Zagreb, Croatia

On our way to Zagreb, we were pleasantly surprised at the general improvement and uplift of spirit from Beograd. Of course Zagreb is a member of the European Union, so they would have more advantages in lifestyle and infrastructure, and it shows.  The city is laid out very conveniently as well. When travellers arrive by train, the station faces a lovely park that extends all the way to the main city square, about a 20 minute walk (or 3 tram stops).

This is the view from the front of the station. this park goes all the way to the centre plaza in the middle of the town.  It has many pretty buildings and statues along the way.

The Centre Plaza is huge and has lots of streets coming from it - I counted 8 - all interesting to explore.

The old city however, is high above this, and the amount of steps, let alone the steepness of them, gave me the horrors. We found this wonderful street with lots of restaurants - similar to the one in Beograd that we liked - and I declared that I would be happy sitting at one of these, catching up on my blog, while Bob explored the old town. But Bob saw the steps too, and wasn't going up them either.

This is the lovely little street, full of restaurants and interesting shops just perfect for browsing.

We found a nice  little art gallery that had a water tap out the front - with no connection, but water pouring out! There were lots of people around it, discussing it. After a while, Bob stepped up and promptly put his hand in it! Everyone gasped, and then they knew how it was done. Trust Bob to spoil the illusion!

We found the markets - a smaller version of our Vic Market - but amongst the wares, fruit & veg. etc. they were actually making fresh cheese curd to order while you wait! It looked delicious - and you can't get fresher than that!

These are cheese stalls, where the farmers turn their own
milk into cheese curd for you to buy.

There was a wonderful old church, up one of the streets, just outside of the main square, and of course lots of shops. You may not be able to see it, but the entrance was exquisitely carved out of marble. Such detail! I doubt that we have craftsmen today that could do such stunning work - especially with primitive tools. It was good to see the locals in the church, lighting candles etc. it's usually only the tourists and walking buses. 

This is just one corner of the church, it was relatively simple 
inside, but had huge tall marble trusses and columns, and statues 
and religious artefacts dripping in gold decorations. 

Bob enjoys the buskers and we spent quite a time listening and watching the creativity and talents of the different buskers whenever we see them.  While he was watching, I spied a small 30 seater bus on the corner.  I went up and asked about it, and it turned out to be a courtesy bus for the locals to the old town above. Bonus! So Bob and I rode up the mountain in style, with the locals who can't carry their groceries and shopping up there.

It was great up there, several Museums, lovely original streets and houses, and the people who got off the bus have obviously lived here for years and generations, because there were no places for sale here for many years - they just get passed down the family line.

One of the "Museums" was intriguing. It was the "Museum of Broken Relationships."  This challenged my idea of a "Museum" as I thought things in a museum had to be old, if not ancient.  This was modern - began in 1970's - and I would have thought should have been an exhibition, along the lines of contemporary art. But what do I know?

However the contents were very interesting in documenting human nature - and an unusual idea.

The exhibition displayed an item, and then the story behind it. There were gifts given by lovers, items purchased together, or sentimental clothing like a wedding dress or ball gown. There were funny ones, silly ones, and sad ones. People separated because of breaking up, getting divorced, moving away, or one partner dying. They were the saddest and most poignant. It was an unexpectedly large exhibition, very well laid out. We both found it unusual and interesting. Here are a couple of examples.

The Axe in the  "Rage" section.

This was an axe that a woman used to destroy all her boyfriends furniture after he broke up with her over the phone.  Apparently she made a pile of kindling out of all the furniture, and left it in a pile for him to find when he got home.

The love letter in the "Rage" Section. 

This woman wrote a letter to her boyfriend about how much she loved him, and was going to give it to him when they next went to dinner. But he broke up with her instead. Apparently, she cried for three days - and then glued the letter to a mirror, and smashed it into all those pieces! It was quite a large jar and looked pretty. She said it was very cathartic!

This Prosthesis was in the "Short Term Love" Section.

Apparently, this man met his love while he was recovering from an accident, and they fell in love while she was nursing him. They moved in together, and had a wonderful romance for a while, but he gave no reason for their breaking up. All he said was "The prosthesis lasted longer than the relationship"!

A gentleman to the end - but it made us laugh!

The old town had lots of interesting buildings, and we were surprised that quite a few of them had armed guards out the front.  Apparently, they were government buildings and the members were sitting at that time. We had been wondering about the expensive cars parked in the top square.

This is a small church in the square at the top of the old town. How's that for creative roof tiles!

They were shiny and looked like the ceramic tiles we have in our kitchens and bathrooms. Surely not!

The colours were very bright and vibrant with designs on both sides of the roof!

Of course, we saw other things in the old town, but these are just a few. After wandering around the different exhibitions into the late afternoon, we took a taxi to one of the nicest restaurants in town that serve traditional food, and enjoyed a lovely early dinner!  We finally found a place that served "Sarma", a traditional dish of mince meat, wrapped in sauerkraut leaves. (The Greeks do a similar dish using grape vine leaves).  Anyway, my father used to cook this for us,  and we thought we would find it in Serbia, but no matter how hard we tried no one was serving it. It was great to find it here and I am happy to report that it tasted just like my Dad used to make. It made us quite nostalgic.

We enjoyed our time here, and met some lovely people - especially three of them who were very special, and who we will always remember when we think of Zagreb.

But all too soon it was time to move on, so it was time to get back on the train. 

Next stop - Ljubliana, Slovenia.

Till next time...