2/13 Traveling from Ljubljana to Zagreb, Croatia, we enjoyed the train ride that follows the river through the valley and then into the mountain passes. It’s a winter landscape, a bit brown except for the pines, but the countryside is still beautiful. The railroad often cuts into a steep mountainsides, so the view can be a bit scary. If we ever left that track, we would roll far down into the river below. Sara and I both get queasy about heights (especially when there is a steep drop next to us), so the train and bus rides through the mountains scare us. At the same time, we see lovely views – places that look great for hiking.
Arriving in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, we realized that it’s a pretty large city. From the train station we made our way by foot to Ban Jelacic Square, the large and busy square that’s the center of town. It features a huge equestrian statue of Ban Jelacic, a Croatian hero. Our apartment was just off the square.
Learning how to get around in each new place is one of the challenges, but so often, once we figure it out, it’s quite easy and gives us options to get around. In Zagreb, you just buy the tram/bus tickets at the newsstand, get on the bus and validate the ticket. But how do you do that? Where’s the yellow box to validate? How does the ticket go in? We actually had a few tram rides for free – since no one on the bus is checking – because we didn’t know where and how to properly validate our tickets. We didn’t know that you could only validate the ticket on the first car or the last car and we hopped on in the middle car.
There’s no subway in Zagreb, but there’s a robust system of trams and buses. Ban Jelacic Square always seems full because it’s the main tram stop for the city, as well as the favorite gathering place. It’s the village square and the busiest bus/tram station all in one.
Keeping track of money is interesting too. Evan is now carrying four different currencies: American dollars, Euros from Spain and Slovenia, Pounds from England, and Kunas from Croatia. As we continue our travels east, outside the EU, each country has a new currency. Imagine what it would be like if each state in the USA had its own currency! Ugh!
Our Highlights from Zagreb:
The Farmer’s Market: Sara always likes to visit the farmers market when in a new city. It’s always a great experience, but this was a huge farmer’s market right outside our door. A large indoor portion housed the many butchers’ stalls along with cheese and dairy vendors. Above that, the open-air market included all the fresh produce you can imagine. Converting currency in our heads is a frequent challenge, but the result here is always the same: costs here are less than half of what we’d spend in an American grocery store. Check out what Sara bought for the equivalent (we think) of less than $5.
St. Mark’s Square & Church of St. Mark: Just the visual appeal of the tiled roof of this church was worth the visit. You can see two coats of arms here, one for the city of Zagreb (on the right) and the other representing Croatia. The administrative offices for Croatia are right on this square. We also found a great restaurant just a block away.
Images of War Photography Museum: Focused on amazing photography from 1990-1995, this small but beautifully designed museum provided another window into the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. Unlike Slovenia, gaining its independence with only a “Ten Day War,” Croatia’s war experience was much longer and more devastating. The focus here through images, short accounts and videos, was on personal experiences of the war, including mass murders and “ethnic cleansing.” We loved their slogan: War Belongs in a Museum.
Museum of Broken Relationships: This small, unusual museum displays a collection of items from ordinary folks around the world, each item representing something about a love relationship somehow ended. A twenty-seven year old scab from a first love’s wound. A box of Chef Boy-Ar-Dee Pizza. A wedding dress never worn. An old transistor radio. Some stories are warm and funny, while others are sad and tragic. Some are about personal relationships and some about illness, war or death of a loved one.
Europe’s Shortest Funicular: Throughout or travels we see so many superlatives: the oldest, the newest, the largest, the tallest, most impressive, and so on. So we enjoyed the irony of this widely advertised “Shortest” funicular. It was indeed a pretty short ride covering a portion of steep hill, saving the walker a climb up toward the Burglar’s Tower and St. Mark’s Square.
Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Of course, the capital city houses a major cathedral. Before the cathedral is a large pillar with Mary on top. The impressive exterior features two huge spires and a neo-Gothic façade. It’s quite beautiful, especially lit up at night
As always when we arrive in a different region, we sample the local cuisine, wine and beer! And we love to walk, with at least one or two café stops along the way.
Day Trip to Plitvice Lakes National Park. 2/14 See separate post.
