Zadar, Croatia

From the bus station in Zadar we took a taxi to the Villa Valentina, but not before we bought tickets for the next day’s trip to Zagreb.  Our cab driver was a nice older man who spoke some English and said he’d been driving cab for 35 years.  He said if we needed him for the return drive tomorrow to just call and he gave us his card.

At the Villa we were warmly met by Anna who showed us to our room upstairs.  We were quite overwhelmed with how beautiful the place was – very modern furnishings and fixtures, beautiful tiled flooring, nice pastel colour schemes, and those extra little touches that make things perfect.

Our room was more like a suite, really, with an ante-room that had a nice bed, then a door to the main room with a bed, desk, TV, kitchenette, and a nice sized bathroom off to the side. And an air conditioner that worked!!  Just off the room on the same level was an outside balcony.  Downstairs had a large room (where we came in) with tables and chairs all nicely laid out for breakfasts.  The room also had a bar and Anna invited us to sample some local brandy and liqueur.

The area of Zadar that we wanted to visit was about 2 km away and Anna suggested we take a cab for 40 kn to the bridge leading to the old city.  We could make arrangements with the cab driver to pick us up again at the same spot at a prearranged time.  So this is what we did.  Our driver, Anthony, dropped us off at the bridge and agreed to pick us up again at 9:00 pm.

The wide walk bridge goes over a stretch of water that separates the old city, which sits on sort of an island/peninsula.  After crossing the bridge we passed through a portal gate to enter the city.  Right away we noticed that most of the streets, like in Dubrovnik, were shiny from many years of pedestrian traffic.  But, unlike Dubrovnik, the entire place is relatively flat.  This made it easy to get around and see the old buildings, churches, etc.

We made our way around and through streets in what we thought might be the direction of the Sea Organ.  We had seen on the internet that this Sea Organ is made up of a series of concrete steps into the sea.  Inside the steps are pipes that, with the action of the waves, emit sounds like a pip organ.  We had heard some sound clips from the website, so we were really looking forward to seeing it and hearing it.

We finally got there and were amazed! Crowds of people had gathered all along the beach and the concrete steps to swim in the Adriatic and enjoy the sounds of the Sea Organ.  It was really impressive to hear.  Intermittent low moaning sounds, mid-range sounds and the occasional higher pitched sounds that all blended into this soothing ‘music’, perfect for just relaxing and enjoying the seaside.

Later in the afternoon we walked through a beautiful botanical garden/park area that seemed to be part of the palace grounds.  At a uniquely formed tree we had our photo taken by a German girl from a nearby group who agreed to be our photographer.  We then found a lovely outside cafe and enjoyed a wonderful meal.

We must comment on the beauty of the Adriatic Sea.  The water is absolutely crystal clear, and the colour is hard to describe, so we’ve included a photo here.

The other main attraction, also located on the Zadar quay, is the ‘Greeting to the Sun’ designed by the same architect (Nikola Basic) as the Sea Organ.  The Greeting to the Sun is a 22 meter in diameter circle, flat on the ground, made of glass panels.  Underneath the conducting glass panels are photovoltaic solar modules that are programmed to put on a light display as the sun goes down.  The darker it gets, and as more people gather on the circle, the more active the light display gets.

Both the Sea Organ and the Greeting to the Sun are incredible concepts and designs in that they perform in harmony with nature – the action of the sea in the case of the Sea Organ and complimenting the awesome sunset (as was the case this evening) with the Greeting to the Sun.