool.

5 Wells Square

Ruins near the old Forum

Benedictine Convent and church with cool museum of old church art from the 12th-17th centuries

But what I loved most about Zadar was its vibe. First of all, my days in Zadar were the first bit of sunshine I had on the trip, and also my first glimpse of the ocean, so that certainly helped. The streets are made of smooth tan stone, not unlike Jerusalem stone (which makes me happy), and there are lots of galleries showcasing the work of local artists. One that I visted was filled with expecially cool work, and after I asked the artist a question, we ended up having a good 30-40 minute chat about everything from arts eucation to Hurricane Sandy, to the liberal arts ideal, to vegetable gardens. It was fabulous. This old man was not shy about sharing his opinions and rambling on and on to a complete stranger. That’s one thing I’ve found to be interesting about Croatia in general. They’re very proud of themselves, their county, and extremely willing to share that with others. It makes for a really great experience for a tourist like me who is interested in all that.

Probably the highlight of Zadar sight-seeing is the Wester Quay, which is home to the sea organ and salute to the sun. The sea organ is basically a set of steps that goes down into the ocean. There are holes in the steps that connect like pipes to holes in the ground above. When the tide comes in, the waves push air through the “pipes” to produce chords! At different times of day, they sound different. Sunset was definitely my favorite. Here’s a video!

You’ll also notice how gorgeous the sunset itself is. Apparently Alfred Hitchcock called it the most beautiful in the world. So there you go.

Here’s a video explaining the Salute to the Sun!

By the way, since I realized that I wasn't going to want to write a novel-lengthed blog about this trip and you wont want to read a novel-lengthed blog, I decided to add some videos into the mix because I learned in "How to be interesting 101" that mixed media is always a good thing. So I hope you enjoy my horrible-quality videos.

Until next time, when I'll share with you my experiences in Split and Dubrovnik! With many more pictures, this time, courtesy of the iPhone saving grace.