Before leaving Croatia, we longed to visit the magnificent northern Adriatic seacoast (Primorje-Gorski Kotar county) where my family always pitches tent & parks the camper for the summer. TRAVEL WARNING: We crammed an EPIC journey into 1 day. I’ll split it into 3 posts.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010, our target was set first on the lovely Crikvenica, the largest town in the Vinodol coastal area.
The karta (map) of Croatia below shows Crikvenica & Dubrovnik (pt. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5), opposite ends of the beautiful coast.
I see the ADRIATIC SEA!!! It’s always an exciting sight, after driving through miles and miles of mountains & tunnels.
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Even though June 21, 2010, was a rainy and extremely windy Monday in Zagreb, we set out to conquer the town. My Mama, Tata, i Ujna Lili strolled into Gradska Kavana a fancy cafe on the main square, Trg Bana Josipa Jelacica for coffee and their fresh, delicious strudl od visnja!
After grocery shopping at Dolac and underground, we did some last minute gift shopping. I will never forget the ferocious wind that was whipping in between the buildings downtown.
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Sunday, June 20th, we went to church at Kristova Crkva where Mladen Jovanovic preaches & where the Zagreb Biblijski Institut (Bible Institute) holds classes. A Croatian/English translator provided translations for several visiting Americans. I listened to her in one ear & “live” Croatian in the other. TIP: It is SUPER HELPFUL when learning. I thoroughly enjoyed singing several familiar praise & worship songs in Croatian. Hallelujah, we have the same creator, savior, & comforter God who sent his Son Jesus for us!!!
After church, I ran upstairs and bought a neat mug which reads Isus Te Voli (Jesus Loves You) at their fundraiser sale. We left & had a quick spot of coffee & vruća čokolada (hot chocolate, not cocoa, actual chocolate) with Gorinka down the street at Stripes which had free WiFi. :)
We hurried home & strolled right across the street to Bistro M&Z for some of the best ćevapi I’ve ever tasted. Kaleb, why did you not go every day if it was that close? I’m at a loss for words… Mmmm.
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Saturday night, June 19, my cousin Jura invited me to go see an International firework show (I love fire!) at Bundek, a lake on the other side of town, Novi Zagreb; however, by the time we arrived it was unofficially declared rained-out even though it had stopped raining mid-afternoon. There were some serious festival event planning & coordination failures afoot that night. :P Hundreds of people still there & tons of food!
Cooking up a massive amount of overpriced pljeskavica & ćevapčići.
In Croatia, “Cotton Candy” goes by a different name, “American Wool.” Hahaha!
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(Saturday, June 19th 2010) Our first full day back in Zagreb! We watched more & more World Cup & began packing.
After our beautiful, sunny trip to Plitvička Jezera, Ujo Dado noticed that I needed a lens hood for my Canon XTi so he bought me one, Canon ET-60! It allows me to protect my photos from stray light & he gave it to me just in time to use in the gorgeous (and “glarey”/reflective) Dubrovnik.
I bought two pairs of Italian leather shoes on sale in Croatia, Freemood & Filanto.
Every meal in Croatia was satisfyingly delicious except… no no, they were all good! The wonderful chefs Ujo Dado i Ujina Lilit prepared us juha od piletine (chicken soup), pečeni krumpir (baked potatoes), Schweppes Bitter Lemon (mmmm tasty), entrecôte (premium cuts of beef).
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