My travel in Europe:
By boat and bus in Northern Croatia, 2022

Content:

• Planning, a round trip in Northern Croatia
• Day 1, From Stockholm to Zadar
• Day 2, Zadar, walking in the alleys
• Day 3, Zadar, Bell tower
• Day 4, Zadar, the beach walk
• Day 5, Zadar, visit the Sfinx
• Day 6, From Zadar to Pula
• Day 7, Pula, walking in old town
• Day 8, Pula, Roman Arena
• Day 9, Pula, Market and Fortress
• Day 10, From Pula to Rovinj
• Day 11, Rovinj, walking in old town
• Day 12, From Rovinj to Porec
• Day 13, From Porec to Rijeka
• Day 14, Rijeka, walk to the fortress and the observatory
• Day 15, The last day, back to Sweden

Day 2, Zadar, walking in the alleys:

Zadar Old Town:

Waking up the first morning in Zadar, eating breakfast at a restaurant this morning because all markets were closed when we arrived yesterday.

Out in the alleys and walking around, here we have come to a gate, the Sea gate.

We visited the market and bought tomatoes for the breakfast tomorrow.

Follow the big alley, the main street Siroka ul. That's the street where we stay.

In some alleys the street has very old stones that are worn and has a rounded shape, it's the details that make a city exiting !

The old town isn't big and after a while we has come to the Southern defense wall.

Captain's Tower:

At the square we have this tower, the Captains tower. The Captain of the fortress lived here.

At the same square the tower is we have the five wells square. At the museum we could later see a map of the Roman Aqueduct that transported water to Zadar from the mountains.

On the square are big glass windows. Under these windows you can have a look to the excavations, maybe Roman time.

The Park of Vladimir:

On the former defense wall is today a park, the Vladimir park.

Lots of trees and flowers that are unknown in Sweden.

At the Western end of the park is a view over old harbor.

Landward Gate:

Here at the harbor is also the Landward Gate, the main port to the old city of Zadar.

A view to the Captains tower through the park.

On top of the hill in the park, a view over the new Zadar at Eastern direction.

We found a memory stone in the park, maybe something connected to Vladimir.

Back to the square, after all this walking in the heat, about 25 degrees C, we have to sit down at a cafe to have a coffee and a soft drink.

After the cafe stop we continue to walk, now we follow the old defense wall.

Walk through the Landward Gate and came to the old harbor. This harbor is so nice and at a nearby restaurant we could look at old photos how it was in earlier days.

Now we follow the defense wall on the outside. This harbor is only for the small boats, earlier it has been a fisher harbor.

Rounded the corner and here is a stone with a lion with wings, some weapon for the city, or ? We see these lions on many places. I found it, it's the symbol of the Republic of Venice. Lion of Saint Mark.

More information about Lion of Saint Mark:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Lion of Saint Mark (Lion of Saint Mark, Wikipedia)

Now we are at the Western side of the harbor. Gunilla found a staircase and want to test the water temperature, it's very cold she says, it must be less than 20 degree C. To the right behind the wall is Zadar's University.

We follow the harbor to the end at North. Back to the water organ and it's still playing its song for us.

A new look at the Sun in the solar system model. Now we can see all the small solar panels that charge its batteries.

Follow the Northern side of the harbor and come to this green light house.

This is the opening to the protected bay between the old city of Zadar and the mainland. We see a lot of catamaran designed ferries, one of these we will take to come to next place a couple of days later. Look carefully and you see the red light house on the other side.

We walk into the old town again and come to a new square at the street Trg tri bunara and find this well, there are three of them. Three Wells square, or ?

Back to the center of old town and the ruins of the Roman forum. This city has been destroyed over and over by many wars, they restored it and now they have excavated the really old parts of the city, the Roman era. They have placed the different buildings blocks around the square and you can imaging how it once looked. The Roman era started more than 2000 years ago at this place.

This church, St Elijah's Church and the wall is placed on top of the Roman forum.

One column is almost complete and stands here on the square.

Most of the other columns are only partly preserved.

But even then it's very exiting to look at them.

One can thought about how these building blocks once was used. Is it for a sliding door, or a water drainage channel, or ?

Is it a fundament where a statue has been placed on in earlier time ? In background the Bell tower.

Where the green bush is where the staircase to the Capitolium was placed.

The main forum square, the modern building to the left is the archaeological museum of Zadar.

Saint Donatus church:

A big church has been built on top of the forum, it's the Saint Donatus church.

Imaging the man/woman who carved this stone, it's a capital that was placed on top of the columns. How many months did it take to carve this stone ?

What is the text ? MARCA ...

All these walking need us to eat, we found a nice restaurant at an inner yard. Bruschettas and pasta were our delicious dinner.

Back to our home for a rest, then out again, now it's evening and the Sun sets, about 18:30.

The Moon comes up and shine over the sea.