Day 4--Zadar

 Day 4--Zadar

We met in the hotel lobby at 5:45 yesterday evening and Zoran handed us a tram ticket.  In Croatia they only have tram and buses for public transportation.  We only went to the second stop on the tram.

Our small group went to hear a discussion on the Brain Drain.  It was very interesting but only lasted a little over an hour.  Croatia used to have a population of 4.6 million people.  The population is now 3.6 million.

All of the young people finish school and go to some other part of the European Union.  The EU accepts their diplomas.  Needless to say the birth rate/death rate is not enough to sustain the population.

After our talk we walked to a nearby restaurant.  We had traditional Croatia food--stuffed cabbage rolls, veal, potatoes and nookie.  We had our choice of red or white wine.  The dessert was delicious but I have forgotten what it was called.

We left Zagreb at 9 am for our drive to Zadar.  It was foggy when we left, but the sun was shining when we arrived in Zadar.  Zoran told us about his country in our travels.  Croatia has the second highest taxes in all of Europe.  It's easy to recognize something built during the communist times.  We learned a lot about communism and there is no doubt in my mind that we don't want to live under that.  Everyone should visit a country that has been ruled by communists. 

We are on the Artemis, a 50 passenger ship with 17 passengers.  We were just in time to have lunch.  Bill had stuffed peppers, grilled veggies and potatoes to go with his onion soup.  It was good.  I declined the soup and had a chef salad.  Of course, when you are in a foreign country you have to try the desserts.  Mine was delecious.  

There was just enough time to grab our coats and go for a tour of Zadar.  Our local guide was very knowledgeable.  

Bill loves history.  Here's a column from 2,000 years ago.  If you committed a crime you were tied to this from the chains.  They would do this for three days and let you loose before you would die.

Here's how tall that column is.

Here's a photo of Zoran's parents.  Zoran is 42 and not married.

We actually walked on an ancient Roman part of the road.

Our local tour guide told us about the cherry alcoholic drink that the area is famous for.  It is 32% proof!

Our ship is docked right in front of the city gates, so everthing is within walking distance.  Our local guide wanted us to see the sun set but I thought we were too late.

Then she talked about the sea organ.  I thought she was talking about a fish.  It seems that Zadar has won many awards for its sea organ.

She showed us where the pipes for the organ were in the sidewalk.  I think she said 70 pipes were there.

She was excited when a ship went by, because it changes the sounds of the organ.

There's a row of seats to look at the sea and they are painted to match a piano.  

I was really unique and sounded wonderfully.  There also are some solar panels that started to light up that blinked with the sound of the sea organ.  

We scurried back to the ship as happy hour was about to start.  The Captain introduced the ships company which I think might have been larger than the 17 passengers.  

Dinner was excellent but by the time everyone left the table it was after 9 pm.  

Our room is on the 3rd floor and has a narrow balcony.  Two chairs and a table are all that fit on it.  The next floor (last) is the sun deck.  Below our room is the lounge, reception and the dining room.  You enter the ship on this floor.

Turtle Safely.......