But it'll be cold up there!?!

Unfortunately, despite a lack of plans the girls did have a deadline, and no amount of distraction or stalling on my part could change the fact they had to be in cold, dark, expensive stockholm in two weeks time. we had to leave the warmpth and move north - first to Zagreb by way of an overnight bus. Zagreb is Croatia's capital and superficially uncannily similar to Chch. set on a broad plain and nestled against a long, low hill, the meandering river through the city and cathedral in the centre complete the picture. despite my dire warnings about the cold i was really looking forward to at last finding a big city with some decent music.. and there's nothing better than "I told you so's" when things are even better/worse than you expected. it was snowing in zagreb when we arrived, probably more due to the first solid cold snap than our 3-4deg change in latitude. it was still fun to see the slightly terrified excitement in the girls faces as they compared how much further north they had to go. incidentally, i think the same cold snap caused massive flooding accross turkey, killing a number of people. it's really strange seeing footage of such an abstract culture on TV and for the first time feeling familiar with it.. quite reassuring in a way?

we spent one of our zagreb days hiking with a grandma who'd signed herself up to the hospitality Club for a bit of entertainment. she talked nonstop about life in Croatia, Yugoslavia, communism & 1000% inflation, carrying bags of cash home from work each day.. So many stories, I wish I could recount them all, I wonder if i'll be so full of stories and energy by the time i'm 70?

---

---