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Published: January 13th 2024
Dear All
Greetings on this, my final blog entry on this amazing little adventure I had in lovely Croatia. There were so many places to see, and I was awed by the amazing variety and beauty of what I'd seen for myself. After my wonderful afternoon of exploring the "little slice of heaven" that is the Plitvice Lakes National Park (thanks for the phrase, Merry! :D), I left rural Croatia behind and took my final bus journey to here, the country's capital of Zagreb. I would have liked to have spent more time in the Croatian countryside. I particularly liked the smell of pine trees and the sound of roosters there, reminding me of many-a rural place I've visited in the Slavic parts of Eastern Europe. But alas, my journey was continuing, and I was excited to be making my way to the country's political, economic and cultural powerhouse.
My bus arrived in Zagreb's busy and bustling central bus station around one-and-a-half hours before my check in time for my accommodation just around the corner from there, so I had a bit of time to kill. I wandered through the very communist-style suburbs, shops and apartment blocks of New
Zagreb, the sprawling suburb built on the plains to the south of the city's Old Town as it expanded rapidly during the Tito years, as industrialisation and urbanisation swept the country. As I believe I mentioned in a previous blog entry from this trip, I love getting a blast from the communist past. It partly reminds me of my time living in Moscow, and I also partly have a certain admiration for communism. Please don't get me wrong, I'm in no way a red, a socialist or a "commie", but I do admire the way the system rocketed Russia and the Eastern bloc out of rural poverty and into development and comfort. The innumerable apartment blocks that sprang up throughout the region gave so many people huge opportunities beyond their previous rural existence, which had no services or amenities to speak of. This is something I consistently heard during my time in Russia, and I have come to appreciate the functionality and comfort of Soviet-style living. So much so, that I love staying in hotels dating back to the former communist period in these countries, for the pure reminiscence. In the end, I have to say that I believe communism
doesn't work, and I'm all for the free market which rewards those who work hard and deserve it - I just have to add this in here.
So, after a lovely walk through "Novi Zagreb", including lunch at McDonald's as I was in need of some western comfort food after a few too many bureks, a walk along the Sava River which flows through these southern suburbs, and a shop at a local supermarket to stock up on my supplies there, I checked into a gorgeous loft apartment on the top floor of an old three-storey building a couple of miles out of Zagreb's city centre. What an absolute bargain, and I feel I really landed some accommodation gems on this trip. This was a two-bedroomed apartment with a large living space and kitchen, bathroom, and an outside terrace. And it was also the cheapest place on my trip! I felt very comfortable there. After a little lie down and a rest, I was ready to explore Zagreb!
Heading out, I took a tram, forming part of the city's very extensive and highly efficient public transport system formed of 15 tram lines that seem to go everywhere, and
plenty of buses. It cost only 53 euro cents per journey, and just under €4 for a day pass! This was a real bargain, and indeed it was very economical price-wise to travel through Croatia, as long as one avoids the tourist rip-off restaurants charging around €20 just for a main course! I alighted in the central Josip Jelačić Square, and began my Lonely Planet's walking tour of the Old Town from there, taking in the two medieval-era settlements of Kaptol and Gradec, which used to be bitter rivals in the past apparently. Highlights were the brightly and beautifully tiled St Mark's Church, probably Zagreb's most iconic building, and a trip down the still-functioning funicular railway that connects the Old Town on its hill, with the new and modern town centre below. It was so refreshing to see the place filled with mostly locals living and working, and hardly a tourist at all in sight. It seems that the tourists in Croatia stick mainly to the coast, and while Zagreb to me has every bit as much of the charm as other East European cities, the lack of tourism was refreshing. I imagined that this would have been what the
likes of Prague and Krakow were like before they fell victim to the tourist brigade. Finally, I took a walk through the u-shape of grandiose Austro-Hungarian boulevards and splendid buildings which curves its way through the city's New Town, reminiscent apparently of a number of cities developed in the region by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But again, here it was also completely sans le tourism! Many buildings actually felt quite shabby-chic, of the faded-glory type, with dirty walls and graffiti at street level. I was seriously in my element exploring this rather undiscovered gem of an Eastern European city. I did note that a significant number of buildings, including the twin towers of Zagreb Cathedral, were undergoing significant repair and refurbishment works, and I do wonder whether the Croatian government may have plans in the making for its capital to follow the city-break trend of numerous similar cities in this region of the world. If this does happen, I'm glad to have been able to see Zagreb before the tourist crowds kick in. I finally took a tram back to my wonderful accommodation, for a lovely peaceful night in. I was looking forward to exploring more of Zagreb the next day.
And sure enough, my full day in the city was just great! My final full day also on this trip was spent exploring off-the-beaten track locations in an already off-the-beaten track city - just my kind of thing! I first took a tram and then an uphill walk to Mirogoj Cemetery, dubbed a star Zagreb attraction in the Lonely Planet, and also one of the most beautiful cemeteries in Europe. I'm not sure I would agree with this though, but I did enjoy a wander around the peaceful grounds. It was pretty much filled to the brim in a number of places on this day, as I was told the locals were preparing the resting places of their loved ones in advance of All Souls' Day which was happening the following week. An interesting place in particular was a memorial dedicated to the 3300 men who died in hospital in Zagreb after having been injured on the battlefield during World War One. What was noteworthy was the sheer number of nationalities represented, including Austrian, Czech, Hungarian, Romanian, Serbian, Montenegrin, and others, as well as Croatian. I only really know about World War One from a British perspective, so I
would need to do a bit of reading up on its story in this part of the world. I am sure this is significant considering it all began with a Serb assassinating the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne in Sarajevo in neighbouring Bosnia, with Croatia being thus bang in the middle of this original conflict hotspot.
