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Published: August 8th 2023
Zagreb
Unexpected trip to town centre took us through this square.Croatia is sufficiently close to Italy to have excellent gelati. But clearly, it is also too far away from Italy to possess the skills required to make a satisfactory waffle cone. Such are the hardships of cruising the Dalmatian Coast. That is how we are feeling now. We are relaxed, enjoying some beautiful sights and well fed. I think that is what cruising is all about, isn’t it? But we didn’t feel that way from the moment we arrived in Croatia.
When we got off the plane in Zagreb, we found that our bags didn’t get off the plane in Zagreb. They were still in Vienna, which was problematic! Oh well, there is no point in stressing too much about something that is out of your control. At least that is what I was saying to myself. Deep down I was stressed.
Upon checking in, after 7 pm, we were told that there would be shops open for a little while longer and we caught a tram there in time to make some hasty purchases, in case if we weren’t reunited with our bags the next day. With one minute to go we finalised these purchases and were booted
Weather in Opatija
It was like this for the first 24 hours of our trip out of the shop. Luckily there were some good places to eat dinner nearby and we also managed to see a bit of Zagreb, which could be worth a longer stay if you have time.
We tried calling the emergency number for the tour company that we were to be picked up by. Apparently, they only cater for emergencies that happen in business hours. Luckily Austrian Airlines did what they weren’t able to do the day before and we got our bags back. Ah, what a relief!
And then we noticed the grey clouds and thunder getting closer. Now the weather in Croatia is particularly reliable. It just doesn’t rain. Especially on the coast and in summer you can expect sunshine all of the time. Yes, that’s what I remember from the brochure. Its just the one time that WE came to Croatia that was different. When we got to our boat, we didn’t see the sun and nearby, in Slovenia, they had so much rain that it was declared a natural disaster. So, you could say that the Croatian section of our holiday began with some challenges. But after two days of improvement in the weather we
Second afternoon in Rab
The sun came out and we really liked this little port. did see the sun regularly and the Dalmatian Coast lived up to the hype.
The water is a delightful 25 degrees, and everyone loves swimming in it, the islands are very pretty to watch from the sea, and the old towns, whether big or small, have ancient buildings and roads to wander. The only thing they lack here is a sandy beach. Not that the passengers on our boat are bothered by that. We jump off the back at a different location most days and enjoy crystal clear warm waters.
The four ports we’ve stopped in so far are Opatija, Rab, Zadar and Sibenik. They’ve all been different. I can’t tell you much about Opatia. We didn’t stay long, and it rained the whole time so hardly left the boat. Rab is the smallest of the four and I loved it for its old church towers; four of them lined up in a row. You can climb one of them. It only costs three euro. Seems worthwhile. So, you go up some stairs and wait for people coming back down. Up some more stairs and then you hit the traffic jam. A level of people waiting their turn
View from church tower #1
The four towers are almost lined up in a straight line to go up a ladder. By now we’ve all paid our 3 euro and there is no turning back! Eventually you get up the ladder and find another level of people waiting to get to the top. By now I had a change of heart. I’d taken plenty of pictures and I decided not to see how different it was from just a few metres higher. Fortunately, the weather was just like it is meant to be for our afternoon in Rab. I had a swim at the beach, which is a bit less rocky than other beaches, but still not sandy. As far as I’m concerned Croation beaches are for swimming in, not for lying on.
Zadar is much bigger, and we only explored the historic part of town. We had a guided tour that was very interesting, but I won’t give you a history lesson now. Here are some of the best things that I like about Zadar. 1. They have a naughty pole! In the past naughty people were tied to the naughty pole and the good people were allowed to throw rotten food and rocks at the naughty people. I wonder if a system like
this would help with the youth crime epidemic we are facing in Australia. 2. There is a ‘Sea Organ’. Along the promenade there are a series of holes in the stones. Each of these is connected to a pipe that has some sort of valve that makes sound of a particular pitch, like a pipe organ does. As waves hit the seawall, they push air into the pipes and that is how the sound is made. It was a calm and pleasant sound whilst we were there, but the wave from a passing boat increased the volume and severity of the melody for a moment. During a storm the sounds can be heard for miles. I like seeing different inventions like this. 3. There is a 9
th century church that has been converted into a concert venue. During a war a bomb landed through the roof of the church and damaged it. But it revealed that the foundations were actually recycled roman columns. No one knew that before the bomb!
Then we spent a day in Sibernik, which is close to Krka national park where there are some impressive waterfalls. They built an early hydroelectric power station here to
Our boat/ship
With good ice cream and an unsatisfactory cone! power Sibernik in 1895. It would have been the world’s first if it opened two days earlier. The one at Niagra falls beat them to that honour.
Now the sun is out and we believe that the unusually wet weather is behind us. We are expecting smooth sailing and sunshine all of the way to Dubrovnik.
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