I'm back.... or "snapshots from Croatian vacation"

I'm back. And I'm already cold (is it just me or is this Canadian summer kind of fading?). I was actually standing close to the BBQ today just to feel the warmth of the fire. But, Croatia..... well, that was the real summer. The one you easily get used to.

Botel in the heart of Rijeka City

I managed to go there for a little more than couple of weeks, and it was totally worth the 7 hours of uncomfortable ride in the first plane and then an hour in the second one to get there.

When I stepped onto the Zagreb's airport ground, all I felt was a nice, warm breeze.

That is,  before my parents managed to make an incredible noise, first arguing about the parking lot (which had nothing to do with me) and then showing their affection, hugging me and asking me if I'm hungry (cause apparently I seem to be thinner every time my mom sees me).

Downtown Rijeka

We hit the road to Rijeka, a beautiful city on the coast, where we were about to spend the first week of my vacation.

My father was holding a photography exhibition there and it happened so that my good friend Ana was living there at the moment so I got the spend lots of time with her too, as well as with some of other good friends.

I used to live in Rijeka, so being there after so much time brought lots of memories back, making the stay so much more interesting and intense.

Rijeka is a big city on northern Croatian coast - it's a harbor city, seaport with shipyards and heavy industry.



A part of it is Trsat - the old fortress where it all started back in the early times. Today, there is also the Sanctuary of our Lady of Trsat, representing the guardian of the travelers, especially seamen.

To get to the fortress, you can take the road - but more interesting path is the stairway from downtown all the way up, with it's 561 stairs (that's how much we counted).

Trsat stairs	Stairs downtown

According to the legend, it's impossible to count the stairs due to the devil who got mad and mixed them up once and for all, making them "constantly changing". Even today, people of Rijeka swear that the number of the stairs is is different every time you try to count them.

Korzo

Rijeka is an old city - full of stairs, narrow streets, old buildings and monuments. It's also a modern, European city, where people are open minded and good-hearted, full of classic and street art, culture and bursting with flair.

One of old buildings (with wide selection of windows)

We did all the average tourists do - which we rarely did before - visiting the old Trsat fort and counting the devil's stairs, eating in amazing restaurants, taking walks at night in the vivid main street called Korzo, enjoying cold beers on the boat club, going onto the crowded beach and eating pancakes there.

View from Trsat

We also did all the things we normally do when we're on the coast - eating bread with pate and tomatoes (traditional Croatian meal when on vacation), eating tons of watermelons, drinking beer in the apartment till the early morning, sharing stories, laughing and having fun remembering old times.

The time passed by real soon and we had to leave Rijeka and go back home - to my parents town. That was a different kind of week - lazy, relaxing kind of fun where everything is about my mom's delicious food, spending time with family and noticing how things changed in the house.

One of Zagreb's typical cafe's downtown

I've also spent two days in Zagreb.
I got really surprised by what they did downtown - making the city looking awesome.

It's full of tourists, and for the first time I actually had the feeling they have something to see. People dancing in the streets, playing music, walking in traditional national costumes, beautifully decorated cafe's and restaurants - a feast for eyes, ears and soul.

Zagreb downtown in the mirror

I did everything I wanted to do and therefore my vacation was 100% successful.

I've spent quality time with my family and had a great time with close friends.
I ate octopus.

I ate pasta with truffles.
I ate pate and tomatoes and watermelon.
I swam in the sea and sunbathe on the beach (the real beach).
I felt the scent of salt in the air, as well as rosemary, lavender and all the other scents of coastal, Mediterranean vegetation.
I drank home made liquor.

We had a great, hot weather and everything was perfect. If by any chance you plan to visit Croatia though, make sure you take more than couple of weeks to spend there...