Zagreb, An unexpected Surprise

The flight was painless and I have to say that the service on KLM was amazing! It was also nice to know some people on my flight as there were 4 of us from work and we were all sitting in the same area! I arrived in Amsterdam, and though I had a short connection, found my gate with plenty of time to spare. Because it was technically midnight at home when we landed in Amsterdam, I hadn't slept. I did sleep on the flight to Croatia though, opening my eyes every once in awhile to find food or drinks headed my way. We deplaned from the front and the back of the plane (how cool is that!) and then got on a vehicle (sort of bus like) to get to the airport. Since there weren't that many of us, I made it through passport control in no time, although I did get stuck behind the slowest women in the whole world (I don't think she could find her passport!). As soon as I walked out of the secure area, there was an ATM. Perfect! I had forgotten to get money so I took out some cash and walked to where a group of people were waiting, and there was my driver. He was so friendly and pointed out things along the short drive. He also made some recommendations for things I should do while I was in Croatia! After the short ride to the old part of Zagreb, we were met by Ivana who walked me the rest of the way to my accomadations. I couldn't quite check in but she did the paperwork and showed me a map as well as some places to see. I left my bag and headed out to explore. 

Right away I loved Zagreb. It is very European and bright, reminding me a lot of Germany, which I would find out later was because they were in power in Zagreb for awhile. The old part of the city was absolutely gorgeous and I spent some time just exploring and finding my way through the old streets.

 I sat in the main square (where there is free wifi!) and people watched for awhile and then searched out the restaurant that Ivana had recommended and ordered a calzone. The small calzone I ordered was MASSIVE!

Good thing I wasn't in a rush because the waiter didn't come back after it was delivered and I sat there for almost an hour. I didn't mind so much since I was so exhausted. I finally had to go get him and ask for the bill. EEK...I had forgotten to ask about tipping. I hate when that happens. Unsure what to do, I didn't leave a tip. There was quite a bit of percentages on the bill so I figured one of them must be a tip. Plus he didn't come back to check on me and see if I needed anything. I found out later that it is customary to tip 10%..so now I feel really bad.

I figured I had wasted enough time and headed back to my hotel, hostel, room...I'm not really sure what it was! Luckily it was ready and I went in to relax a bit. I ended up falling asleep but had set my alarm so I wouldn't wake up at 3 in the morning or something. I was only really dozing and kept panicking when I would wake a bit so finally decided to just get up. I changed and headed back out. I figured I'd explore a bit more and then get some dinner. I found this beautiful street with parks all along it. It was evening by this point and people were strolling with their dogs and families and it was such a lovely atmosphere. 

Finally feeling the time change and lack of sleep I found a place that did salads and ordered it to go. I stopped in to the grocery store to get some food for breakfast the next day and headed back to the hotel. I ate my salad and wasted some time doing research on my next destination...hoping to stay up as late as possible. Finally at around 9:30 I went to bed. 

I slept pretty good and woke up ready for the day! I had planned a walking tour that started at 11 am so I had plenty of time. I ate some yoghurt and a banana before heading to the main square. I stopped along the way to get a croissant as well. I had planned on going to the Museum of Broken Relationships at around 9 or so, thinking that I would have enough time to make the walking tour. I didn't quite get going early enough so sat and people watched for awhile before the tour started. Christina arrived and was great. She was so knowledgeable about the city and its interesting past. She showed us so many things. Some of my favourites:

The market

The tiles on the roof of this church are from Budapest, they apparently specialize in them. They are original and are hundreds of years old, though they were "repainted" a few years ago. 

Every day at noon a canon goes off from this spot. Blogger doesn't let me post videos, so you'll have to take my word for it! :)

An artist came and painted this on the side of this abandoned building just a couple of years ago. Ironically this abandoned building was opened for only a couple of years in the 1980's before it started to fall apart. It was supposed to be the modern art gallery.

In one of the old city gates there is a picture of the Virgin Mary. At some point there was a fire and everything around the gate burned, including the wooden frame around the picture of the Virgin Mary, but the picture itself was unharmed. So now they see it as a sacred place and they light candles and pray. There are pews and many of the stones have been carved to thank her for her miracles. 

After the tour, I took the funicular up to the top of the old city. I forgot to get a picture, but apparently it's the shortest and steepest one around! It takes only 60 seconds, and is 60 metres long! It has been running since 1893, though the original steam engines broke down meaning people would end up walking the rest of the way up or PUSHING!!! Luckily it doesn't break as often anymore. At the top, I headed to the Museum of Broken Relationships. The museum had been recommended, and it sounded pretty cool. A couple who broke up, decided, after exchanging all their stuff that instead of keeping it, it should go somewhere to commemorate their relationship. So they began the museum. They tour and collect things from all over the world. It was really interesting, but also very sad. It was mostly about lost loves or breakups, but some were also from parents who had left or passed away. I left with a heavy heart. It definitely made me think a lot about my life.  

Afterwards, I enjoyed a traditional meal, called Cevapi, recommended by the tour guide. It was delicious! 

I ordered a side salad as well so I could get some veggies. These are small sausage shaped patties of spiced meat which are grilled. You eat them with the cream sauce and bread. I think the creamed sauce is the top layer that forms when you boil butter and milk, so basically super healthy! Haha I also treated myself to some desert...I did eat a salad after all! 

This guy finished off my day! He had put a speaker into a suitcase so he could strap it onto his bike.

And that was Zagreb, the next day I headed to Plitvice, a beautiful national park.