Travel: Pag to Zadar

The poor staff at the hotel in Pag -- more than 50 cyclists all trying to eat large amounts of breakfast and hit the road at the same time. There were some issues (like a severe shortage of coffee) but generally all went well and eventually the Canadians and the French all got their breakfasts and hit the road (and the staff got a rest). We headed through the little town of Pag and then south past the salt ponds the town is famous for. No ferry today -- we leave the island via "Paski Most" a bridge to the mainland.

Paski Most -- Bridge from Pag island to the Croatian mainland

After leaving the island we pedaled on through Vrsi towards Nin. At the BEPO (bus meeting point) outside Nin we heard a strange noise. It sounded like a cat in distress. There by the side of the road was a box and the sound was coming from there. When Valerie opened the box out came the little kitten of Nin. He was very young and had not yet been weened, obviously left there to die. We figured the least that we could do to increase his chance of survival was give him a good meal and take him in to town. So off we set for Nin with kitty on the back of the tandem.

The little kitty of Nin on the tandem with Valerie

The little kitty of Nin doing chin-ups on Valerie's arm.

We stopped and bought some milk for kitty but he didn't know how to drink from a bowl yet. However he was a quick learner and was soon filling his little tummy as full as he could get it. After milk and bread and meat and yogurt Valerie took him over to the nearby auto campsite and turned him loose. Hopefully he will find a nice german family on vacation that wants to give him a nice home and feed him lots of goodies.

After dropping off kitty we walked around the very old and picturesque town of Nin. Nin was a very important center prior to the 10th century. Nin is on a very small islet and was apparently founded around 3000 years ago and is one of the oldest towns on the eastern Adriatic, It had its period of glory from the 7th to the 13th century.

City walls of Nin

Church of the Holy Cross in Nin - the world's smallest cathedral

From Nin we rode on to Zadar, our stop for the evening. After checking into our hotel and taking a shower we set off for the old town of Zadar. It turned out to be a pretty good hike, but well worth the effort. A very large harbor (with many very expensive yachts) and a short boat shuttle to the old town.