Traveling: Zadar (Croatia)

You could say that my vacation begun even before 30th of June, but going off to coast screamed it! I never had that kind of vacation until few years back because my parents didn't really travel much, let alone to some place on the coast. However, I had few one-day-field-trips to coast and those shaped my perception of summer vacation forever. My first visits to Zadar, town on the East coast of Adriatic sea, were probably to visit some relative or to my orthodontist, not to sunbathe, still, when you mention Zadar today i immediately think of sea, sun, beach... in short: summer vacation!

And here is why I find it visit worthy!

History. Probably not the first thing that any other 20-year-old thinks of, but I never really thought much as everyone else did about... well, everything. I always had separate way of thinking and perceiving. When I say history I don't point out its historic moments and development. It's more of what it left behind; streets, buildings, churches... I love that this town has visible history with interesting stories behind that I always look forward to.

City. I didn't grow up in the city. The city I visited often since I was born till I moved wasn't exactly by my standards, but I'm still a city girl. I love the smell of the city, traffic of the city, possibilities of the city, noise... and Zadar has it in certain amount, especially during the touristic season.

Sea. Zadar is on the coast, and summer just doesn't work without sea.

Shopping. It's always better in the city. Zadar has street style stores in its down town and shopping center called Supernova. Although I'm not too happy with current offer, it's still not too bad.

All of these things shape Zadar as attractive summer destination, and it is, but in my opinion it is because of those memories I experienced there.

Sea organ is somewhat musical installation on the coast of Zadar where waves produce musical noise by hitting the shore. When you think about it little further, it's nature playing. And all the while you're walking by the Adriatic sea and watching the sunset over it with islands in the distance.

Gelato/cake shops. I was always somewhat of a sweet-tooth and I appreciate well-made cake very very much. I don't neglect gelatos either, especially during these summer months. Every time I come to Zadar I visit Kavana Danica on the Kalelarga (also known as The Wide Street) to try out something out of their offer. My moms favorite is Ferrero cake which is the perfect choice for all chocolate, Nutella and hazelnut lovers! I like it too, but I'm always experimenting, trying something new and I was never disappointed. Their gelatos are supposedly made by Italian recipe. I am no expert and although I've tried gelatos in Italy too (there are no better than theirs!) I can't really tell if these are up to shoulder with them. However, they are very delicious.

There is also local recommendation for best gelato in Zadar to be in the place called Donat, where you can find people waiting in (fast moving) line for their gelato. I've tried flavors called Don Vito and Hazelnut and was very satisfied. Maybe someone more experienced in tasting could tell you somewhat more, all i can say is that I recommend going there because I enjoyed it (and I would never send you off somewhere with recommendation if I don't think of it as good place to go). Wow, you can tell I like cakes and gelatos, right? hahah

Sunsets over the bridge that connects Poluotok and the rest of Zadar. Just experience it and you'll know what I mean ;) It's nice how the lights from the shore that reflect in the sea complement the sight.

The Queen Jelena’s gardens. They were one of the most beautiful places to see in Zadar and the place of many happenings on social scale in its time. Today, I’d say they are if not the most beautiful sight in Zadar, probably my favorite place that has special atmosphere in the evening and breathtaking scenery during the day.

Breakfasts on the balcony. I guess that's something you might as well have at home, but I just prefer it there. I wake up early while it's not so hot outside yet, make coffee, cut up some fruit to go along with my breakfast and go outside to have it with the view.

To go along with these idealistic things as I see them, Zadar has some downsides too. You might notice them at first visit; however, I've confirmed it over the few years.

I'm not a big fan of the new-build Zadar. I just like the old architecture better and feel like new building went... wrong. I don't really mind it, just my opinion based on my personal taste for architecture.

One more thing is that drivers aren't really polite. I'm not sure if it is a local thing that tourist also follow or it is just something about this place that they don't respect walkers. They NEVER stop to let the walker cross the road on marked place.

There are probably more exquisite places to spend your summer vacation waiting for me to visit them, but I can't describe how happy and blessed I feel to have this summer vacation right here in Zadar.

Where do you go on summer vacation? Where do you travel? Have you ever been in Croatia? 

What do you think of Zadar?

Love, A. 

P.S. All of the pictures are taken by me and copyrighted. Please do not share further without giving credit. XO

From my perspective: The Fault in Our Stars (the book)

Greška u našim zvijezdama // The Fault in Our Stars

John Green

Ovo je moje mišljenje o knjizi koju sam pročitala, kakav je dojam na mene ostavila i kako sam se osjećala čitajući. Čitanje knjige je za mene emotivan i intelektualan proces, pa se zato ovdje fokusiram na način pisanja, humor, emocije, događaje i razvoj priče. Naravno, prokomentiram i kraj jer je danas teško naići na neki zadovoljavajuć koji paše ostatku priče.

Engleska verzija se može malo razlikovati zato što nije čisti prijevod nego ponovo pisanje.

This is my opinion of the book I've read and the impression I got from reading it. It is greatly affected by the feeling I got while reading it. Reading is as much emotional process for me as it is intellectual, that's why I'm focusing on the way of writing, humor, emotions, character developement, events and the course of the story. Of course, I always comment the ending as well, just because it is hard to come across the satisfying version that matches the rest of the story.

I didn't read this book in english language.

