Buckle in, because Day 6 of our Croatia trip was a busy one! We had a lot to see that day, our first concert of the trip, and some very tight transition times in between! We started the day with a visit to Krka Falls National Park, then had a walking tour of the town of Zadar with a local guide. We got back to our hotel with just enough time to shower, eat, get into nošnja, run to the bus and then run through old town to our performance spot. We performed, got changed on the bus, and then walked down to see the sea organ at night.
Krka Falls National Park
Our first adventure of the day was Krka Falls National Park. I had been here before when I came to Croatia in 2013 and it was probably the sight I was most excited for Josh to see.
The waterfalls here at Krka are what are called tufa waterfalls. Tufa is the term for when calcium carbonate settles onto surfaces. This is what creates the pools and layers of the waterfalls.
Our main walk through Krka Falls was on the boardwalk trails. This gave us some really cool views of the falls, but was very crowded! I really hope some day we get to go back and explore more of the park, we only barely scratched the surface of what to see at Krka Falls.
After the boardwalk, we checked out the mill complex. The Krka River has a long history of industry, including mills and hyrdoelectric plants. The buildings in this complex had the original mills, museum exhibits on the history of industry here, demos of weavings and other crafts, a gift shop, etc.
Near the mill complex, we also checked out the church and grabbed an ice-cream from one of the snack stands.
Old Town Zadar Tour
After Krka Falls, we headed back to Zadar to meet up with a local guide for a city tour. Zadar was at one time a Roman city, so there is lots of history to explore there. Like Dubrovnik, Zadar has an Old Town that is a walled city on the sea, and then the more modern area is outside the walls.
One of the first sites we visited was the Roman Forum, which was built between the 1st-3rd century AD. The Forum was a public gathering area and the heart of the city. One of the most famous parts of the Forum is the Pillar of Shame. The pillar was used similar to the stocks, people who needed punished would be chained to the pillar.
There are several well-known churches & cathedrals in Zadar, from left-to-right below are St. Anastasia, St. Mary, and St. Donatus.
We, of course, had to visit Zadar’s famous Kalelarga Street. This is the main street through Old Town and where much of the city life happens.
Zadar Sea Organ
Josh and I ended up visiting the sea organ twice that day. Once, during the daytime after our walking tour and then again at night after our concert. The sea organ is an art installation that uses the sea to play music. A series of tubes were installed under a set up steps at the edge of the water. As the waves hit the tubes, it pushes air into them to play music. The Sea Organ was designed by Nikola Bašić and was finished in 2005.
Our guides weren’t optimistic that the sea organ would be making much sound during the day, but we decided to walk down to check it out anyways. We’re so glad we did, because it ended up being even more strong than during the night. It is the most hauntingly beautiful music and was really a highlight of the trip.
Our First Concert of the Trip
After our tour we headed back to the hotel to get ready to perform our first concert. We had about 20 minutes to shower before the dinner buffet opened. Then we scarfed down some food and got dressed. We all met back up at the bus to head back to old town Zadar, but got stuck in construction traffic. Luckily, we were performing with 4 other groups from the CFU, so they were able to adjust the order since we were running late. We made it to Old Town, but the bus had to park outside the walled city and we had to walk to the palace atrium where we were performing. We made it fine, though, and had a few minutes to tune our instruments while another group finished their performance.
Our group performed songs from the Dalmatia region of Croatia and we had a 15 minute program prepared. The concert got some media attention, including an article from Zadar TV. Josh wasn’t able to get the full 15 minutes, but here’s a video of most of our performance. The star of the show was 3-year-old Ellie and her lost shoe.
Greetings to the Sun
After our performance, we went back to the bus to change out of our performance outfits. Then, some of us walked down to the Sea Organ to see it at night. The music from the Organ wasn’t as good as during the day, but it was still such a cool vibe at night. We also visited the nearby art installation Greetings to the Sun, which was designed by the same artist.
This installation is made of round solar panels representing the solar system. Each panel is embedded in the sidewalk and proportionally sized. The largest, and most popular, is, or course, the sun. During the day, this just looks like a large solar panel- but at night it’s full of dancing colorful lights.
It was such a long day, that at the end we had to all rush to the bus and then off it at the hotel so that Mario could get it parked before he was fined for being over his driving time limit for the day.
In Case You Missed It
- 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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