19 September ’04, Sunday. Temp, Low 80’s, Sea is calm, Coffee is incredible…We’ll stick to home for the morning and then go into Zadar for lunch and a little tour of this sea side town. Our conversation over coffee this morning was Croatia and how recently it had been since they were in all-out war…right here. As we walk or drive the streets throughout Croatia, we see the destruction. Concrete structures collapsed, older standing buildings with holes of different sizes in them from being shelled by tanks are from small arms firing. We even saw a van, from Holland the had a sign on it indicating that they were involved with finding and destroying land mines. All this grim reminders of a few years past, but you know, the people are coming back…. I walked across a field this morning, taking a shortcut to the marina and the market. As I approached a home that was under construction (concrete blocks), a man that was behind a wall as I approached, stuck his head out and in really good English, said “Hi, are you having a good day ?” I guess I was wearing my “I’m an American” hat or something, but this is so typical of most of the people we have come across since coming in to Croatia. I know that things have been tough for the Croatian community for many years and even centuries, but I hope they will finally have the opportunity to live free…. Today being Sunday, there were a lot of stores and market areas that were closed. Having said that, we didn’t have to pay for parking and we definitely didn’t have to fight the crowds while exploring the town. They have a huge old wall that dates from the 14th century, that pretty much surrounds the city. Again, the streets between the buildings are very narrow. There are lots of small windows with shutters, small walkways that will take you back to some wonderful courtyards, and lots of cats…I mean a lot of cats…. Apparently they love their cats. We also found more Roman ruins here than we have seen so far in any other location. One of the funny things we found, was this little concession, that was set up for youngsters to drive their little cars and jeeps around and around some of the Roman pillars, blocks or other pieces of structure. This is also a city with little sidewalk cafés, the colorful umbrellas on every corner, nook and cranny (I love them all !!!). This area is also one huge “Boaters Capitol”. Every style power and sailboat you could imagine, and “The World” is here to man each and everyone of them. As you go to the commercial harbor in Zadar, you will find at least 6 different ferry companies that will take you to all the many islands around Zadar. There are even those that will take you to Italy or on down the Croatian coast. I don’t know if you can tell by my scribbling, but I really like this area we are in…I just wish it were closer to the family. Oh well, that will have to be another life…this one still has too many little towns and villages, coastlines, and coffee houses to visit to settle down to one. Tomorrow…back in the van and head south down the coast…we have company coming
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