ZADAR, CROATIA

Today, we arrived at our final port stop in Croatia.

And it was a bit of a strange, slightly stressful start…

After a relaxed, leisurely breakfast, we headed for the quayside to catch the shuttle bus that had been laid on to take folks into the old town. Zadar’s cruise terminal is a large, brand new building, which seemed to take forever to walk through, and as we did so, we met some people on their way back to the ship, who had just returned from going into town. They told us that there were hundreds of people waiting to catch the shuttle, which we’d been told would run every half hour, and that we should expect a wait of about an hour to get into town.

This was backed up by a young lass who was manning a small visitors booth within the building, who confirmed that we might be waiting for some time… a piece of information that seemed to upset an elderly lady just in front of us (who, like us, had stopped by the booth to simply pick up a local map). when she started complaining that this would be a waste of half a day, the young lass suggested that there might be another way…

While taxis into town would cost €20, she suggested that an Uber taxi would only cost €5, and that she would be happy to order one for her if she wished. At which point, we got drawn into the conversation… would we like to share an Uber taxi with her?… at €5, and for the sake of helping an old lady in her time of stress, How could we refuse?

An Uber was booked, we were given the registration of the car that would be arriving in about 8 minutes… and we agreed to share the taxi with the elderly woman.

Except, when we got down to the taxi rank, we discovered that extra shuttles had been arranged, and two were about to leave for the old town. The old lady – who had already handed us €2.50, asked for her money back and decided that she would take the shuttle instead. Which left us with something of a dilemna…

Should we also forget the Uber and just take the shuttle (which was literally about to leave, and had space on it…)… or should we honour the booking and wait for the taxi? In the end, we opted for the latter, offering another random couple the option to share it with us when it turned up…

We waited.. and waited… and were just about to give up on the taxis turning up and return to waiting for the next shuttle bus (because those two had just departed, with the old lady inside…)… when the Uber arrived.

Unfortunately, as well as there clearly being a certain amount of aggression amongst other regular taxi driver nearby, the Uber driver wasn’t very coherent, and we got the distinct impression that we were going to be clobbered with a fare far in excess of €5. Add to this the fact that, when the car door was opened, the stink that emanated from it was enough to curdle milk, we promptly backed off, apologised to the couple who we’d offered the ride to, and returned to the shuttle bus queue.

An odd start to the day to be sure.

Eventually, about ten minutes later, the next shuttle bus arrived, and we were taken to the Old Town, as was originally intended… no Ubers, no taxis… all inclusive.

We were dropped off just a few yards away from a fascinating art installation called the Sea Organ, a brilliant invention featuring sounds and musical notes powered entirely by the random actions of the waves.

From here, we walked towards the Cathedral, and an old church built right next to the cathedral, in an area known as ‘The Forum’, featuring lots of old Roman Relics. It was Saturday, so the area was busy, and with the sun shining, there was a general covivial atmosphere, which just made the place even more inviting.

At noon, no fewer than three bell towers relatively close to each other sprang into action. We seem to have heard a lot of noontime bells on this cruise…

After a brief but uninspiring look around a local ‘tat’ market, we strolled along the promenade to a small harbour and one of the many city gates. A noisy burger and wine festival was in full swing, behind which we found a small but interesting botanical garden to sit and take a breather before climbing the steps to the top of the old city walls.

The same action had cost us €70 in Dubrovnik… but then that was Dubrovnik. Here, the views weren’t quite so stunning, and the highlight was a 3D model of the city, which was actually rather cool.

Eventually, hunger crept up on us, and we went in search of food, which we found at a food kiosk near the Forum and Cathedral. After following a pastry snack up with a large ice cream, we headed back towards the Sea Organ for another listen, before catching the shuttle bus back to the port.

We weren’t sure what to expect from Zadar, but we ended up really liking it. The Old Town has a relaxed air about it, and it’s clean and largely litter-free. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; Croatians seem to really care about their cities and their environment, making our visit a truly enjoyable one.