Today we will drive back up the coast to Zadar, a town north of Split. This is the farther south we will be on this trip, and Stefan notes that it feels weird to finally be driving back toward Sweden.

We pack up and are in the car driving by 10:30. This is pretty good for us these days. We drive up the coast, and it’s gorgeous. I mean, as much as we are ready to leave Dubrovnik and the hectic tourist scene here, I can’t help but catch my breath upon the sight of mountainous islands rising in the glistening ocean. It’s crazy pretty.

Ston has incredible city walls rising up and over a mountain to its sister city, Mali Ston. We have no desire to walk it. None.

Instead we find the facility making salt! Lillian’s been asking a lot of science questions of where things come from and how things are made, so this was extremely satisfying.

We eat lunch at a great place in Ston, Stagnum. It’s a simple family-run place with a cool indoor courtyard. The wind here is crazy, so it’s nice to be in this protected oasis. This area is known for the mussels and oysters farmed locally. Lillian and Stefan enjoy mussels (still with beards which is a little gross), while Oly and I eat delicious pork chops.  Everything is cooked on an open flame, which we watch from our table. The cook uses a hair dryer to feed the fire! The kids are fascinated by the embers that float up from the fire.

We drive the 3 hours to Zadar with only one short stop for gas and 5 minutes on the slide outside the gas station. It’s a beautiful drive, and it goes by quickly now that we’ve discovered More Perfect, a podcast about the Supreme Court (thanks Malin!).

We drive into Zadar and find a parking spot within a block of our Airbnb. We already like this place more than Dubrovnik.

This Airbnb is awesome, and our host is super nice. She offers to babysit for us the following night. Date night!

We walk along the narrow pedestrian streets of this old town. It’s white stone and beautiful. It’s surprisingly cool here, and most people are wearing light jackets or sweaters!

The kids play a lot. I think they really needed to get out some energy after being in the car so long. We walk to a neat little park (that doesn’t allow dogs. Good thing we left Oliver at home tonight). We can see a section of the old city wall from here, and an impressive gate to the city. This town is already impressing us. It’s very pretty, easy to walk and seems incredibly more laid-back than Split or Dubrovnik.

After a thorough introduction to our new neighborhood, we find a cute patio for dinner. The name, Pasta Zvasta, almost makes me not want to eat here, but the reviews are good on TripAdvisor. The penne pasta with bacon and veggies is amazingly smoky. And Stefan and I enjoy a bottle of local rose that is very good. The service is very slow, even by Croatian standards, so we don’t leave until after 9pm.

The kids are exhausted as Stefan carries them both home.