Days 7 and 8 of our Croatia trip were some of the more un-exciting days. Day 7 was spent mostly relaxing at our hotel in Zadar and Day 8 was primarily spent on the bus on the way to Opatija. But, of course, we did see and do some fun things still, like wine tasting in Zadar, a visit to Nin (famous for its salt), and watching Croatia’s last match in UEFA Euro 2024.
Zadar Pool Day
Day 7 was a free day, and after the long days of multiple tours in the heat, we were ready to relax. We started the morning with a walk along the resort’s beach and ended up walking through the whole resort complex. Then we spent most of the day hanging out in the multiple pools. In the afternoon, we joined a small group for a wine tasting at a nearby vineyard.
Wine Tasting at Kraljevski Vineyards
In the afternoon, a small group of us went on an optional wine tasting at Kraljevski Vineyards– just down the road from our hotel. This is one of the largest vineyards in Croatia and they had a beautiful restaurant and tasting area.
Josh was especially impressed by how they grow the vines. The area is almost all rock, so it gets crushed up into gravel with just a tiny amount of soil of top. They had a model of the growing conditions inside and it was probably his favorite part of the vineyard.
Visiting Nin and its Famous Salt
On Day 8 we said good-bye to Zadar and headed to Opatija, with a stop along the way in the town of Nin. Nin is a very old city and was important in Roman times, today it’s most well known for its salt flats.
Our first stop in Nin was the Church of the Holy Cross, which is called the smallest cathedral in the world. The church was built in the 9th century and is a highlight of Nin
We continued walking through Nin to get a general feel for the town. Below you can see the tower of St. Anselm behind the purple coneflowers (which is the plant used in the logo for the nonprofit Josh works for, so he was very excited) and another statue of Gregory of Nin with a lucky toe (smaller than the one we visited in Split).
Nin’s Famous Salt
We both drove and walked by some of the famous salt flats of Nin, and made a visit to Nin Saltworks to buy salt. We didn’t have time to do the tour of the saltworks or visit the museum, but we picked out a few packages of different salts to bring home.
Nin Saltworks hand harvests their sea salt. Open fields are filled with seawater and then they allow the water to evaporate naturally, which lets the salt crystallize before being collected.
On to Opatija
After Nin, we were back on the bus for the rest of the drive to Opatija. We checked in to our new hotel and had a little time to explore before dinner. We were supposed to have another concert in Opatija this day, but because Croatia unexpectedly was continuing in the UEFA Euro 2024, it ended up getting cancelled.
Croatia’s Final Game
The hotel set up a TV by the lobby bar for the match, so we decided to go down and watch. We watched the game in the lobby until half time, when the score was still 0-0. After that we finished watching from our room. In the second half of the match, Croatia scored! The funny thing was that our TV must have had a delay, because we heard the city cheering outside our window before actually seeing the goal. There wasn’t much time left in the game, so Croatia was celebrating and Italy looked defeated. But then things took a turn, during added time a substitute from Italy scored a goal. Even though the match was a tie, this meant Croatia didn’t have enough tournament points to move forward. Everyone on the team and in the stands looked so devastated, it was heartbreaking to see.
Croatia Trip Overview
- Croatia Trip Days 1 & 2: Planes, Busses, and Sleep Deprivation
- Croatia Trip Day 3: Old Town Dubrovnik, Cavtat, Wine Tasting, Mills, and More!
- Croatia Trip Day 4: Lokrum Island
- Croatia Trip Day 5: A Long Bus Ride, a Visit to Split, and History was Made
- Croatia Trip Day 6: Krka Falls, Zadar, and our First Concert
- Croatia Trip Days 7 & 8: Pools, Wine, Salt, and Football
- Croatia Trip Days 9 & 10: Pula, Rovinj, and Zagreb
- Croatia Trip Day 11: Zagreb Botanical Garden
- Croatia Trip Days 12 & 13: Tamburica Festival & Nikola Tesla Technical Museum
- Croatia Trip Days 13 cont., 14, & 15- The Finale
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