Well, we just ended our two months living in Zadar, Croatia and as I sit down to write about it, I honestly can’t remember a single thing about it beyond vague memories and fleeting mental images. So here you go:
Vague memories and fleeting mental images of Zadar
Want a place to get a good coffee, perfectly average croissant, or luke warm slice of pizza? We found your town.
Everyone smokes. Not a lot of people..EVERYONE! Lael took to calling the discarded cigarette butts that were everywhere Croatian Mulch.
I don’t think we saw a single homeless person. Coming from the US, that’s a big thing for us.
Much like Rovinj, Zagreb is a wonderful mix of old and new. And, by old, I mean a couple thousand years of post-Roman history, and by new I mean mostly dated 1970’s behind-the-iron-curtain concrete construction.
Or, see our Croatia photographic retrospective.
One of our taxi guys said the peninsula is sinking due to all the tourists (and there are a ton of tourists). Apparently, the whole place sunk like 2cm due to all the people and cars that stormed the place during the last World Cup. That’s scary. Not Venice scary, but still. Since, we hear they have restricted some cars in the center.
There is a surprising amount and quality of craft beer. Good thing, too, as the average wine pour at the average cafe, bar, and restaurant is .1L (about 3 oz vs the standard 5oz pour just about everywhere else in the civilized world)
Zadar has embraced electronic payments. Tap and pay is everywhere. That’s really good as cash is stupid.
Zadar is where we finally decided that most travel bloggers are full of shit and way overly positive about everything. Yeah, the Sea Organ is cool, but “mind blowing”? Relax all you wannabe bloggers and influencers. Some things are just okay. Sometimes, noteworthy is good enough.
Although beer is clearly a popular breakfast drink, there were no openly drunk people. Again, coming from the US, that’s a big thing. We did see some Hare Krishnas dancing around, beating drums and singing though, so on second thought…
Everyone smokes. Not a lot of people..EVERYONE! Have we mentioned that before? Then they just throw the buts everywhere. In the drains, in the sea, in the grass, everywhere.
The network of over 2000 islands is incredible. If you’re a boat person, this is heaven.
Seeing actual tuna farms up close made us kinda queasy about the whole fish farming thing.
Every morning, a couple old ladies would go for a swim/float in one of the boat coves and sing, really loudly. It was funny. Then their old dudes would come around, strip down to their way-too-small banana-hammocks and join in.
It’s not really an active community. After only a week of walking and running, Lael was firmly entrenched in Local Legend Status on Strava.
The Take Away
Zadar is another in the line of very nice, if generally forgettable Croatian cities. The climate is good, the Adriatic is beautiful, sunsets are fabulous, the food is fine, tourists are everywhere, and everyone smokes.
There. All we can remember from living for two months in Zadar. Sorry.
