It’s pouring. Heavier when I’m in it, as usual. Though it’s not that cold, it’s windy and I’m pretty soaked through. I saved today for museums but some aren’t open at this hour on Sunday so I’m taking a snack break (really late lunch or early dinner perhaps) and will go to one more museum I hope in an hour.

For the record I just spent most of my afternoon at the Archeological Museum. Zadar (previously Jader and Iader among other names) has been continuously inhabited since well before the Greeks. They found arrowheads and that type of thing from prehistoric days (9th century BC). They were an established Illyrian settlement in the Liburnian tribe (or was it Illyrian tribe in Liburnian settlement?). And there’s a ton of stuff from Greek and particularly Roman and later Byzantine and Christian days. The exhibits were nicely done and included floor mosaics under glass and the typical stuff — pottery, pins, coins, jewelry, statues, weapons, bones, and parts of churches/houses — doorways, archways, etc. I started getting museum burnout at like the Iron Age though I had a second wind when I got to the early Romans floor. It’s pretty fascinating if you’re into it. They’ve found a lot of things to excavate over the years and are still in the process.

Being Sunday I wasn’t sure if I could go into several of the churches. They really have a ton here— some built on the bones of previous holy sites. I always found that fascinating (Rome has a ton — and Iona was also like that?!)—I guess once a holy site always a holy site? I actually snuck into the St Donatus’ Church — doors were open but no one was at the ticket desk. I just did a quick saunter. It’s no longer used as a church.The round church is pre-Romanesque and with it being empty it’s apparently got amazing acoustics. They hold an annual medieval renaissance festival in there; it must be amazing to experience the music in that place.

I also slipped into a Franciscan church/monastery though I think it was open only because Sunday night worshippers were gathering. Oops. I didn’t stay long.

And after dinner I checked out another church where the nuns were singing — these nuns of St. Mary’s are the same Benedictine order who’ve been guarding gold and silver religious art in their convent since WWII. I wanted to see their little museum but couldn’t get in today as it’s only open limited hours (and less on Sunday, which wasn’t clear until now).

So I had a lazy rainy day. But I needed it. Saturday night wasn’t good — got up at 2 am because of banging noises (maybe wind, maybe noisy neighbors), my room was pitch black and I was pretty disoriented. I was trying to find my phone at the end of the bed but went to the wrong end and fell head first onto a wrought iron table or chair (too dark to tell). It really fucking hurt. I stumbled to the bathroom and had a hematoma that quickly grew into the size of a chicken egg. It was a bit scary. But two good things. 1- it wasn’t an open cut so no blurting blood which would’ve been a terrible mess. 2- I’m staying in a place with a larger fridge that actually has a freezer and ice! So I managed to put together a bag of ice and kept it on 20 mins as I fell back asleep. This morning it was still pretty painful though at least it was down. And now it’s black and blue in my hairline. The other good thing is I’m pretty tan so that barely shows. Though I’m sure I’ll look like Jake LaMotta in a few days as the blood drains down. By the time I’m with Elaine and Stephanie in Split, I’ll look like I’ve got a black eye but things could be worse.

On to Monday … Never trust the forecast when you’re on the water! The forecast today showed rain in Nin (another historic and beach town about 9.5 mi from Zadar and a half hour on a fast bus) ending around noon and resuming around 7 pm. Same forecast in Zadar. So I figured, why not see another historic town and archeological museum in the bad weather? And take a bus ride to see some of the local land. Nin was a small walled town in its day though it’s been burned down and attacked often in its 3 millennia of life. And Nin has interesting geography and geology. It’s an islet in an inlet — with a medicinal mud lagoon nearby, long beaches (for Croatia) right near the walled old town, and saltworks (with a museum) a 10 minute walk away. The shallow beaches and apparently high mineral content water must make it ideal to petrify stuff because they’ve found a lot of Roman ruins including barrows where they uncovered many ceremonially buried bodies. And tons of Roman walls and remains of an old temple and houses. I checked out their small archeological museum.

They even found an old boat that they think was preserved from Illyrian times which is pretty amazing. Though I didn’t have decent weather, I mostly avoided getting rained on — but the wind was intense. As I’m from Chicago it’s pretty appalling I keep forgetting to check wind. It’s mid-high 60s here, but there’s a crazy strong wind. Like a steady 35-40 mph which has been blowing rain clouds in. Despite the wind I managed to walk around the old town and also out to the beach area (and salt museum). The water is shallow and appeared clear and green in the lagoon area but I didn’t linger with the wind. The town was small and dead empty. And it has a ton of churches. Rounded. Squared off. This last one was apparently the smallest cathedral in the world (9th century Church of the Holy Cross). It has an interesting front and doorway. Last thing – despite being such a small town they had a thing for statues. For some reason I found it sort of funny.

Anyway, that was my day. I didn’t stay very long as the wind and gray weather was getting to me and making my head hurt where I smashed it. (Oh and it’s starting to drain, giving my face a lopsided look).

Tomorrow my big plan is to see the treasures of the Benedictine nuns and get a pedicure! Too bad I didn’t have time to dip myself into the mud baths in Nin. They’re supposed to be amazing for the skin. But I’m sitting now in my Airbnb listening to roaring wind and am very glad I’m inside!