Zagreb to Zadar: Day 1 (10/09/19)

I caught the early bus from Zagreb, the capitol of Croatia, to Zadar this morning. A smaller coastal town, Zadar is home to the Sea Organ, a pipe organ which plays as waves flow into the pipes and force air through them. Which is something totally up my alley so I was mega excited to check it out!

I walked about an hour to the bus terminal and couldn’t find my bus for the life of me until about two minutes before departure, probably since I’m operating on a little under 6 hours of sleep and still a bit frazzled from yesterday’s travel disaster. But I found it in the nick of time and caught up on a little sleep during the 3 hour ride. As we neared Zadar we passed through some low mountains that were just gorgeous, if possible I might do a little day hike in the area since I’m in Zadar for more days that I need to explore the fairly small town. After arriving, finding my hostel, and taking a little post-check in nap, it was about 7pm and sundown was soon so I left to have a look around the main touristy area.

There are a couple gates that mark the entrance to the historical peninsula that lead into some nice parks before opening up on the west side to a stunning view of the Adriatic sea and some of the nearby islands. I arrived just as the sun was setting too, which made for an incredible first impression. I watched the sunset as I walked along the coast, arriving at the Sea Organ just as the last sliver of light was fading.

You can hear the organ way before you can see the series of stairs and vertically cut channels that mark the pipes’ entrances. The sound is really unique too, random but oddly repetitive at its core, a haunting cascade of notes that lurches across the instrument with each wave to create an unsettling mood that just captivates you. Plus its just super neat to sit on top of such a massive instrument as it plays!

After spending a good while sitting I was feeling a bit chilly and made my way back into town in search of a Croatian dinner, but not before stopping at The Greeting to the Sun, a funky light array that mnade what I assume are randomly generated patterns. Cool, but not Sea Organ cool. That place I found for dinner was Zadar Jadera, and following the waiter’s recommendation I had a fantastic monk fish soup that was very different from what I expected in a tasty way: kind of earthy and vegetal. I ate the whole thing so obviously I enjoyed it, and then made my way back to the hostel, passing some absurdly cursed spots in a park, and turned in for the night.