Zagreb - Old city with new wedding

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I could write an entire blog about my travel experience from Bangkok to Zagreb. Five airports (Bangkok, Dubai, Budapest, Munich, Zagreb), 24 hours, and a couple of a-holes next to me in business class from Dubai to Budapest. "Ugh! These seats are like child's seats!" "Ew. This tomato soup is disgusting! Take it away!" Seriously, I don't get how some people live with themselves… I was able to spend a lot of time with a former flight attendant this week and it was very interesting to get her take on the behavior of passengers; needless to say, she was in agreement with me about the couple next to me.

Anyway, the reason I came to Zagreb was to celebrate the wedding of my coworker and friend, Zoran, to his lovely girlfriend Anja. I am sure it is hard for them to live so far apart, but they seem to be one of the few couples I can honestly say I think make it work. They both picked me up from the airport when I finally landed at 10:30pm and drove me to the hostel where they had booked me and two of our other friends/coworkers who would arrive the next day. They understood I was exhausted, and as soon as I was checked into Hotel Shappy, I went straight for the shower and then immediately to bed.

The next morning I slept in and then wandered around looking for food. There really are not a lot of breakfast places in Zagreb; they really love their cafes and I saw millions of chairs outside on almost all of the streets. Interesting. Finally, I found a place where they did make omelets so I settled in and relaxed, watching the city pass me by. After an hour or so, Anja and Zoran walked by with Christoff, so since he could not check in yet, I gave him my key so he could take a shower. I then wandered some more and easily found a post office to mail my postcards that I collected in Thailand. I was surprised about how hot it was in Zagreb; I had a long sleeved light see through shirt with a tank underneath and shorts and by the time I got back to the hostel, I needed another shower. Then Christoff and I sat at one of the many cafes, now open for lunch, and ordered beer and cevapi. If you've read my previous posts, you know that these guys take great pride in their cevap - a beef or lamb based kebab-like food. It was good, but I honestly have to say that I found my friend's cevap grilled at the beach the best ever.

Later, our final friend arrived from Doha and the five of us went out to see the city. They had their dog, Nota, who also joined us on the tour, including going up to the 16th floor of the "skyscraper" to see 360 degree views of Zagreb. We walked into the old city and it is truly amazing to see all the old structures, many of which are still in use. We climbed up to St Mark's Cathedral which has a unique roof with the Croatian and Zagreb coats of arms; by this time we were all dripping sweat. So, we then went to a covered alleyway of green trees and enjoyed a couple of cold beers and popcorn. Later that night we went to an expensive touristy bar in town and met up with some other friends who were also in Croatia at the same time; we were surrounded by Croatians in Croatia!

The next day was wedding day so we were mostly on our own until the evening's festivities. We enjoyed our breakfast at the same spot before exploring more of the old city. Then we came back and Fay did my makeup and we got a cab to the wedding venue. It was fun to meet all their family; the wedding was small so remembering who was who was a little easier. The wedding was at an old industrial building converted into a party hall. It was beautifully done and was a quiet party right in the middle of town. Anja even got up on stage to sing at one point. This being Croatia, the drinks flowed freely and soon we were all inside dancing our hearts out. I don't even want to think about what kind of moves I pulled out that night; all I know is that it could have been worse!

Zoran had warned us that we would want to sleep in the next day; since we didn't even leave the party until the sun was coming up… yeah, that was about right. Unfortunately, our hostel did not allow late check out so getting up, showered, and packed was an ordeal...

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Photos

The reason we're here
Wedding invite is a playable record

View of Zagreb
from 360 tower