Awesome Croatia: from Zagreb to Pag island 
Croatia is very welcoming, friendly and safe country that has experienced similar tragedy, as we have now in Ukraine, but is confidently moving forward. This is what we saw in the eyes of people. And its landscapes give peace and inspiration. We planned just to drive along the sea coast of Croatia to Montenegro, but this country attracted us with its atmosphere, language and people. We started driving longer and longer … stopping at various places more often…
Dobar Dan (Hello), Republic Hrvatska! Hvala (thanks) you for inspiration!
The nearest town where we stopped and stayed for the night was Zagreb – the capital of Croatia. That is flat we rented on Airbnb and a large garage for the car included. By the way, nobody locks the gates. The owner of the house does not come for the keys at checkout, and asks to leave them under the rug. He said that Croatia is a very safe country.
Our coffeemaker 🙂 We bought it immediately after visiting Rome – we were very inspired by Italians, who drink espresso several times a day (although we drink it with milk).
We had a little stroll in Zagreb, because we stopped here to spend the night, but still saw people’s life in it.
Here is an outdoor market in the city center, many locally grown fruits and vegetables. We bought pears per 6 kunas and oranges per 10 kunas per kg.
We had a ride on the tram (ticket cost is 10 kunas), so many people got inside that we could not see where to validate the ticket.
Great city, but you cannot say that this is a metropolis.
Left lower photo is a bit reminiscent of Lviv, only the tram is blue 🙂
And here they are …Breathtaking landscapes…
The small town of Senj. The first city by the sea on our way. You can feel calmness and comfort in the photos.
However, when it’s not a season there is one drawback – strong wind! That day when we were there, the wind reached 35-60 km/h. We were really carried down by the wind, and the car sometimes swung as well, especially at the edge of the road. It was scary when unaccustomed, at the edge of the pier we held to the columns, benches and pillars 🙂
Here is the quay.
That’s how the houses look like, if you go from the quay to the patios.
Here we had a little walk, and then the wind became even stronger so we moved towards the island of Pag.
We got to Prizna, where we bought tickets in the cash-office for ferry from the mainland to the island. Price per car – 80 kunas, per person – 14 kunas. One-way, because then, if you go along the island towards Split, you can drive across the bridge.
We came to the island in order to go by car on the ferry 🙂 We went with a bus, an ambulance and several passenger cars. We thought that no one would be there, and the ferry sails all the time here and there …
We were lucky to sail at sunset.
Here you can clearly see the strength of the wind.
The roads are great, what else to say … The little island comprising 6-8,000 residents and 40,000 sheep.
Lambs … Here they are at every turn, almost every farmer has his flock. Farms are located at the distance of several km from the villages and towns. They are grazing round-the-clock … they eat grass, and the owner comes in the evening to bring water.
They are very fearful. We drive a car, we see as they graze close to the road – as soon as we stop, they bleat, step aside and watch what we want from them .. They are not afraid only of their master.
One of the two towns on the island of Novalja. We had just arrived at the sunset, the boat sailed in the sea and seagulls followed it …
We drove further, because we had a flat booked in another city of Pag.
You have to descend to reach it. It is divided into two and connected with bridges with one-way traffic.
Children’s fancy festival took place that evening. Our apartment was on the side street from the central square.
View from the window of our apartment.
These two towns on the island of Pag have population of 2,000 people each, the rest of 6,000 live in small villages. There is no gas here, as elsewhere in Croatia (even if used, they buy it in balloons at gas stations). They use solely electricity, their own! They built a wind-power station on the island.
In summer, of course, they earn their living from tourism.
We lived in a pedestrian area, so the car slept on the bridge by the sea)
This is another field of activity. Salt mining. Seawater enters the clay pools – the sun evaporates water – salt remains. The factory is near the pool. In general, 2/3 of the total amount of salt in Croatia is produced on the island.
Pag cheese. It is a valuable due to special nature of the island and its climate. It is made from sheep’s milk and olive oil. Price is ranging from 150 kunas per 1 kg. Mutton is also very valuable – ecoproduct aged about 5 months.
Snowy mountains are located on the mainland and are well visible from the island.
On the way to the bridge of Pag we stopped to take photos of Miscovci village, and the Croat accidentally invited us to his house. He does not speak English, but his wife speaks well, since one of earnings for them is tourism.
They are building a new house to rent in the summer. There also have sheep that graze nearby. Very positive couple. They told about Croatia, about the island, how they live, showed their sheep). And inquired about Ukraine. Of course, they are following the news, they are worried. They compare with themselves, since similar situation Croats had with Serbs. They say that war – is nonsense. We asked what the relationship are between Croatia and Serbia now – politicians are mending relations, the older generation say each other that some of them were killing their relatives, and the younger does not mention the war (for 20 years passed) – it lives present and future.
The bridge of Pag that connects the island and the mainland.
We dropped by to the city of Zadar, we liked it immensely, but had no chance to walk.
Another nice bridge on the highway towards Split city, where we went for one night and stayed for a month.
As for the highways: all major roads leading to the capital – are paid. We came across them three times, including to the city of Split. An average of 100 km costs 6-7 euros. The quality of roads is not comparable to the Polish, but good enough.
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