Plitvice Lakes Day 11

Posted on August 11, 2021 by jmatie22

Started the day by checking out of our mobile apartment at The Garden Resort, and then caught an Uber (after multiple attempts). The cost was 600 Kuna, so not terrible. Next time I would either have the front desk reserve a taxi, or go to Tisnotaxi.com and reserve it there (price is about the same as an Uber).

After getting to Zadar, we ate lunch at a place called Eat Me (it took a while to find a restaurant. Most of the “eating” places we found were cafes that only served drinks. Details about the restaurant can be found here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2021/08/11/eat-me/

After eating, we went to the west part of Zadar to check out the Sea Organ and the Sun Salutation. The Sea Organ sounded interesting (ie. notes were a bit random), and the Sun Salutation is supposed to be over Ed during sunset or sunrise.

We also passed by St Anastasia’s Cathedral, which looked in a bit of rough shape since it was bombed in World War II.

We then picked up our rental car from XL rent a car (found through Priceline). Cost of the rental car is $550.

It took about 2 hours to get to Plitvice Lakes. Gotta say the road infrastructure all seems very modern (like the tunnels, which unfortunately I didn’t take a pic).

We had a bit of trouble finding our AirBnB at first (first time Google Maps failed us in this trip… but still wayyy better than Apple Maps in Croatia).

For dinner, since the line up was long at a restaurant we wanted to check out, we went to a local grocery store called Market Ivka and bought ingredients for wraps (salami, ham, prosciutto, wrap bread, Mayo, and lettuce).

Also did laundry in the evening. The wash cycle is pretty king (it’s 2 hrs!). The dryer “Gentle Care” setting is 50 minutes, but unfortunately didn’t fully dry my clothes.

Croatia – Tisno Day 10 (Defected Day 6)

Posted on August 11, 2021 by jmatie22

Last day of the Defected Croatia festival!

Started the day (pretty late) by going to brunch at a restaurant Milly recommended called Bona Fide. Details can be found here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2021/08/10/bona-fide/

After, spent time packing up our place (so we could maximize sleep for check out the next day).

Then we headed out for the last party with Gorgon City (and Eats Everything). Gorgon City played the two songs I wanted (Dreams and You’ve Done Enough). Eats everything did play a song called Get Get Down which is now stuck in my head).

After the boat party, grabbed food. Got the poke bowl and the spring rolls. Probably would not get either of them again. We then chilled at our place to drink (the girls we met, Kaz and Aphrodite) brought champagne over.

Afterwards, we headed to the main stage to see Riva Starr and Inner City (can’t say I was thrilled by either). Then headed to the beach stage to catch Horse Meat Disco. Actually thought he was ok (and as his name implies, he played disco house).

Then headed back to the main stage to see Gorgon City. Definitely liked their set better at the main stage (since they didn’t go B2B with Eats Everything). Eats Everything played next, and set was similar to the boat party.

After, there was a B2B2B2B set with most of the DJs (it was pretty cool to see all of them stage). We saw Gorgon City, Eats Everything, Simon Dunmore, and Sam Divine go back to back (there were more, but wanted to head to bed a bit early for the next day). Great way to end the festival.

PS. Gorgon City posted on Twitter that they think Defected Croatia is the best festival.

Croatia – Tisno Day 9 (Defected Day 5)

Posted on August 10, 2021 by jmatie22

Started off the day by getting brunch at Carmen’s (yea, it’s a great restaurant). Apparently the dog at the restaurant is not Carmen (its actually named after the grandmother, Carmella). Details can be found here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2021/08/09/loca-villa/

After, made our way back to our tent. We talked to the guys in charge of the tent and mobile apartments, and they said they had a mobile apartment available for the last two days of the festival for 200 euros. We obviously took it (and yea, it was fully air conditioned :)).

We then headed to the beach behind the beach stage. Didn’t get into the water, but thought it was chill (although didn’t really dig the set).

After, took a nap in our new mobile apartment (which they called it a “hostel style” sleeping arrangement).

After, chilled in the patio of our apartment, drinking wine, and ate dinner (got the Smokey burger again). We also met up with our American friends, and took some poloroid photos.

Around 9pm, headed to the beach stage and checked out Lovebirds. Totally digged his set and songs he produced (it’s like a deeper disco sound).

