Zagreb Croatia

Say farewell and safe journey to our friends from Denmark. And into a taxi to meet our apartment owners in Zagreb. Great taxi driver, told us the best Croatian street food to eat and where to go/what to see etc on the 5 minutes to 74a Tratinska Utca. Its on a tram route (thats good news), there is a daily farmers food market just down the road (getting better) & a supermarket on the corner. Things are looking up. We get `buzzed` into the building and told to get into the lift to the 5th floor where we will be met by Michaela (owners girlfriend). She warns the lift is old but is perfectly safe. Out at the 5th floor and there is Michaela, smiling, welcoming, taking us up the final flight of stairs onto the roof terrace. Wow! Its a huge terrace shared by 4 apartments. Fabulous city roof top views, chimneys, ariels, balconies with washing hanging out, modern, old all a delicious jumble. Loving it. Our section of roof top is fabulous and has comfy out door seating. Then Michaela shows us the apartment. Double wow! Big smiley faces! High fives all round! Its a large studio, freshly renovated, lots of the best Ikea precent (including day beds that we have at home in the hobby room.) And the view from the kitchen window is the icing on the cake. Looking out over the suburbs to the mountains beyond. And, deep joy, a washing machine. I feel some laundry coming on. 

Zagreb is yet another city with a fabulous tram system. Cant help but feel we are seriously missing a trick here. Locals obviously buy a season ticket. Or you can buy the equivalent of an Oystercard and top it up when you need to, or buy packs of ten individual 4 kuna tickets. A 4 kuna ticket gives you 30 minutes travel in one direction. A kuna is currently worth 12p. So 48p for 30 minutes travel is a bargain. The trams run very regularly and the timetable system is easy to use.

Museum of broken relationships: Mmmmmm, some humourous exhibits but I actually found it quite depressing. The donations given to the museum and the stories behind them are supposed to offer the relief and a chance to move on. People are so unkind to each other. If you cant think of something nice to say, say nothing!

Restaurants and food: Spoilt for choice. You can get virtually anything you like, from Asian, Italian to classic Croatian.Yet again we notice people love their pastries and bread products. Fabulous bakeries everywhere. People will go to a cafe, order coffee and then get a pastry out that they have bought elsewhere and eat it. That would not happen in the UK.

We found a fabulous Tapas bar called Mio Corazon in Radiceva 16, in the heart of the city. Sangria hit the spot. The selection of tapas in the chiller on display was mouthwatering. My favoutrite was the olive tapanade, an explosion of flavour. Norman liked the serrano ham and smoked cheese. More to follow on this little gem, watch this spot! Hopefully going here tomorrow night after our trip to the lakes. Its my birthday tomorrow so hoping for a bit of a party, even if it is just us two.

The city streets here are narrow, twisty and hilly and packed with little shops, bars and cafes which seem to burst out of their confines onto the pavement and street outside. There are tunnels which connect various parts of the centre, we found these quite by accident, and they are a refreshing way to get about in the heat of the day. Originally built in 1943 as a 2nd world war shelter het tunnels connect Mesnicka and Adiceva streets, with additional exits to Llica and Tomiceva. These are just part of a large network of tunnels most of which remain classified information even to most locals. Farmers markets, the most famous is the Dolac Market which is close to the cathedral, affectionately known as `the belly of Zagreb`. Croatian fruit, veg, meat and fish being sold by the farmers and local producers. Again I wish this was a smelly blog, the scent of peaches and apricots under the hot sun makes your mouth water. Everything seems so intense, you can smell the earth clinging to the carrots, and as for the tomatos! Dont get me started! Every area of the city has its own market, usually under jaunty red umbrellas. Our own is just down the road from the apartment. I am having to stop myself from buying too much. Breakfast is usually fruit and yoghurt, but occassionally croissants with apricot jam and fresh apricots. Quite often dinner is salad with local ham, eggs and cheese. The portion sizes in the restuarants are huge and even a greedyguts like me find it all rather overwhelming. And its too hot to eat massive meals. Croatian food is very much influenced by the Ottomans, local street food favourite is `Cevapcici` which is a minced meat flavoured with herbs and spices shaped into a sausage and served inside a flatbread or bread roll with salad and a yoghurty dressing. Very similar to a Turkish Kofta. I am very happy here.

