Zagreb

Zagreb is such an amazing city. What I would love to do is come back and split time between here and Dubrovnik, but they are ten hours apart, so I would lose a day or two in travel. But it would be worth it.

I would love to come back to Zagreb to just look at all the wonderful buildings that are so much like Budapest, Vienna, and Prague. That in itself it a history lesson about the different empires that have ruled or heavily influenced the area. I would also like to spend some time in the museums here, included the Museum of Broken Relationships, and spend another few nights hanging in the city center people watching.

I got up an hour and a half earlier to go for a walk with Sonia. We walked back to the city center to take in the wonderful buildings we saw last night. I especially loved the buildings that had a clear Austrian empire look, like the ballet and the museum in Tito Square. Pictures will not do them justice but will at least jog a memory.

The hotel was in a really great location. It was less than ten minutes from the city center and downtown promenade. I had a really nice view of the top of the cathedral from my room.

Their government buildings are not very secure. You could walk right up to the door and there was not a guard insight. I just can not imagine getting that close to the White House.

Everyday in the city a cannon goes off at noon and has for hundreds of years. Originally, it indicated to workers it was time to return to work. I was down below using the public toilet so I did not hear it.

There is a church called St. Catherine's that I was curious about. It is called the Barbie Church because it is all pink inside. It is the church a lot of the local women want to get married in. It has been closed the last year and a half outside of mass and weddings. The bishop of the church wants to charge an entrance fee, and the city thinks all churches should be free. So the bishop is keeping the church closed. Not sure how long the stalemate will continue.

There is a really nice chapel in the Stone Gate. Our guide said that is where locals go to prayer. There is a painting of Mary that survived a a fire in 1731 and a makeshift chapel was made. When I went back, there were a lot of people coming and going. From older women to men in business suits.

The Market was buzzing and a lot of people were buying flowers to put on the graves for All Saints Day.

For lunch, I grabbed a sandwich from a local bakery. I was heading to the same area as a local guy so we ended up chatting and having lunch together. His name was Ivar, and he had or was going to have an interview for a second job as a waiter. He was cute and young, and he shared his dessert with me. He then said, he was going to get some weed. And I was like did you say weed. And he smiled and was like yes. You can get it for ten Kuna which is like $2. All I could do was shake my head and laugh. The most ironic thing is that the place he pointed to was right across from the cathedral.

But yes, and amazing city!  After spending time in smaller places it was a little jarring to run into people asking for money. I had not seen it in the other places, which were smaller.