After, headed to the main stage and saw Carl Craig, Honey Dijon and Luke Solomon. Really liked Carl Craig (he played a good range of house music, except progressive. He played deep house, disco house, tech house, and some techno). Didn’t really enjoy Honey Dijon. For Luke Solomon, mainly a techno set, which I also enjoyed.

Croatia – Tisno Day 8 (Defected day 4)

Posted on August 9, 2021 by jmatie22

Started off the morning by going to Carmen’s for brunch (haha, this place is amazing). We also asked some friends we met to join us. Details here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2021/08/07/carmen/

After, we got drinks at a place called Loca Villa. More details here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2021/08/09/loca-villa/

We then went to a grocery store called Djelo (since Studenac is closed after 2pm on Sundays apparently).

After, we chilled for a bit at our tent, and then headed to the bit party. On the boat, we saw David Penn and Ferreck Dawn. Ferreck Dawn was amazing. He’ll be one of the DJs I see again.

After the boat, we went straight to the main stage. Highlights were John Summit and Ferreck Dawn (both deep tech house sets, which was great). Lol, also got fries while seeing Ferreck Dawn, and someone commented how amazing that combo is.

Croatia – Tisno Day 7 (Defected Day 3)

Posted on August 9, 2021 by jmatie22

Started the day grabbing brunch at the on-site restaurant in the Garden Resort. Details can be found here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2021/08/08/wabi-sabi/

After brunch, chilled at the beach near the beach stage for like 15 minutes (got a Pina colada to go with this, but would not recommend getting it again. It had Pineapple juice in it, but no hint of coconut). We then checked out the Tisno bridge, and grabbed a late lunch at a place called Hotel Brovonik. Details can be found here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2021/08/08/hotel-borovnik/

After, went to our first boat party. On the boat, really enjoyed Rimarkable and Offaiah. The boat party lasted 3 hours.

After the bot, took a power nap, then ate chicken curry from the on-site food venue.

For sets, saw Purple disco machine and Bob Sinclair. By far the two best sets (and really wished we were ____).

Croatia – Tisno Day 6 (Defected Day 2)

Posted on August 7, 2021 by jmatie22

Started the day by leaving the festival grounds to get brunch at a place called Carmen. Details can be found here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2021/08/07/carmen/

Then spent the first part of the day chilling in the water near the beach stage of defected (between 2pm to 6pm). Water was great, chatted with some people from the US, and the music was great.

Then we chilled at the Olive Grove stage for a bit, where a more deeper type of music was played by a DJ named Sef Kombo. It was a really great set.

Then we got dinner (got a burger). Burger was good, but waited almost 15 minutes for it.

Then went to the beach stage for a bit (no notable DJs).

After, went to the main defected stage (also no notable DJs).

Lastly, we took a (200 Kuna) taxi to Barbella at 1am, then left at 4am using an Uber (about 100 Kuna). Nearly lost my phone (dropped it on the floor of the Uber, a d the Uber driver was closing the door on me! Ugh).

PS. We created a drink mixing White wine and Red Bull, which White toro

PSS. Sneaking alcohol was possible. Got Ballantine’s whisky and wine, and snuck it in by throwing it over the fence.

Croatia – Hvar/Tisno Day 5 (Defected Day 1)

Posted on August 6, 2021 by jmatie22

Last day in Hvar. We checked out of our apartment at 10am, and got brunch at the same place we got brunch on the first day:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2021/08/04/bb-club/

We then caught a ferry back to Split at 1:00pm to catch our ride to Tisno. We hired our Uber driver (that picked us up from the Airport), which cost 850 kuna (compared to 1200 kuna on Uber or Bolt).

We got the festival entrance, and at first got tested for COVID (it was a 10 minute test). Fortunately all of us were good.

We got to security, and they made us throw our opened alcohol out.

The tent was relatively good, but initially was missing a fan (we had to ask for one). The general store was also useful for toilet paper, water, and wine (they had not hard liquor unfortunately).

The festival itself has 3 stages. There is the classic stage (beach stage), olive grove, and defected stage. The first and last were good since they played more deeper music (like tech house).

The food itself was good (got gyoza and fries). However the wait for gyozas was wayyyy to long (like 20 minutes). But didn’t get food poisoning, so that’s good.

The DJs I remembered seeing (that were good) are mainly in the defected stage are Monki, and Armand van Helden.