I have returned to these great United States! There are so many things that struck me as unusual returning home. For example, since when did saying “right” in every sentence become a thing? I’ll include more examples of reverse culture shock in a future post. For now, I will continue to reminisce about my time in Croatia…

In my last post, I forgot to mention one more thing that I did while I stayed in Split. Croatia has incredible national parks, and I planned a daytrip to visit the Krka Waterfalls. It was an hour bus ride from Split, and I found that taking a private charter bus would be simpler and about the same cost as public transportation. This allowed me to meet Christae and Lance, fellow Austinites who quit their jobs to backpack Europe. (Christae recognized my Mays Business School shirt- whoop). I tagged along with them and listened to their adventures to date. (They are the reason I have some decent photos of myself at the waterfalls!) Check out their “adult gap year” blog. On the bus, I also met Emma, a girl my age from Ireland, and I loved learning about her culture. According to her, Americans emphasize St. Patrick’s Day more than most Irish people. Also, reading Irish names breaks my brain: “Aoife” is a common girl name, and it is pronounced “Eee-fa.”

The Krka National Park is smaller and closer to Split than the famous Plitvice Lakes National Park. It didn;t take us long to walk the wooden pathway throughout the park. We passed seven waterfalls and across several streams and ended at Skradinski Buk- the main waterfall. Before last year, visitors could swim at the base of this waterfall. Unfortunately, several tourists swam past the “do not cross” line and were swept by the waterfalls’ current. In the interest of protecting the wildlife and tourists, wading in the waters was prohibited. Even without swimming next to the waterfalls, I’m glad I took a day trip to Krka.

I’m surprised that there were no railings along most of the walkway. The day I visisted, the park was saturated with cruise tourists walking both directions, yet nobody fell into water! There is no way this walkway would be permitted in the US.

I checked into my hostel and spent the afternoon planning the rest of my time in Croatia at a nearby bakery. From the hostel, Zadar’s city center was a 20-minute walk along the coast. Zadar is much smaller than Split but has the same clean, white marble homey atmosphere. Besides the sunsets and gelato, the most notable attractions of Zadar are the Sea Organ and the Salutation to the Sun, both constructed by Nikola Bašić. Bašić created the Sea Organ by hollowing out parts of the Riva promenade so that the crashing waves produce organ-like sounds through pipes. The Salutation to the Sun is best visited during a vivid sunset because the glass panels on the ground reflect the sky above. These attractions are next to each other, and I highly recommend grabbing a Don Vito flavored gelato (vanilla with raspberries and chocolate sauce) from Slasticarna Donat and watching the sunset. Bonus points if you finish the night with a traditional Dalmatian dinner, such as squid ink risotto! (Unfortuatnely, I did not try this risotto while in Croatia, but I did have plenty of seafood, like tuna and sardines.)

By now, I hope you have learned that my traveling style involves researching the culture, creating a rough itinerary (with room for spontaneity, of course), hiking as much as possible, and trying new foods. The next day in Zadar, I took a short ferry ride to Prekko on Uglijan Island. From there, I hiked to St. Michael’s fortress. Some people in my hostel room mentioned there was a nice hour-long hike up to the top on a paved road. When I arrived, I found a sign that described a different, unpaved path to the fortress that diverged from the paved path. In hindsight, I am surprised I decided to take this path. There were many moments when I thought I was lost and had to intuitively guess the direction to the top. The Kira six months ago would have taken the paved and known route.

The hike to the top took over an hour, and I passed nobody on my way to the top. Well, there was one local that drove by that helped me with directions when I was stuck at a fork. At the top of the hill, I climbed to the highest tower of the fortress, enjoyed a packed lunch, and read my book. I arrived early enough to enjoy 30 minutes alone at the fortress until some tourists who drove to the fortress began to arrive. I took a different path down to Prekko and relaxed at the beach before catching the ferry back to Zadar.

On the ferry, I noticed some people dressed in traditional, Croatian clothes. I soon discovered that today was the annual Zadar Country Folk Festival! At 7pm, a parade of at least a dozen different Croatian folk groups walked to a stage in the city center. I watched a few groups perform their typical song and dance. I had no idea that there were so many different folk groups just in Zadar County!

My last day in Zadar I spent lounging on the beach. I felt very un-American spending an entire day unproductive. I walked around the old town in the evening and experienced “fjaka” (“fi-yaka”). Fjaka is like a Spanish siesta and is a specific to southern Croatia. It is the mindful and serene atmosphere that Dalmatians embrace in the late afternoon when the sun is hottest. Fjaka is about simply being, a “faint unconsciousness,” and takes various forms: a quiet coffee on a balcony to people-watch in the city center, a dip in the ocean, a nap on the coast. I chose to meander around town with a cup of gelato and then journal in a park. It was the perfect closure to my weeklong solo trip to Croatia. 🙂