We arrived in Zagreb at 9 pm to the bus station after being on a bus for nearly 9 hours. It wasn't too bad, though, because for a majority of the journey we were the only ones on the bus, except for the crew. There were 4 men, 2 drivers and 2 guys who were there to enjoy the ride perhaps? I'm not sure what their role was but they sat up front and talked to the driver for most of the journey. I laughed because although I could not understand what they were saying, it seemed like they had "boys club" at the front of the bus. They talked and laughed the whole way, it was brilliant. At least the driver was entertained and wouldn't get sleepy!
We stopped a few times, though not as many as the ride from Mostar to Sarajevo. There are really some obscure side-of-the-road random bus stops in these parts. I was excepting someone to get on with a chicken or something, as we had happen in Peru.. No such luck, thankfully! It was the first time we have had our passport really checked thoroughly during our time in Europe.. We had them collected and inspected leaving Bosnia, and then had to get out and see an immigration officer at Croatia, across the river. No big deal and they were very nice. No questions asked, welcome to Croatia!
It was nice getting back on flat, interstate style roads.. The whole trip was spent weaving around big mountains on a two lane road, through small towns and out in the country. It was a pretty view.. I got confused at one point because there were signs indicating we were in Serbia... But I think it was just Bosnian Serbia, as we had learned at the museum... All theses different ethnic pockets in Bosnia have created regions. For a second there I thought we were on the wrong bus or something! We made it to Zagreb safe and sound, thanks to the boys club on the Eurolines bus.
Despite the recommendation to catch the tram to our destination that we were given by Ivan, our airbnb host, we figured out the way to the apartment and decided to walk. Sitting for 9 hours on a bus had me wanted to jump out of my skin and despite all the bags we were ready and willing to go on foot.. It turned out to be a nice walk, and we felt very safe despite being in the dark and around the bus station (you would think it would be sketchy.. Not here!).
We arrived to the apartment and were greeted by Ivan and his adorable mother. Ivan had no one else staying in the 3 bedroom apartment, so he offered us the biggest room. It was amazing, an 100 year old building with renovations and high ceilings. The bed was awesome, I likened it to sleeping on a cloud. We were excited to have such a great place. Ivan spoke with us a bit, but he didn't live there and had to run to meet friends for a birthday celebration. His mother, though, we could have talked to all night. She wanted to speak to us about everything... In her broken English (which she apologized for..like we can speak any Croatian besides hello and thank you) she told us about the building, her husband and his architectural engineering career, her visit to London 43 years ago, and really enjoyed telling us about everything she could think of.. It was so cute! She was the sweetest lady.. We have been so lucky to have met so many nice people, and their adorable old school Mama's. Poor Ivan who had plans and needed to head out was basically shuffling his mom out the door.. It was funny.
We dropped our bags after saying goodbye to Ivan and his mom, and headed to the center. Everything was abuzz, a very different scene from Split and Sarajevo.. I felt like the whole city was out I the downtown.. The Advent celebration was in full swing and the Christmas market was up, but many things were closing up for the night. So we stopped and had a drink outside under the heaters and relaxed for a bit before we called it a night... By 11 pm despite sitting all day, we were tired from the journey and wanted to get in the cloud bed.
We only had really a full 36 hours to be in the city, so I had a quick run through the streets early in the morning (which was nice after being in the smog/fog in Sarajevo) and saw some pretty baroque styl buildings. Zagreb is a beautiful city, with lots of trees, parks, and old style buildings. I wish we had more time to spend exploring... From what we could tell there was LOTS to do and see, we hardly scratched the surface at all... We enjoyed the Chirstmas Market and walking around, seeing all the holiday decorations and the cool buildings.
Zagreb had a totally different feel than Split.. Very Western European, fitted with the usual like H&M and all those other stores you can find in every capital. Split was more laid back, with a village feel.. Despite being the capital and the biggest city in Croatia, the center of town has it's old parts that are preserved and it doesn't have the same rush-rush feeling as say, London or Brussels. The Croatian way of life is enjoy life first, work second, from what I can tell... Based on observation and what Ivan's mom has told us. And apparently only 4 million people. They've got the right idea.
We spent the day roaming the streets and exploring the town. There were a million museums, such as the Museum of Broken Relationships, or the Museum of Naive Arts, or the Arts and Crafts Museum, what we could have visited, but we decided to make use of our time by doing what the local do, having coffee and walking around the streets. At the Christmas market there was an ice skating rink, a miniature pony ride, lots of food and drinks, and bands performing holiday songs (in Croatian of course) on a stage.. I felt like every family in Zagreb was out and about, it was a nice holiday feeling..
We tried lots of different mulled wines and drinks to help us stay warm (my coat was a wise choice) and then went and had a nice final dinner in Croatia at a place in the older part of town called Agave. Nope, not a Mexican restaurant. Paul had Dalmatian stuffed beef and I had baked octopus with vegetables.... Traditional Croatian dishes.. It was yum. The waiter was fantastic, too.. Unlike back home where you basically are asked 20 questions by your waiter and are in and out in 20 minutes, we were there for over an hour and he actually apologized for interrupting and asking if we wanted anything else.. It's nice having time to enjoy the meal and not feel like we have to hurry hurry or try and be upsold on everything. Paul and I have both worked in a restaurant, and we understand in America it's part of the job and you're basically living on tips... I like it better over here, and we tend to tip more (relatively to their currency and culture) even though the restaurant workers made a decent wage (more than 3.00$/hr or whatever waiters make now). Eating is an event here, where you enjoy each aspect... Not get a blooming onion or other fat laden appetizer, woof it down and get a huge platter of whatever that could feed a family of 4, and then have the idea of dessert thrown at you all the while having your glass refilled unlimited times... That sounds more like a sick version of torture than a meal out.. Yuck!
It was a nice ending to our encore of Croatia..We made our way back to the apartment, walking off whatever we just ate (I still don't miss my car) and made one last pass through the Christmas market.
We arrived back to the apartment to a Pyrex dish full of different kinds of phyllo dough pie, apple cinnamon and another one I couldn't put my finger on..and a note that read "From, Mom". I about died and had a take a picture.. It was the coolest and nicest thing. It's like we have moms all over the world watching out for us.. And the treats were delicious.. What a wonderful lady.
We got all our stuff ready and packed, wrote some postcards, and relaxed until it was bedtime. It was nice to have a couple more days here.. I really loved the place.. Great food, great people, and so much to see and do. Must. Come. Back. And enjoy the mountains and the islands when it's warm... Yes.
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