I should correct something I wrote previously -- an omission of a great restaurant. I forgot that we'd eating at Trattoria Calzona on Tuesday. Wednesday, which I hadn't said anything about lunch for, was at Na Po Ure, which Lonely Planet suggested.
``This unpretentious family-run konoba is the place to sate that appetite, with from-the-heart Dalmatian cooking: grilled lamb, calf's liver and fresh fish served with potatoes and vegetables.''
We had the ``Fish, first class" (grilled whole). You see this in every menu -- there's two classes of fish you order. Not what kind of fish (grouper or whatever), just what class it is. First class is more expensive (of course?). There's also usually a grilled tuna steak option as well. Maybe that's 3rd class? Anyway, due to the delightful prices, we could afford to try out the first class fish and it was really tasty.
11. September. Thursday
More rain. One forecast called for as much rain as the flood we had in Münster. Luckily, that's not what we got, but it was still pretty stormy.
IMPORTANT TIP (for the weather): There are a lot of weather predictions you can find online. For the same day, we were seeing weather.com say one thing (like "Sun! Lots of it! Maybe some clouds") and BBC say the opposite ("Biblical floods!")
I found this one to be the best and most precise (as far as you can be precise with weather here). Also good to note -- it seemed like even if the forecast said rain, if you got up early enough (8/9am), you'd see some sun. There was also a good chance of seeing it again late in the afternoon for an hour or so/On the left side of this following photo (red roof) is the University of Zadar. Nearby (further away) you can see rain. This was taken facing southwards:
Another photo of a rainy day -- the Pier in Zadar (facing West/Southwest):
For lunch, we ate at Konoba Stomorica (Konoba is,,Restaurant'' or ,,Tavern" in Croatian). Very very very tasty tuna steak (had it rare and didn't regret it) and some veggies.
IMPORTANT TIP (for eating out): You get exactly what's in the Menu -- if you order tuna steak, you get tuna steak. Sometimes this will come with potatoes. Usually you'll need to order them (or veggies or whatever) yourself as sides. These cost between 15 and 30 Kuna (~ 1,3 Euro / 10 Kuna).
Archeological Museum Zadar
The Museum had 3 (I think) floors. The highest was objects from pre-history in the area of Zadar. Zadar had always had some people living around it. At some point, the Liburni tribes developed hill-forts which later became actual fortified places ---cities with walls, churches, defensive forts.
The pointy bits on hills around Zadar were all probably former hill-forts (I'll try to remember to say this again when I post a picture of the horizon looking at said peaks).
``After the year 59 B.C. Zadar became a Roman municipium, and in 48 B.C. a colony of Roman citizens. During Roman rule Zadar acquired the characteristics of a city with a regular road network, a main square – forum, and next to it an elevated capitolium with a temple. In the 7th century Zadar became the center (capital) of the Byzantine theme (province) of Dalmatia. At the beginning of the 9th century Zadar was mentioned as seat of bishop Donatus and the Byzantine leader Paulus. At the time a church was erected on the Roman forum, the church of the Holy Trinity, today St. Donat, for which it can be said to be the symbol of the city." Read more here
Zadar (Iader) was conquered by Romans and got a Forum (as any Roman city would have). The ruins are still kind of there, but with this Church in the middle:
There've been some excavations. Here's a game some Romans liked to play:
They also found these ``charms against evil":
The text associated with it assured the reader that despite what people have heard of Romans being debaucherous and so on, the penis was really used as a luck talisman etc etc. I suppose if these came from graves, they're more likely to have been a serious kind of thing than something teenagers laughed with each other about.
After we were done, the rain (eventually) took a bit of a break.
On the left is the church ``Sv. Donat (Sv. = Saint) and on the right is the bell tower. Foreground is part of the Forum:
This next Church-and-Convent was originally built in 1091 and renovated in the 16th Century:
If you stand close to where the Temple (on the north end of the old Forum) was, this was the view that day -- complete with a rainbow.
That rainbow, by the way, points exactly to theMuseum of Gold and Silver (in a religious context)
This wall and the stones with faces are what remains of the area leading up to the old temple:
Coming up:
Next day: a half-day visit of the island Ugljan by ferry with rented bicycles.
Next next day: finally some sun and a visit to the ,,island" (reachable easily by bus and walking) ``Nin"
Wow, lovely pictures.
ReplyDeleteHaha. I need one of those talisman rings!
Thanks. I bought a book for my camera, and the "good luck charms" picture was one where I finally figured out how to muck with the focusing properly (huzzah!). The picture makes them look bigger than they are -- you could probably wear them on a chain around your neck. I do like the ring idea, though. On the middle finger. ;)
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