With love from Zadar

I love Zadar! I really do. I arrived here last Sunday for an academic conference and I will be travelling home tomorrow. But in this one week, I fell in love with Zadar.

Note: This is one of a series of Zadar posts with photos. The other two are Zadar: A Catholic girl’s paradise and Zadar: Everyday life for an everyday girl.

Maybe it’s because I have a passion for old walled cities.

Maybe it’s because I really loved the fabulously warm weather and bright blue skies.

Maybe it’s because travel is good for the soul.

Or maybe it’s because of the hearts. The beautiful, love-filled graffiti hearts. They are spray-painted on walls. They are etched into poured cement. And they are there to be found, randomly, by those who open their eyes to love.

This has been a bit of a difficult trip for me emotionally (and physically, thanks to my broken ankle rehabilitation). You see, Zadar is one of the cities Paul and I had on our “want to visit” list. But he’s gone, and that means I found myself exploring the city alone. Which can sometimes dampen my spirits, but knowing Paul “should have” been with me made it that much more difficult.

But there were a few wonderful moments where I didn’t feel as lonely. Like watching the sunset with a nice man* one evening. And chatting with some Franciscan and Benedictine nuns. And, of course, finding hearts. Lots and lots of hearts.

Anyone who follows me on Facebook will know that I love hearts, too. So to show how much I love Zadar, I thought I’d share a few of the graffiti hearts I’ve found over the past week. And early next week, you can expect a post of two about my adventures – with lots and lots of photos!

* Just a nice man who happened to be watching the same sunset as me, so we chatted. Don’t get all excited; he’s not a romantic connection!