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Published: July 15th 2012
Even though I am now home, for the sake of completeness I thought I should write about my last few days in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.
After arriving late Saturday night, I awoke on Sunday morning ready to explore, only to find that Zagreb is not the tourist friendly city of Croatia - nearly everything was shut or would shut early on Sunday, and the majority of museums and galleries are shut on Mondays. Pro tip: if you are coming to Zagreb, don't come on a Sunday or Monday.
Not completely discouraged, I headed out to some museums and galleries close by to have a look before the full impact of a 35 degree day hit in a city far from a beach. As I write that I now can't remember what 35 degrees feels like. It is 7 degrees here in Canberra right now. Though at least I am not sweating.
I ended up visiting the Museum of Naive Art, dedicated to Croatia's own art movement popular in the 60s. It was a little bit strange. Then I happened upon the Museum of Broken Relationships which was wonderful. Its exhibits are things donated by everyday people,
with these things symbolising something about a failed relationship. Each exhibit had a story that went with it, which could be sad or amusing, or both. Finally I visited a private art gallery, the Klovicevi Dvori Gallery, exhibiting the Illustration Biennale, which turned out to feature quite a few Australian artists. So many that it included a large room with a TV, with Australian Tourism ads and other stories on a loop. Including George Negus telling stories. Maybe it was a sign that it really was time to go home. Or at least time to go back to the hotel for a siesta before my evening bike tour. Which was a great way to get the lay of the land, with a local to give a bit of Zagreb's history.
The next day was more museums (well, two out of all of Zagreb that were open), including a gallery in the former stables of the Austro-Hungarian empire, which was pretty cool. They even provided stickers so you could mark which ones you really enjoyed. I also made a trek out to the cemetery, which I had heard was beautiful and peaceful. And it was, I spent some time meandering
around gawking at graves, marvelling at the lack of religious segregation, when I was scared out of my skin by gunfire. Some investigation showed that there was a funeral for an old soldier, and in fact the war had not returned. Not that my quickly beating heart would believe that.
The final day I not only visited a contemporary art museum that had a slide as an exit, I also got to eat Mexican! It is the little things that matter when you have been eating the same type of food for a month. There was also quite a bit of shopping done, to take advantage of the end of season sales of course.
Then a four flight epic journey home, only alleved slightly by the group of young Irishmen I was seated amongst on the longest flights. Particularly watching the guy next to me try to work out how to operate a squeezy packet of salad dressing. Do I stab it? Do I pinch the top bit? Do I cut it open with a knife? Unfortunately no videos of that.
Anyway, thanks for coming along on this journey, until next time!
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MJ
non-member comment
Sounds like you're in need of some Madam Woo's! I have been looking in the window for you for ages. Maybe I will see you there this week!