Saturday, September 4

Split to Zadar

Saturday morning we disembarked from the yacht, said our goodbyes and hopped in the bus with the rest of the group that was heading to the airport. While they were leaving, we were picking up our rental car to continue our travels through Croatia!

We had been told that renting through a local car company is the best option and that going through the big American car rental companies was not as good. We had booked via Avis when we went to Italy and had no issues, but we listened to everyone regarding Croatia and waited. (The car rental would have been $287 USD if we booked in advance with Avis.) When we spoke to 2 local car companies upon arrival in -Croatia our quotes were $500-$600 USD. For 3 days! Yikes. When we went back to book Avis, they said they were out of cars. Geeeezzzz… so we ended up booking a Budget rental through Orbitz for a little over $400. But then…

At the airport, Budget said that since we booked on Orbitz, they wanted a €5,000 deposit if we didn’t buy their insurance. If we bought their insurance for €32 per day, then only a €1,000 hold/deposit was required. The insurance we bought through Orbitz was no good. Also annoying is that Avis and Budget are both owned and operated by Avis, but Avis said they had no cars, so we booked Budget. And then we couldn’t attach it to our Avis account. Lesson learned – we’ll stick with our trusty Avis next time.

After getting over our frustration, we hit the highway and headed to Zadar, a beautiful little seaside town about 1.5 hours north of Split.

Zadar Jadera Traditional Restaurant (4.5/5)

After lunch, we walked the streets a bit, then found the Sea Organ, which was pretty cool – we sat for a few minutes and listened. Then headed to the other side of the peninsula and walked the top of the walls along the port, circling back to our hotel.

Fiolic Winery (4.5/5)

(It’s hard to rate since we didn’t do a full tasting… but I think a full tasting probably would have been amazing!)

I had done some research and learned that Zadar is famous for the Maraschino liqueur of Maraschino cherries! While the Maraska distillery was not something open for touring (I believe it was possible in the past), I did find a winery that won awards for their cherry liqueur: Vinarija Fiolic (Fiolic Winery).

I inquired online via form about a tasting appt, but knowing we only had the afternoon available knew it was unlikely to get a response so quickly, so we stopped by the Zadar visitor center and I asked if they knew how it worked. She gave me some suggestions and we called the winery. While they didn’t answer, I immediately received a message via WhatsApp noting that I called and asking how they could help. I quickly learned that the staff were in the vineyards harvesting the grapes, so unfortunately a full tasting would not be possible. However, Ana was willing to meet me at the tasting room to open the shop and allow me to unofficially taste a few things before any purchase. How kind! We shared our ETA and she was waiting outside for us when we arrived.

We were treated to a few different wines and liqueurs that were already open and she shared a bit about the winery’s history, where their wine is sold, and which wines and liqueurs had won awards. We tried the Rosé, Cuvée, Merlot, and the Fig & Cherry liqueurs.

We ended up buying the cherry liqueur (of course!) and a bottle of their award-winning Marastina, which is made from the authentic white Marastina grape from the Zadar area. We would have bought the Fig as well, but they were sold out. She didn’t charge us anything for tasting, as she said it wasn’t a full and proper tasting, and we left with our 3 bottles for 400 Kuna.

Sometimes I love how last-minute plans turn out – they always make for a unique experience!

Old Town Zadar Peninsula

When walking the streets of old town, I found a little souvenir shop that offered free tastings of the liqueur they sell, and she had a Fig option sold in an airplane bottle size, so I tried that and it was similar enough to the winery that we bought it.

I later found the official Maraska store in the city center, which was still open into the evening. They had a gift set for 50 kuna with 5 small bottles – which, by the way, was much less expensive than the exact same set I had seen in the souvenir shops (one sold it for 85 and another store was 110). When I asked about it, the woman running the shop said those 5 weren’t even their best, so she helped me pick the few that mattered and I bought 3 small bottles for 18 kuna: original Maraschino, Cherry Brandy, and walnut.

Next I spent some time working on this blog at the Tramonto Restaurant (4/5) based on drink and view alone – never tried the food) along the water. My Hugo was 42 Kuna (~$7 USD). I arrived at a perfect time – when the sun was still a little strong, but only about an hour before sunset – and got a great little cocktail table. What a beautiful view! I sat for a drink while hubby napped and then he joined me for the end of the sunset.

Dinner at Pet Bunara (4.5/5)

The woman at Fiolic had recommended Pet Bunara, which we knew was only a block from our guest room. It was highly rated on TripAdvisor as well, so we decided to check it out. Oh my… this was again one of our favorite meals in Croatia! Remembering it now just makes me smile.

We ordered the Tataki (tuna) for our appetizer, and then the Pasta Nostra (scampi) and the Napoleon Desire (lamb shank) for dinner. We also had a lovely bottle of wine.

The tuna was fresh and the crust was flavorful. The pasta noodles in the Pasta Nostra were homemade and the dish as a whole was delicious! (It wasn’t the scampi we were expecting and yet it was 100x better!) The lamb was tender, perfectly cooked, and rich in flavor. The crispy onions made for a perfect bite and the side of cheesy potatoes really made the whole meal well-rounded. I mean if you know me, a cheesy potato is top of my list!!

We were too full for dessert, but they had a couple on the menu that looked great. Overall a great ambience, incredible food and delicious wine.

Zara Palace Design Rooms (both 2/5 and also 4/5)

We got a great deal on this guest room at $100 for a one-night stay. Prior to check in, we received a couple of messages with instructions from the property, which was perfect. I responded that we were going to be arriving early, and she ended up being super accommodating and getting our room ready early and communicated with us quickly. Great service!!

The building is very conveniently located – right in the middle of the action but close enough to parking that we didn’t have to drag our stuff through all of old town Zadar. The rooms are up a flight of stairs (no elevators), but its all keypad based, so it’s easy to get in and out without having to carry a key or card. We had the room at the very end of the hallway with a view of the square from our window. It was super cute, and very clean. The shower is in the main room which is strange, but no complaints! We did see a couple of mosquitos on the ceiling and were worried at first, but we ended up having no issues with them. There were cold waters ready for us in the fridge which was also a really nice touch, and their toiletries were L’Occitane.

We would have easily rated our room and experience a 4+, however when we came back from dinner, we discovered that the walls and windows were very thin and apparently Saturday nights are a party in Zadar! Even with earplugs in, we heard loud music and even louder people for hours into the night. While we had hoped to get to sleep early since we had a long day ahead of us, we didn’t sleep until after midnight when the music finally ended and the town quieted down. I would bet that this would be a perfect spot for a mid-week stay, or for guests that plan to party on the weekends! For us, the noise ruined an otherwise amazing stay.

The next morning, we got up early for our big day at Croatia’s most famous national park! We’ll see you in the next one for a blog chock full of beautiful waterfall photos!

XO,

J