Zadar and the Croatians

After 3 weeks here in Zadar, most of it in Old Town, we finally got a tour of the city from a local. It was something we’ve been talking about for a couple weeks but candidly have been making excuses to do. I’m glad we did. We of course have seen pretty much everything in the city already, but getting a history lesson from a local added a lot more color to the this city we’ve been calling home.

This is a city and country that has been attacked and in war for a large chunk of it’s existence. Perhaps the most devastating attack on the city was by… us during World War 2. In our quest to get rid of the Fascists that originated in Italy, we decided to bomb Zadar. The Fascists soldiers were largely gone and the victims were mostly innocent Croatians. It was a brutal story to hear.

After the war, the area became socialist Yugoslavia. While perhaps it was not the worst victim of communism comparatively to some neighbors, it was very obvious that things did not progress as many Croatians hoped. This all culminated in a brutal war with the Serbs in the early 90s. After the war, Croatia finally became independent albeit losing a lot of land.

Nowadays, Croatia seems to be doing well. Like many people who have experienced recent war, the Croatians just seem happy and content to be living in peace. Things move a lot slower here than back home in the U.S. and the Croatians are happy with that pace of life. There’s a lot to learn from the Croatians.

I’m incredibly grateful that I’ve had the chance to be here. The Croatians have treated me incredibly well and I’m almost like a Zadar local by now. Although I do think I’m ready to go home at this point, I’m still enjoying my time here and I know I’ll be back.