Single on a July Day: The Croatia Files, pt 2

After an amazing bus ride through the hills (and one incident of the bus overheating), I arrived in my last full stop on this wondrous vacation-- Novalja.

When I planned on coming here it was mainly for the Croatia Rocks festival, but I ended up enjoying the whole city. I stayed at the Moon Rocks Hostel..it was significantly cheaper than the other apartments and I was not into spending a week in a shared room. When you travel alone its painful to have to pay the double occupancy fee...that's money that could be better spent outside of the hostel. 

Moon Rocks is at the top

This hostel  was walking distance from the bus terminal and the city centre and it had a great bar. If I were to go back, I'd hope to stay closer to the city. It gets pretty dark and I like partying late on the shore; it would just be easier to stay there than trek back in the dark.  Plus transit is easy to navigate and inexpensive.

The area is host to several festivals and I was coming in after Fresh Island Festival. I feel like I should have come for that. It seemed to have a great line up of artists! I came for Croatia Rocks instead....I didn't even know the line up when I got there. In fact I had VIP and was not even given a programme...and I refused to buy it.

I think that sums up my Croatia Rocks experience...over paying..well suggestions of  over paying since I did not take the extra bait. I am not sure if it is because it was the first time a Rocks festival came to Croatia or if it was just a poorly organized festival, it was not worth the ticket. Decent experience, but there are free replacements all over Zrce!

Euphoria, it got busier as the night went on

The bus runs all night and you can carry your booze with you. The festival bars cost more than the regular bars and I saw three other places to party. If you are looking for a budget time, I recommend Euphoria. It is right on the beach as you get off the bus. It had cheap liquor and a stripper pole--can't go wrong. The men aren't my cup of tea (way too young, for someone that loves the 40+ crowd), but I know women all over that would love it..you know who you are..Euphoria had an awesome DJ..spinning some mix of 80s/90s to begin with then worked into more modern dancystuff. The bar had mega cocktails for 100k and special shot prices every night...oh and it's no cover and of course no dress code...

Aquarius

Papaya

There were also afternoon pool parties associated with Croatia Rocks. The wristband was supposed to get me into some awesome fun with well known DJs. It was sort of like this. There were only two clubs involved in the whole festival-- Papaya and Aquarius--so only two pool parties associated with the pass. They both had great DJs, but, honestly, only Papaya had a party. The other was a lounge with a wading pool.

If you are travelling to Novalja and do not want to spend money on some music fest, you can still go to the Zrce Beach. There is music all over and you can bring a picnic to the

Snacks and Giant Beer

beach. Plus there are bars and little food kiosks all over. The beach is made of rocks..flipflops  can be painful..but people do it... I recommend some canvas shoe cheapies and bring a yoga mat to sit on. 

City Beach. Such clear water!!!!

There is also a nice quaint beach at the city centre and some great bars over looking the Sea. I spent some time there and socialized with anyone that wanted to speak English. It was nice and a more laid back scene. I walked past another hostel, that I might consider next time around...if I'm still rolling solo. 

Overall an amazing time, despite any festival issues.  

Sunset on my walk from the bus terminal

I'll just note that I put in my complaint and they were taken seriously. It might be helpful for anyone else that had problems to email the sales team: sales@croatiarocks.com. It's the only way they can make improvements.

From here I did a 4h bus ride to Zagreb and then other 30min bus to the airport....then to my last night stay at the Dream Hotel. What an amazing treat this place was!  I was only there for my stop over, until my flight home so I didn't leave the hotel and cannot comment on how close it is to things to do. I enjoyed the restaurant and ate an amazing steak then had an awesome breakfast the next day. The breakfast was included and the airport transport was free. I paid about $80CDN for room and dinner...with wine. Madness!!!

I ate all of this...nom nom

Ferry on the bus ride

 It was a dream vacation, but at some point I had come home...

 YTZ!!!!

