John Edward Cooper’s Notes

[i] Janet’s first impression, stated in her journal, was that this was “hideously expensive”. But her later enquiry at the hotel reception revealed that the taxi fare was typically over 300 kn. As I’ve been writing this, I’ve checked the exchange rate, and found that 340 kn is €45.80, so he gave us a generous exchange rate.

Check-in time at the hotel was 2pm, and it was now only ca.1.35pm; so we sat in the lobby till a little before 2 o’clock. When we checked in, we had to hand over our passports; but the receptionist handed them back to us he after had scanned them. We were given a key-card in a little cardboard wallet, and since we’d booked half-board there was additionally a card to be shown as a voucher in the restaurant.






The typeface used for Grand Hotel Park is, appropriately enough, called “Park Avenue”.




The restaurant voucher card

We went up in the lift to the sixth floor of seven (the ground floor reception was designated “RC”, and there was additionally a “-1”). I’m pleased to note that the key-card — atypically of this sort of technology — unlocked the door straight away and every time without fail! Another pleasing thing was that we didn’t need to insert the key-card into a slot (though there was one next to the door) to switch on the electrical supply to the room. And another was that the TV didn’t come on, as happens in many hotels. I did turn off the air conditioning, which was blowing a bit too cold. The room was spacious, with two wide single beds pushed together; and a glass door opened onto a balcony, affording a picturesque view of surrounding hills. Janet unpacked the suitcase. My only “unpacking” task was to set up the computer on the desk. I looked at the map, because I’d lost all sense of direction. If you look at the photo “19:11:58” (below), taken from the balcony, you can just see the apex of the pier and cables of a cable-stayed bridge to the left. I was therefore able to orient the map so that the Franjo Tuđman Bridge was to the left, and get some idea of whither we needed to head once we got outside.


The Grand Hotel Park is at the bottom of the image, just left of centre, and the Franjo Tuđman Bridge is at the top right.

Even so, when we did leave the hotel, after 2.30pm, I was misled by the fact that, on the map, Ulica Mata Vodopića appeared to go as far as Šetalište Kralja Zvonimira at its west end, whereas in fact it terminated in a car park just there; so initially I still couldn’t get my bearings. There were no street signs, either. (I didn’t notice at that stage that the little plaques at the entrance to each property had the street name as well as the house number on it.) Anyway, it was, as it turned out, along Ulica Mata Vodopića that we were proceeding, eastwards. We passed a few restaurants on it, till we got to the car park of a shopping centre (principally a supermarket called “Tommy”), and there were one or two more restaurants to be seen from there. We decided, after looking at each one’s posted menu, to go back to one on Ulica Mata Vodopića: Restoran Madonna. The young man who greeted us within suggested that we might want to go upstairs; so that’s what we did: we went up to the canopied roof terrace, and found a table sufficiently far from the edge from where the wind was blowing. It was a warm sunny day, but a bit breezy. We’d already realised that Mr. Blackbird had followed us from England! — and there were also sparrows chirping and flying around. There were the screeches of formation-flying swifts, and the sight of flittering house-martins, and the sounds of collared doves. The only birds, common at home, that we didn’t encounter were starlings. It’s a good job we weren’t in any hurry, because my Caesar salad and Janet’s “seasonal” salad took some 40 minutes to come! I had two beers and Janet two Coke Zero.


Friday 24 May 2019 — 15:50:40 CEST
At Restoran Madonna


Restoran Madonna bill


Card payment (according to which, the time was “16:26”)


CITY AREA 1/3 (click for larger map)


CITY AREA 2/3 (click for larger map)


The hotel and our finishing location are circled in yellow.

Leaving there, we headed for where we perceived the old city to be: along Ulica kralja Tomislava, then the length of Ulica Iva Vojnovića. It was while walking along there that we caught a glimpse of the sea ahead and to the right, but no hint of the old city. As we descended towards sea level along the last part of Ulica Iva Vojnovića and its continuation Ulica Pera Čingrije, there came a clearer view of sea to the right, but still a headland ahead masked any view of the old city. Just there, on the right side, was a small wooded park with benches to sit on.


“A small wooded park with benches to sit on”
Image from Google Street View

We rested here, before turning back. We’d walked ca.1½ miles, perhaps two-thirds of the way to the old city. On our way back, about halfway along Ulica Iva Vojnovića, we spotted on the left a pub with chairs and tables outside (“Caffe bar Petrunjela”), and stopped for a drink. We needed a pee as well. I had a beer and Janet a Coke Zero.


“Caffe bar Petrunjela”
Image from Google Street View

We found ourselves at a crossroads at the end of Ulica kralja Tomislava; we didn’t realise just then that we’d now gone farther along it than where we joined it on the outward walk. (That the crossroads was shown as a roundabout on the map, I realise now, didn’t help us one jot to know our precise location.)


Crossroads at the end of Ulica kralja Tomislava
Image from Google Street View

One useful thing we found there: a bus shelter for buses to the old city! There was a sign demanding exact fare only (15 kn each) for tickets bought on the buses. There was also a little ticket office (closed just then). We encountered three British people there, who had lost one of their companions; also, they were looking for the supermarket. We knew that the Tommy supermarket was somewhere nearby, but we were slightly lost ourselves. We took the left turn at the crossroads, which led us on to a promenade, Šetalište Kralja Zvonimira, lined with bars and restaurants (some playing pretty loud music), and tour operators’ booths and souvenir shops. Along there, to the left, we recognised our hotel, and cut through the car park to it (the car park that I mentioned earlier as misleading me when I tried to interpret the map). One thing we noticed early on, was how many cats there were in the environs of the hotel and the promenade. We saw in a couple of locations that food was put out for them, so they were presumably there to keep the vermin population under control. We arrived back at the hotel just before 7pm, and used the lift to get to our room.


Friday 24 May 2019 — 19:11:58 CEST
Views from our balcony at Grand Hotel Park


Friday 24 May 2019 — 19:12:08 CEST
Views from our balcony at Grand Hotel Park


Friday 24 May 2019 — 19:12:20 CEST
Views from our balcony at Grand Hotel Park


Friday 24 May 2019 — 19:12:28 CEST
Views from our balcony at Grand Hotel Park

We walked down the stairs to the restaurant. It was on the opposite side of the hotel from our room, and the windows that filled its far side, facing west, provided a panorama overlooking Lapad Bay. Janet was relieved to find that food service was by buffet. I had a bowl of beef broth, because the vegetable soup looked thick and was a white colour suggestive of mushroom soup (which I hate); some local-style escalope of beef; some blue cheese and bread; and three scoops of ice cream. When the waiter came by asking if I wanted a drink, I had a 50cl glass of beer and ordered Coke Zero for Janet who was just then at the buffet. We were back up in the room a little before 8.30pm. Transferred 16 photos from my camera to the WD Elements HDD (20:28–20:29), and two from Janet’s camera (20:31), the one she took today, and the trial one from the day before yesterday. Changed the file-names of the photos taken after we landed, to take account of the time zone here being Central European Summer Time (one hour ahead of British Summer Time). Also altered the time-settings on the cameras.… Janet showered and updated her journal, etc. She’d asked at reception about mosquitoes, i.e. whether we could safely have the balcony door open at night; she’d been told that it was probably too cold at night for them. So we did have the balcony door open, rather than use the air-conditioning (which, however quiet it may seem during the day, always intrudes on one’s hearing at night). We were both in bed, after a long day, ca.10pm.

[Saturday 25 May 2019]