Jul 15, 2014 | Written by Patricia Murphy

Zadar, Croatia

We started our morning with a light breakfast at the hotel–it was perhaps the most difficult one we had of the stay so I won’t name the hotel. But there was only a small amount and variety of food tucked into a corner and we had to beg a grumpy person to make us a spot of coffee (no I don’t mean pot I mean spot). Anyway, we were ready to get on the road.

And I’m so happy we did, because our visit to Krka National Park was truly amazing. What a beautiful location and a very special natural wonder. We got there around 10 am and I’m glad we weren’t any later because soon after we hiked down the steep path to the viewing area, the tour buses started coming. We did have to do some serious elbowing to get our best pics.

When I posted a few pictures to social media, Facebook told me that my former student Sydni had just been at Krka the day before! She was studying in Florence and was in Croatia for the weekend. I was sorry to miss her, but we typed back and forth a bit about the falls before both moving on with our travels.

From Krka we took a very scenic drive to the town of Zadar, another coastal walled city. I was kind of getting walled citied out, since this was our fourth on the trip. But Zadar was really spectacular and had some features I adored. First, we checked into our hotel which was BANGING. Art Hotel Kalelarga was one of our most expensive on the trip so I had high expectations, and they were met. What a beautiful room with muted and high design touches. Comfortable bed, lots of space, and a huge fruit bowl greeting us.

From there we went to lunch at Pet Bunara–it was a really lovely and delicious meal and that’s good because we worked up an appetite hiking those falls. After lunch we took a well-needed nap, then we toured around Zadar. My favorite spot was right along the coast–we enjoyed a lovely stroll along the Paseo Maritimo, and the best part was listening to the Sea Organ singing. What a fanciful design–a series of steps down to the water. I’ll let Wikipedia say it for me because it’s hard to describe: “Concealed under these steps, which both protect and invite, is a system of polyethylene tubes and a resonating cavity that turns the site into a large musical instrument, played by the wind and the sea.” It was so relaxing and refreshing to sit and listen to the music. Brilliant idea and I’m so glad I saw it. There is also a display that uses solar panels to collect sunlight during the day, that then turns into kind of a disco ball at night. We didn’t figure out what it was until later, and we didn’t get to see the disco ball effect.

We continued our stroll towards the restaurant when we passed a really cute bar that stretched out across the front of the harbor. It turned out to be The Garden Zadar, and we decided to enter to have a sundowner. The garden was full of lounger beds and chairs and we enjoyed watching the sun go down while enjoying a drink.

Then we moved on to the restaurant we had chosen Restaurant Kastel. We had a delicious dinner then headed back to get another good sleep.

Arriving to Krka Falls

Beautiful Water

Like a fairy tale.

Wooden walkways across the falls

So fun to visit this national park.

Pics from every angle.

S many picture perfect views.

Hiking up out of the valley.

Duck and breaded gnocchi

Scampi Ravioli

Octopus salad.

Touring Zadar–the solar disco ball.

Sun over the Adriatic–the Sea Organ steps below.

The Garden Zadar

What a cool place to chill.

Enjoying a Sundowner

There she goes!

Amuse at Restaurant Kastel

Local meat and cheese plate

Octopus Polenta

Lamb Chops