Single on a July Day: The Croatia Files, pt 1

After an exhilarating stay in a city I longed to see, it was time to head to the beach. This half of the trip is even more so filled with drinking and partying, but without the full cultural experience. Sometimes you just gotta have fun. 

I spent my time gazing out the windows.

From Sarajevo I hopped two flights to Zadar. Normally I don't fly, but Croatia Airlines had an amazing fare going on Expedia.ca, and money talks when you are travelling alone on a budget! 

SJJ is one of those simple, cute airports. It's easy to navigate and just a few gates take you around the world. Not much to do. There is a duty free shop, but it's best to bring your own entertainment.

I was doing SJJ-ZAG-ZAD and both of my flights were late getting in and out. Apparently this is just what to expect from this airline. I didn't mind; the great service and low price made up for it! 

A little snack during my stopover in ZAG

I arrived in Zadar after 10pm. It was dark and everything was pretty much closed. I already looked things up before so I knew there was a bus and how much it cost and how to get to my hostel, so I wasn't worried about anything.  I grabbed my pack and made my way to the bus...it was pretty full and I think he waited for the flight to get in before departing... pretty decent! 

I was staying the Old Town and it was the last of two stops on the bus. Easy enough. The place was packed still with visitors enjoying their vacation and it was a little after 11pm. I checked in to what I'm going to consider a luxury hostel. As usual, Booking.com was a score. The Boutique Hostel Forum in Zadar was awesome. I think it is important to remember that this comes after the grossness in Novi Sad and the dormitory setting in Sarajevo. I feel like I spoiled myself on this stay.  I had my own room with bathroom and regular cleaning...I loved it. Not really hostel-esk, but single occupancy in a double room was under $50CDN/night....so I guess I can call it a budget hotel..whatever the label, it was great!!

Zadar was a definite good time. I spent my whole time in the Old Town, but I think I should have stayed longer and did more. You can walk the Old Town...you kind of have to since cars are not permitted in most of it. This was great since it was only people traffic that you had to deal with. Plus it was easy to navigate after a few beers...

What to do:
-The Sea Organs (of course!!): The Adriatic Sea feeds into this piece of art and creates music! You just have to go.
-Swim in the sea: I liked sitting by it and smelling that sea like odour that cannot be captured in a room freshener. I saw people jumping in and there was a shallow section for kids to walk around in.
-The Greeting to the Sun: Another wonderful piece of art. It lights up and is very nice to see at sunset or night.

I saw these growing out of rocks by the waterside

-Drink Maraschino: I haven't steered you wrong so far in the booze department so I'm not even going to explain this one...just do it!
-Walk around/take a tour: I'm a firm believer in wondering around, taking it all it in. Or have someone take you around. It was not a big town. I didn't get lost and if I felt lost I just kept going...eventually I saw a building that I recognized.

The lackadaisical life of solo vacationing....

I took in the Museum of Archeology.. ...after a few beers at the Boutique Caffe Forum-- oddly enough it is connected to my hotel, but no discounts were given. Whatever, it's not like it was that expensive to drink...15k for a Tomislav .5l...wonderful!

7.3% and didn't taste like a dark beer  

As usual my trip had some music involved...Havana Club put on a promotion with live band! Smart move since Manu Chao was playing there the next night. That really wasn't the highlight of the trip though....on my second night, I met a cool local and chilled on the pier facing the Adriatic Sea drinking beer from a 2L bottle...that's how it comes...in the convenience store...and they give you cups. Then you relax and enjoy the coast. 

Breath taking....just remember to clean up after yourdamnself!  There were a lot of bottles around and the person I was with outright said that it was probably tourists....of course it is. Not all tourists, but some just see every part of their trip like it's a hotel...someone else will pick up after them.

Folks remember: take pictures, leave footprints....not: take advantage and leave garbage!!

I wish I could have captured the scent!

Well a couple of days of luxury was all that I had...then it was a 1.5h bus ride to Novalja for the final stop on this grand vacation.