It’s our first full day on this side of the Istrian peninsula and we are excited to walk along that walkway more and swim in the clear water here. We find some amazing spots and feel quite fancy on this Croatian beach day.

I walk to the bakery and grocery store on our street for some morning provisions. It’s a beautiful day, and our cute breakfast table overlooks the street and the sea beyond it. While we eat, our landlord’s cousin comes to fix the internet. Stefan and I take time to catch up on emails and the blog posts. The kids play well together; it melts my heart.

We go down to the harbor and see children doing art projects all along the water. Our kind neighbor said there’d be a craft fair for children, but this is more like each individual family is creating some incredible art. I was blown away. We stop at a little fruit stand for smoothies there in the harbor before making our way down the promenade. 

We walk along the promenade as we did last night. The kids have to climb on the monster tree again. We pass many playgrounds and beach areas on our short walk to main Opatija. It’s just incredible how many places there are for kids to run and play here. We don’t stop too often on this walk because it’s nearing 12, and we want to ensure everyone eats before turning into monsters.

We make our way to main Opatija where we find a gorgeous restaurant overlooking the harbor, Molo. I have no idea why this place isn’t packed. It’s beautiful, the staff are nice and attentive and the food is amazing. It’s not the cheapest place, but it’s still well-priced for a nice meal. Lillian has fish soup again, and Stefan and I share a whole branzino (learned that’s a fancier-sounding word for sea bass).

On our walk over here, we saw a few different beach clubs associated with fancy hotels. They had cabanas, chairs and umbrellas for rent. Two of them even had a small pool for kids. We decide to walk back to one, and they have a cabana available! They let us pick between a few, and one is situated farthest from other people and on the edge of the sea. It’s incredible.  

We all go jump in the ocean. The club has a small space protected from the open water, so no boats and a lot of it is shallow enough to stand. It’s all rocks, no sand. The water is clear and refreshing, but the kids find it too cold after a few minutes. So we move to the pool, where they have a ball. Another family brought lots of plastic toys, and they’s sharing. Oly is particularly happy playing with a plastic mommy and baby turtle. Lillian is still getting used to the idea of swimming, so she won’t put her head in the water. She insisted I buy her goggles for this purpose, but she just can’t do it. Finally she puts her head in the water, and I get it on video! So proud of her. It’s a baby step, but we’ll take it.

We relax for as long as we can in our cabana. We get some good snuggle time with the kids, and it’s really nice. We’d like to reserve this same cabana tomorrow for more of this vacation from our vacation.

We walk home, letting the kids play a little on the playgrounds we pass. The beaches are vacant by 7, even though it’s gorgeous outside.

We walk back to our little harbor in Volosko and grab a table at the burger place we saw last night, Submarine. It’s amazing. The two women working there are scurrying constantly to help a lot of tables, yet our server still has time to stop and make the kids laugh. That always makes my dining experience better. We get really good sliders and some fries covered in truffle sauce. So good. The kids each get a little slider with apple slices and fries. They love this place.

In the harbor, people are setting up for an art auction, and a quartet plays beautiful classical music. It’s Saturday night, and there’s great energy in the air.

By the time we get home, everyone is relaxed and ready for bed. It’s been such a quintessential vacation day.