Zadar: Everyday life for an everyday girl

Travelling to new places is quite exciting; you get to see new places through the warped lenses of tourism. So when I travelled to Zadar, Croatia, for an academic conference last week, I was very excited to have a free day to explore the city on either side of the conference.

Note: This is one of a series of Zadar posts with photos. The other two are With love from Zadar and Zadar: A Catholic girl’s paradise.

The weather was lovely. The old city buildings were lovely. The food was lovely. And the entertainment with the food was lovely!

The sounds of the Sea Organ were lovely, too. Yes, Zadar was a lovely tourist heaven!

But below the tourist surface, there was a bit of real-life going on.

Like the enormous amount of (presumably stray or feral) cats running about the place.

Like the large number of graffiti hearts scattered about the city.

And like the fire hydrants, private balconies, and clothes hanging out to dry.

Normally, I like to really explore new places. I like to get far off the beaten track, away from the glitz of the tourist hub. But as I was exploring alone, in a city where I didn’t speak the native language, and with a broken (but healing!) ankle, I felt it was best not to stray too far from the main drags. But I did manage to see some of the “everyday” bits of the city.

It was so wonderful to be able to see such a beautiful old city with a bit of “everyday life” tucked behind the main tourist walkways. And whilst I didn’t get to experience the “real” Zadar (you can’t do that in one week as a tourist!) I feel that I did get a nice taste of the non-tourist Zadar.

If I had more time (and if I had two fully-functioning lower limbs!) I would have loved to get into more of the suburban residential areas. I would have also liked to explore the cemeteries and maybe some of the more industrialised areas. But I will keep those things in mind for my next visit because I hope that there will be a next visit!

Below is a hodgepodge of “everyday Zadar” photos from my trip. I hope you enjoy them!