After my visit to the cemetery, I took a bus and two trams to Zagreb's brand new Sljeme Cable Car, and then onwards up to the top of the peak of Sljeme on the mountain proudly overlooking the city of Zagreb from the north, Mt Medvednica. This cable car system was only built last year, and despite its huge and very modern starting station, was eerily quiet and empty for most of my visit. During the 20 minute trip to the top, covering just over 5km and rising 754m up to Sljeme's height of 1033m, I saw only one occupied car coming back down in the other direction. I say mostly empty, as about 20 minutes after reaching the top, a huge crowd of around 50 young school children with their teachers arrived, spoiling the peace somewhat. Still, I enjoyed a mushroom soup
Sava River
Novi Zagreband a coffee in the restaurant at the top, with views towards the north over rural Croatia away from Zagreb, and another lift ride even higher to the top of the nearby radio mast, called Sljeme Tower and dubbed "The Highest Point of Zagreb". The viewing area is indeed 1114m high, and afforded wonderful 360 degree views all around, including down over the beautiful forested slopes of Mt Medvednica itself.
I then embarked on a short hike down through the woods to the Middle Cable Car Station, visiting an old abandoned sanatorium along the way. This place seriously gave me the chills, and I was happy to just take a few pictures and get the heck out of there. Even looking at my photos now I get goose pimples, and it was only since reading the back story to the place after my visit did I realise why the vibes felt so negative there. The place is called the Brestovac Sanatorium, and was originally built in 1909 by a doctor whose married actress lover came down with tuberculosis while the city of Zagreb was experiencing an outbreak of this terrible disease. It was originally a place of recovery and
Sava River
Novi Zagreb rest for numerous patients, until its popularity started to decline by tales of hauntings there. For while the actress lover was there, she sadly passed away, and as news of her ghostly apparitions spread, less people wanted to be a patient there, and family member visits were greatly reduced. Lost souls in the vicinity were apparently greatly added to not only by other victims to the disease, but also a number of soldiers who sadly lost their lives there during World War Two. It was finally abandoned in 1968, and has been slowly deteriorating over the years into its current dilapidated state. It seems it is believed to be the haunting grounds of numerous spirits, and no wonder I felt such a chill being there. I particularly wondered why the huge, lone pine tree right in front of the building was dead, while all the other surrounding trees were positively thriving. It was a spooky visit indeed.
Finally for the day, as I had bought a 24-hour public transport pass the day before at 6.50pm, I thought I'd spend the last few hours before its expiry travelling around the tram network and seeing more of the city. I was
Sava River
Novi Zagreb also on a mission to either find a belt, or a piece of string or rope, to keep my shorts up as the button had fallen off sometime earlier that day. I visited a whole shopping centre near the Cable Car starting station with clothes shops and a supermarket, but found nothing! I then took a tram to the opposite end of Zagreb at its most south-westerly point to visit a large shopping centre there called Arena, but called off my visit as it was another mile to walk there from the tram terminus, and it was starting to rain and get dark. I then took another tram back to my accommodation, finally finding something I could use in a chemist shop just around the corner from there. This was a whole roll of string used to tie wrapping paper around presents. It was very strong, and did the job of holding up my shorts nicely for my flight home the next day, before I could properly sew a button back on them when I got back home - yay! It just started raining after I got back to my loft flat, so I enjoyed my final evening on this
amazing Croatia trip enjoying the beautiful and atmospheric sound of raindrops falling on the roof of the accommodation - it was lovely!
My flight home on the Wednesday was fine. I took a bus around a mile away from where I was staying to Zagreb Airport, a seriously modern airport but with not too many flights, so there was lots of space and it was very comfortable. My British Airways flight home was half-empty, and I had a whole row of three seats to myself, which necessitated a very exuberant lie down for half the journey! I also bumped into an old friend of mine from my teacher training days 20 years ago! She hadn't seemed to change one bit, and it was great to see her and a blast from the past! She is now working as a BA flight attendant, and was just on her way home as a passenger after a flight from Singapore, via her home town of Sarajevo in Bosnia. She appeared to be living the life and travelling the world - that makes two of us!
I took the direct, "express service" two hour bus back from Heathrow Airport to Croydon, as
yet again, there were problems with trains on part of my route. It took the same time travelling from Heathrow to my house, as it did from Zagreb to Heathrow!
I really did have an amazing week travelling through Croatia! It is such a beautiful and varied country, and I saw so many amazing things during my time there. Although touristy in parts, the people were very friendly and welcoming, and I did get to practise some of my Croatian language that I learned before my trip - not too much though, as a surprising number of people spoke English very well.
So, thanks for reading, and all the very best for now! Until my next travels, which I'm sure won't be too long away I imagine!
Alex
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John Miranda
John & Miranda
Zagreb
Hi Alex. I'm pleased to hear Zagreb hasn't been taken over by the tourist hordes - a city still with a bit of edge.