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Europe » Croatia » Central Croatia » Zagreb
June 26th 2008
Published: July 23rd 2008
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DancingDancingDancing

Traditional dancing as we arrived
A year is over. I am back in Austin, I cant believe that I am already repacking for my next life adventure in Nashville. I have not forgotten of course that no blogs have been written for the last 3 weeks of travel. The last week at home has been quite busy catching up with family and friends as well as trying to readjust to things like driving and get organized for my move. So....here we go. There are lots of blogs coming, so I will start from the very beginning and space them out as much as possible so you don't get overwhelmed. Its a good thing I kept a very detailed travel journal! First up. Stuttgart to Zagreb.

After a short train ride from Karlsruhe to Stuttgart Airport, Justus and I caught our flight on Germanwings from Stuttgart to Zagreb. It was mostly a normal flight except that our plane needed a new tire, which was replaced before our departure, on the runway. You know its never good when the pilot says "we are contacting the maintenance crew, to see if the tire we need is in stock". We were lucky and it didn't take too long (only
Cable CarsCable CarsCable Cars

These are the local cable cars that run through town.
an hour) before we were off for Croatia. The airport in Zagreb is quite small and reminded me of some of the airports in the Carribean. It was quite easy to navigate though, and Justus and I quickly found our bus into the center of town. It was 30 Kuna and took about 30 minutes to make the uneventful trip that landed us at the Zagreb Bus Terminal.

We managed to figure out the city trains pretty easily and hopped on a very hot, non air conditioned line straight to the main Train Station. Our stay in Zagreb was only scheduled for about 8 hours, since we were just in transit on the way to Split. Between English and German, we managed to buy our overnight train tickets, although we weren't quite sure what exactly we had bought. The tickets were about 170 Kuna per person (about 27 Euros) which was surprisingly cheap for the distance that we were going. After all the logistics were settled we headed out quickly to explore what we could of Zagreb before our 10 pm departure.

We made our way through a beautiful park to the main city square and then up
CathedralCathedralCathedral

The beautiful cathedral in town.
a hill to a very impressive Cathedral. There was a mass going on inside so we only stopped for a minute to take in the interior of the church. The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around and up on the hill to see old stone city gate (which we walked through without even knowing it) and the fantastic view of the city. We found a small festival up on the hill and enjoyed a drink to cool off. The city was prettier than I thought it would be from previous accounts, there were a few small churches and some nice side streets.

We found a nice spot to grab dinner and enjoyed a large meat platter, beer, and some patte looking stuff that tasted like cat food. The meat platter was very good, a variety of meats that I could not possibly identify again in my life. I had requested the one with the "fat from the cows neck" (apparently a specialty) but unfortunately they were out of "fat from a cows neck"...honestly, I was relieved. The Spain vs. Russia game was on and being displayed on a large screen at the restaurant. By the time we
STOPSTOPSTOP

No workout clothes, ice cream, dogs, or fireworks in the church...mmmmkay...
left for the train, Spain was up 3-0 which meant I had won at least 50 Euros in my betting match back in Karlsruhe!!

We stopped to watch a bit more of the game on the way back to the station and then boarded our train and took our seats. We really lucked out that no one else joined us in our compartment, so we just settled in for a long train ride and hopefully a bit of sleep. Turns out, we sat in the station for another hour as the workers rummaged around under our car fixing something. I noticed after the train took off that one of the doors to the outside was still open...I tried not to walk to the bathroom in that direction, even if it meant walking through 3 cars. Not sure their safety rules are the same as Germany as far as train travel. I slept most of the night with only a short awakening to see some Croatian countryside when the sun was up in the morning. It reminded me of a more rural looking Italy. There are mountains, very rocky, and lots of small vineyard patches. One thing that was nice
ClockClockClock

Love this shot of the city wall.
to see was nice open countryside. I feel sometimes that everything in Germany is squared off with a purpose.


Additional photos below
Photos: 15, Displayed: 15


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Street SignsStreet Signs
Street Signs

The street signs were so beautiful in the old town.
CityCity
City

Me with the view of the city from the top of the hill.
JustusJustus
Justus

Justus making friends
Night Time!Night Time!
Night Time!

Justus looks a little creepy, we were having fun
Free Water!!Free Water!!
Free Water!!

Loved the drinking water fountains in town...at least i hope they were drinking water...
WaitingWaiting
Waiting

Waiting on our train to head out of Zagreb
SunriseSunrise
Sunrise

Justus admiring the view out of our train window
MEATMEAT
MEAT

Wow...yeah...lots of meet
Hallo MaedelsHallo Maedels
Hallo Maedels

This means "hey girls" in German. Normally the train says its destination, someone was having fun...


23rd July 2008

missed you!
I had to laugh at that sign for the church. It reminds me of that sign in Weimar (SP?) that said "no icecream" in a store. Can't wait to hear more of your adventures!
23rd July 2008

Sad
P, I am kinda sad reading this blog as I know you are not out there doing it RIGHT NOW, but are instead sipping pina coladas by your parents' new pool. Haha. I love the pic out the train at night. Incredible shot. Nice camera. You have GOT to do some cool photo collage to hang on the walls. R

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