Prije više od godinu dana je najavljeno, ili je možda već bilo u tijeku, snimanje filma prema knjizi Johna Greena "The fault in our stars" ili naša verzija "Greška u našim zvijezdama". Samu najavu su pratile rijeke hvale za spomenutu knjigu, a po izlasku filma i za njega. 

Za tu knjigu sam dotad čula kao za jedno od djela spomenutog autora o kojem sam već prilično znala zahvaljujući uprizorenim verzijama ostalih njegovih djela. Inače su djela ovog autora mahom ljubavne priče, prilično originalnog konteksta i (što nakon čitanja ove knjige vidim) prilično dobro pisane. Nije to baš žanr kojem sam inače sklona u čitanju, ali čisto da bi imala svoj pogled na nešto obožavano i hvaljeno diljem svijeta, uhvatila sam se čitanja ovih 250ak stranica koje sam pročitala u jednom danu. Nisam sigurna jesam li to uspjela zbog moje žeđi za čitanjem ili zato što me se knjiga toliko dojmila. 

Mala digresija: smatram pomalo tragičnim da je danas neko književno djelo publicizirano (u smislu šireg obavještavanja javnosti) tek po izlasku njegove filmske verzije. Mnogo puta sam se našla u situaciji da ne znam što čitati pa sam (uglavnom bez većeg uspjeha) pretraživala internetske stranice za prijedloge, knjižičarke u lokalnoj knjižnici nisu bile od velike pomoći, a okolina je još manje zainteresirana za ovakvu aktivnost. Netko tko voli čitanje barem upola koliko i ja zna kolika je vrijednost u preporuci dobre knjige. Tako je i ovaj put prijedlog za čitanje stigao od reklame za film.

Iako sam imala u planu čitanje spomenutog djela ili bilo što od istog autora pošto sam čula mnogo pohvala, pogledala nekoliko filmova snimljenih na temelju njegovih knjiga, te općenitog oduševljenja javnosti upravo ovom konkretnom knjigom, krenula sam nakon što mi je prijateljica iznijela svoj dojam. 

Riječ je o ljubavi koja se u vrlo kratkom vremenu razvila između dvoje tinejdžera, jedno u fazi borbe s rakom, drugo u NTR fazi (ni traga raku, moglo bi se reći izliječen), borbi s bolešću i njihovim avanturama. Knjiga je pisana u prvom licu, iz perspektive bolesne protagonistice i njenog života koji je u trenutku dobio novi smjer samo zbog jednog poznanstva. Djelo je fikcija pa je teško nekom laiku poput mene zaključiti koliko su određene činjenice u vezi bolesti točne, ali ideja nije loša. Razvoj cijele situacije u pogledu koraka na koje se likovi odlučuju mi je originalan i zanimljiv, iako mi je kraj bio pomalo predvidiv. Sviđa mi se humor i sarkazam u karakterima i izjavama likova.

Ono što me kočilo da se poistovjetim s likovima i potpuno uživam u knjizi je manjak opisa u nekim dijelovima, a višak istih u drugim, što je rezultiralo dojmom kao da likovi u nisu dovoljno razvijeni, a neke situacije pak predetaljno opisane. Također mi se nije svidio vrlo kratak period u kojem se sve odvija. Možda je baš ta kratkoća bila autorov naum da pokaže kako malo treba ljubavi da se razvije. Neki bi to možda totalno smetnuli s uma, no ja nikako nisam mogla. Možda zbog toga nisam u potpunosti doživjela onu emotivnu stranu priče po kojoj je ovaj autor najpoznatiji (moja prijateljica je pak tu stranu iskusila).

Sve u svemu, zanimljivo štivo za pročitati, ubiti neispunjen dan i izgubiti se u stranicama za onog tko to voli, ali nikako nisam impresionirana. Svakako bi htjela pročitati još nešto od istog autora da mogu malo uspoređivati i dobiti bolji dojam o njegovu radu.

Jeste li pročitali ovu knjigu ili pogledali film? Kakvi su vaši dojmovi? Jeste li čitali nešto drugo od ovog autora? Koje vam se djelo najviše svidjelo? Imate li kakvu preporuku za čitanje?

Just as the trailer for the same-name-movie came out, worldwide hysteria for this book overwhelmed many social networks and I got interested: what is it all about?

I knew very well that The Fault in Our Stars is a book by the popular writer John Green whose novels inspired many movies I actually watched, however I never read any of his books.

Seeing how crazy people were about this book and how they couldn’t wait for the movie, I decided to finally read the book (although I wanted to read something of Green’s work since long ago). My good friend just finished reading and told me how emotionally touching it was for her so I got even more interested.

I read the book in the course of one day and I loved the sarcasm and the humor of characters, way of writing and the course of the story (where they went and what they did). However, despite the originality of the situation, I found the ending predictable, but which ending isn’t?

I’m the type of person who really loves reading and I like to get in the role of the main character in order to experience the book and the point of view. Here, I was neither emotionally involved nor touched, probably because of the short timeframe in which everything happened for the characters. I suppose many people haven’t even noticed it, or didn’t pay much attention to it, or didn’t care, but I did. Maybe writers intention was to show that love can happen in very short time and weirdest of situations? Also, I got the feeling that some parts were to widely described while others not enough. I had an impression that I was missing a paragraph at times.

I still enjoyed reading this book and I’ll read more of his work for comparison and to build my opinion of his work.

Did you read this book or watched the movie? Perhaps both? What is your opinion? What do you think of other works by this author? Would you recommend me something? Do you have any recommendations?

Love, A.