2018.10.03 – Rijeka – Zadar (Croatia) – We had some coffee before leaving our comfortable apartment. We walked to the bus station and boarded the bus shortly after 9:00am. The bus took the coastal road which provided us with amazing views on both sides of the road. The route was far from being flat but it was rather jagged. We saw a few courageous touring cyclists along the way. The 4.5 hours bus ride passed by quickly as we were continually entertained by the beautiful scenery. The bus stopped every hour and half in a small town for a road side break. After arriving in Zadar, we walked 1.4 km from the bus station to our apartment in the old town of Zadar. As we crossed the bridge and an archway leading to the old town, we quickly felt in love with the charm of the old town. We secured our accommodation keys after connecting with the apartment manager. We enjoyed exploring the narrow cobblestone paths spread throughout the old town. After our humongous evening meal of mixed grill meats, we walked to one of Zadar’s unique attraction: the Sea Organ. The organ-like sounds are produced by the sea water being pushed into pipes installed under a series of staircases on the edge of the sea. It’s truly unique.

2018.10.04 – Zadar (Croatia) – After some coffee and pastries, we continued our exploration of the alleyways. Although the old town area, situated on a peninsula, stretched only 1 km by 0.5 km, there were plenty to see: garden, Roman remains spread out everywhere, religious buildings, tower, etc. We appreciated the fact that the place was not totally overrun by tourists as it was easy to walk everywhere and take some pictures. Zadar was clearly our favorite place to date. In the evening, while reviewing our bus tickets which we had bought online the previous evening, we discovered that we had purchased them for the following Monday instead of tomorrow, Friday. Luckily, we managed to cancel our earlier purchase and apply the refund voucher to our new ticket purchase for the next day. Whenever we initiated online bookings for our accommodations and transportation, it was always a bit of a stressful moment before clicking that final button – as most of our bookings were done as non-refundable.

2018.10.05 – Zadar – Split (Croatia) – After a light breakfast at one of the many cafes lining the cobblestone alleyways, we returned to our apartment to strap on our bags for the long walk to the bus station. On our arrival there, we were surprised by the number of folks waiting near the bus platform. We were relieved when we saw that our bus was a double decker. The 2.5 hour bus ride to Split was not as enjoyable as our previous bus ride as this bus did not take any coastal route. It opted for the highway offering very little scenery. The Split bus station was located across from the city’s very busy harbor – overflowing with cruise ship passengers. We walked a short distance to our apartment where the friendly owner was already waiting for us. As our apartment was equipped with a small kitchen, we opted to buy some groceries to handle our breakfasts over the next couple of days. We had a quick walk through the remains of the ancient palace built for the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Unfortunately, the place was overrun by tourists, souvenirs shops, restaurants, boutiques and bars. We opted to continue our exploration by hiking up to the nearby Marjan Forest Park to some lookouts offering great views on the town of Split and its surroundings as well as the Adriatic sea. We had our evening meal at a nice and cozy local pizzeria.

2018.10.06 – Split (Croatia) – As we had anticipated, we woke up to some rain. The weather cleared up a bit after we had our home cooked breakfast. We opted to proceed with our planned day trip to Trogir – a 30 mins bus ride from Split. As we stepped out of the bus in Trogir, the rain started to fall heavily. We were thankful for our ponchos. We waited at a cafe for a break in the rain before resuming our visit of Trogir. We returned to Split in the late afternoon. We cooked our evening meal in the apartment.

2018.10.07 – Split (Croatia) – We woke up again to some heavy rain. After our breakfast in the apartment, we waited for a break in the rain before heading out. Around 2:00 pm, the sun came out, we took the city bus to the Roman ruins of Salona some a 30 mins away. Although the site was fairly extensive (and deserted on a Sunday), it remained for the most part in an un-restored state. We were thankful for the city bus ride back to Split given the late Sunday afternoon. After our evening meal at a burger grill, we explored further the alleyways in and around the Diocletian Palace.

2018.10.08 – Split – Hvar (Croatia) – The rain of the past two days had given way to the sun. We loaded our backpacks and left our apartment making our way to the harbor. We boarded at 9:30am a large catamaran which departed for the town of Hvar. Shortly after stepping off the catamaran, we quickly fell in love with Hvar’s vibe. We stopped at a cafe with the hope of reaching our apartment owner to request an early check-in. As we connected to the cafe’s wifi we noted that our host was already expecting us. We walked the short distance and entered into a brand new and modern Ikea fully-furnished apartment. As our kitchen was so inviting, we bought some food supplies for our breakfast and evening meals. Later afternoon, we hiked up for a visit of Hvar’s fortress. The fortress provided splendid views of the town, the bay and other nearby islands. In the evening, we strolled along the sea front walkway.

2018.10.09 – Hvar (Croatia) – After breakfast, we set out exploring the town’s many cobblestone alleyways and staircases. Although Hvar had a reputation of catering to the well-off yacht owners, we managed to take in all the magnificent views the town offered. We were thankful that we were not visiting during the peak tourist season as this town of less than 5,000 persons got inundated with 20,000 visitors daily. In the afternoon, I managed a nice 30 mins swim in the amazing clear sea water. Well, after our brief stay in Hvar, it has now moved to the top of our favorite spots on this trip.