Dalmatia Series - Zadar

This part of Croatia is a bit further from tourist hot spots in the south, so it is still possible to wander the quiet streets without bumping into hordes of tourists trailing after their tour guides. Croatia is a beautiful country, none more so away from the popular tourist destinations.

The more classical sights at Zadar include the Roman forum, of which only a few columns and an altar remain. Stones from here were used to build the rotunda of the 9th century St Donat's Church, an impressive architecture both from the outside and the inside.

The impressive rotunda of St Donat's Church built in 9th C

Roman remains corralled into one display area along the promenade, Zadar

The elegant promenade at the Riva, Zadar

Probably the most decorated ice cream seen in Europe
These concoctions are truly irresistible 

The Monument to the Sun, Zadar

I was recommended to visit Zadar's Sea Organ, an art installation consisting of a series of pipes cut into the promenade. Soft, meditative chords become a cacophony of groans when the waves are choppy. On the day however, the sea was calm as a whisper. I visited the Monument to the Sun, a large disc of solar-powered cells that becomes a multicoloured disco ball as the sun sets. On a bright spring afternoon, it was nothing more than a collection of solar panels and one had to stretch one's imagination to the time when the sun sets....

Remains of a Roman column, Zadar's historic centre