Franchu’s Lair

No matter how many times I go to Zagreb, I always find something interesting to do there. It is one of these cities that are alive, and that are all the time changing. This time we went there for New Year’s Eve and even if it was too cold to go to Trg Bana Jelacica for Oliver Dragojevic’s concert, having a walk the first day of the year across a freshly snowed Zagreb was priceless

We stayed at the Sheraton Zagreb that is 5 minutes on foot from the train station (Glavni Kolodvor) and 10 minutes on foot from the main square (Trg Bana Jelacica). Pricewise, while it is not cheap, for the location and service that we got it was an outstanding offer. Great continental breakfast buffet, swimming pool and fitness center, and a very nice room with wired free Internet I’m really happy to have checked the offers, as during the low season prices are comparable to other hotels in town.

If you are hungry there is a little place behind the main square called Nocturno where you can eat pizzas, pasta or typical Croatian food if you prefer. Prices are affordable (around 10€ per person) and the food is really tasty.

Here you have some pictures that I took those days.

La Palma is one of the seven major islands that form the Canary Archipelago. Being a volcanic island you can expect to see a mountain rise from the sea, meaning that in a 10 minutes drive you can be by the sea or on top of a mountain.

To reach the island you have direct flights from Madrid, or you can fly to Tenerife Norte (TFN) and from there there are hourly flights to Santa Cruz de la Palma (SPC). There are two companies that do the route: Binter and Islas. A friend from Tenerife recommended me to fly with Binter and so I did. A wonderful on-board service for the 30 minutes flight, and if you can get a seat on the left side of the place to get a priviledge view of the Teide peak as you fly near it

• Hotel: I stayed at the H10 Taburiente Playa which is on the way from the airport (SPC) to Santa Cruz de La Palma. You have to take the exit “Los Cancajos” and follow down the road until you see the hotel on your right. Try to get a room with views on the sea and Santa Cruz de La Palma. Seeing the sunrise is breathtaking Beware though, that some rooms don’t have wifi internet access. Breakfast is a nice buffet with many things to choose and the inside of the hotel is stunningly beautiful (there is a waterfall and some lakes with live fishes!).
  

• Meal: I never made it for lunch in the three days that I stayed in the island (too much work). For dinner I went to a little place 5 minutes on foot from the hotel called “ALAVASCA”. When you get out from the hotel, turn left and walk uphill until you see it on your right. The fried cheese with pepper marmalade is delicious Also, if you happen to be on the west side of the island near Tazacorte, there is a very nice beach bar in Puerto Naos, that serve natural fuit juices that are simply amazing.
  

• Sightseeing: If you are a plane spotter, you have a very nice view of the runway facing south from the road at the exit you would take to go to the hotel in Los Cancajos as described before. Instead of turning right you can take the exit on your left and park on that side of the road for a priviledged point of view on the runway. I also drove around the island to reach each of the lighthouses that I had to work on and the views are amazing. You can find yourself inside a banana field and 15 minutes later you can be inside a pine forest. Be prepared to be surprised by the landscape! On the map you can see the landmarks of my trip.
  

  
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Last summer I spent two wonderful weeks in Zadar, Croatia learning Croatian, meeting amazing people and visiting wonderful places that are very near Zadar.

For the Croatian lessons I attended the Lin-Cro school. We stayed in a house where we could cook and wash our clothes and within walking distance (10 minutes) of the place where we were having the lectures. In the morning we would go to the lectures, and in the afternoon we would go to the beach enjoy the sea and sun while we would do our homework.

During the course we visited Nin, an important historical city in Croatia, and National Parks Krka and Kornati. Both are amazing places to enjoy a relaxing day and have a swim in a non-usual environment. In Krka you swim by a watefall, and in Kornati you swim by a remote island

To go out in Zadar you can go to The Garden, a lounge bar by the sea on top of the city walls, or if you want a more dynamic ambience you can go to “Medussa” bar on the Kolovare beach (mostly Croatian music), or to “Maraschino” which is between the bridges.

For dinner, we hit several times a little place called “Malo Misto” where you can eat cevapi, another one called “Tu mi je lipo”, another little konoba on tri bunara square (really near The Garden lounge bar), …

While in Zadar don’t miss the monument to the sun, the sea organ, and walking around the city center in the peninsula. After all, most of the city life is around Siroka Ulica, the main street in Zadar

To finish with this little summary of Zadar, I recommend you to take a look at the photos and enjoy the sights of the city and its surroundings.