Museum of the homeland war in Turanj, Rastoke village (village of watermills) and Lake Plitvice: There are several operators with tours on offer. I know that there will be walking involved over rocky terain and am still concerned about my ankle, will I be able to keep up? Also not to keen on being herded onto coaches, prefering to be a little more independent. So, we chose Emir. I cannot believe our luck. Its just the 3 of us in a car, Emir is so kind and also knowledgeable. The journey is quite long and the time passes quickly with lots of qustions answered about the local economy and ways of life. Emir is fluent in Croatian, French, English, Arabic, Polish, German, Italian and other languages.

The war museum is small but very well kept. After the war of independence, all of the weapons and soldiers were taken back to Belgrade so there is little left but it serves as a reminder.

Rastoke village. This little village is nestled amongst the rushing torrents of the river. The houses all have water turbines under them that power mills to grind corn. Lots of flowers and pretty houses wth balconies overlooking the falls. It is cool and fresh in the shade with the water rushing by. We stop here for an early lunch. And what a lunch! We decide onto a platter of bear, deer and boar proscuitto with local cheeses served with salad, bread and gerkins. Deer and boar we have eaten before but never bear. Its a very dark lean meat with a good but not too strong flavour, hard to describe, unique. It had never occurred to us that people eat bear, but I suppose `why not`. Emir explains that there is a conservation area where abandoned bear cubs and injured bears are taken to recover, but due to the human contact they have had they cannot be released into the wild. Bears are mainly herbivores and rarely cause any problems, humans and bears coexist quite happily. Hunting of all kinds is strictly regulated. The vast forests are monitored but generally left to nature. Very lovely.

Plitvice Lakes: This is my birthday treat. It is somewhere I really didnt want to miss. By coincidence it is Emir birthday too! And just to make our day special there is an eclipse of the moon tonight with earth, moon and mars all in alignment. Anyway, back to the lakes. No picture does them justice. The most incredible colour. This string of lakes have been formed from the bottom upwards. The rocks of the gorge are porous, over the winter water soaks in and freezes (and there is snow of course). Spring arrives and the ice slowly thaws and `bleds` from the rock walls. The waterfalls are never in the same place, its in constant change. Trees and branches from the forest fall into the water and get caught up, the minerals in the water calcify them overtime. As more debris gets caught up, grasses and shrubs grow along the top which help to secure what is now a natural dam. The dam gets taller and the resulting lake behind gets deeper. The water is icy cold, crystal clear and full of fish and crabs (the emblem of Croatia). Fishing is strictly not allowed. There are boats trips on the largest lake, these boats are powered by electricity so there is no danger of polution and also the peace of the area is maintained. There are two routes around the lakes, much as I would love to do the longer hike which would show us more of the forest I am aware that I have to be carefull with this ankle so we choose the shorter route. It is spectacular. Although in places fences are being erected to prevent people falling off the edge of the path, it is in the main unfenced. Several people have taken a tumble which has resulted in fatalities. Only last winter a Korean lady was posing for a photo and slipped and fell to her death. The path is rocky and uneven in the upper sections and wooden planks in the lower regions. Obviously there are safety issues but its down to common sense and left to the individual to be responsible for themselves. In the car park, Emir points out the numerous nationalities denoted by the car number plates. German, Polish, Netherland, Italian, the list is endless, but no British. Was surprised not to see at least one RV from Blighty! 

Its been a long hot day, Emir picked us up at 9 and dropped us home at 7.30. Such a lovely man, he gave me some chocolates and Norman a bottle of local liquer.

We were going to go out to eat, but decided we are happy with melon, ham, mozarella etc and wine (of course) on the roof and to watch the eclipse. While we are doing this (which was spectacular, especially as we watched the birds coming in to roost on a building further into the city) Emir calls. He is taking some friends to Ljubljana airport in Slovenija, would we be interested in a trip to Lake Bled and Ljubljana (capital of Slovenija). Once the friends have been dropped off at the airport which is tiny, no more than an upgrade from a grass strip. Our party consists of Emir, Marija (Emirs partner) and Oggy (the doggy). Slovenija deserves a section of its own so please read the Slovenija page.

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