Alfred Hitchcock said that the the sunset off Zadar is the most beautiful in the world. What do you think?

More photos on Flickr.

Our visit to Zadar was part of the Aegean Odyssey. Mum, Dad, Andrew and I spent a few weeks in Croatia and Greece with a quick visit to Slovenia and Austria in the middle. Other entries from this trip include: Sea Organ, Blessed are the cheesemakers and Climbing in Croatia.

One of Zadar's major tourist attractions is the Sea Organ (hur hur). As the name suggests it's an organ which is played by the sea. Under the steps of the promenade are the pipes of the organ; the waves rolling in force air through the pipes to produce music. The frequency of waves determine the tempo and the size of the waves determine the volume.

It's quite soothing to sit on the steps at the sea organ and listen. When a boat goes past it, the music speeds up and it sounds like a bit of a sea jig. Then it all slows down again and it's a bit like a lullaby. We videoed the music so you can enjoy the experience as well.




Our visit to Zadar was part of the Aegean Odyssey. Mum, Dad, Andrew and I spent a few weeks in Croatia and Greece with a quick visit to Slovenia and Austria in the middle. Other entries from this trip include: Blessed are the cheesemakers and Climbing in Croatia.

Church spire climbing in Croatia is scarier than spire climbing in other countries. We climbed St. Duje Cathedral in Split, St. Lawrence Cathedral in Trogir and St. Mary's church in Zadar.

In other countries, the staircases to the top of spires are narrow, stone staircases. They are enclosed and feel very solid. In Croatia, the staircases usually hug the outside wall of the spire. There are lots of open windows so you can feel the breeze blowing through the spire and it feels very open. As you climb you can see that's it a long way down both on the inside and outside the spire.

At the entrance to each climb there was a sign warning you that you were undertaking the climb at your own risk. Most of the staircases that we climbed were in pretty poor condition. They were rusted metal staircases, usually covered in pigeon poo. There didn't seem to be any health and safety concerns either. At the top of St Lawrence's Cathedral in Trogir, there was no barrier or railing to prevent you from falling into the hole and down the ladder.



With my fear of heights (really, it's a fear of falling), I was pretty impressed that I made it to the top of these spires. It was definitely worth it for the views (below: Split, Trogir, Zadar).



More photos of Split and Trogir and Zadar on Flickr.

Our visit to Split, Trogir and Zadar was part of the Aegean Odyssey. Mum, Dad, Andrew and I spent a few weeks in Croatia and Greece with a quick visit to Slovenia and Austria in the middle.