A Zoo, a Museum, and a Retrospective

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So, the more time I spend here, the more I like it - Zagreb, Croatia, Europe, take your pick. I'm sad that I won't get to explore any more of Croatia on this trip, but that's what futures are for. I haven't done much today - the Mimara Museum, the Zoo, and more fun at the grocery store. But my legs started to get tired, so I came back to my room for a siesta. It's Sunday, so most of this town has also taken the day off. On a different note, I have now been gone from America for a month, so it seems like a fitting time to reflect on some of my favorite and least favorite experiences since I've been gone.

Just a recap of today before I get to the lists: I slept pretty decently, and I decided to give up caffeine for the next week, just to see how my body will deal with that. I mean, I don't really have to be up at any time on any day (unless I leave the town early) for most of this trip. So we'll see how that goes. I've got to write a paper within the next week, so I may have to give up on that whole idea when it comes down to it, but here's hoping. Let's just say I took my time getting started today. The Mimara Museum is a 5-minute walk from my hotel, and it's near the tram stop I needed for the Zoo. It was only open from 10-2 today, so I got there pretty soon after 10AM. It cost 30 kn (about $4) for students, so that was what I expected. They had some fun stuff, but it wasn't all that extensive of a collection, based on the size of the building. About midway through, I started to feel my blood sugar crashing, so I didn't take in some of the glass works as profoundly as I should've. Oh, well. I did see some good stuff, and it was worth the price of admission. I walked outside and caught the tram to the Zoo. Zagreb doesn't have buses in the inner city; instead, there are trams that can get you basically anywhere, and they're pretty frequent. Looking out my window, I'm partly reminded of those pre-WWI photos of Vienna, or Berlin, or other central-European cities with their pedestrian and tram traffic. It's nice and nostalgic. At the zoo, it also cost 30 kn to get in. I gladly paid it, since I've been itching to get to a zoo for the past week or so. They had a wide assortment of animals, some of which I had never seen. The red panda (not really a panda, per se) totally enraptured me. I had never seen one, and I just stared and smiled. People probably thought I had some mental problems, but alas. I spent a couple of hours there, at which point I needed to eat something besides the cookies I ate on the way to the zoo. I took the tram back to the Museum and walked a couple blocks to the grocery store, where I spent more money than last night. Never shop for groceries while you're hungry! But I got some good stuff, and at least I won't have to pay an arm and leg for food on the 7-hour train ride tomorrow! Also, I've managed to get more band-aids and finally some hand lotion, so all my medical-type supplies are good to go.

Finally, here's my reflection list of best and worst so far in Europe. There are more "goods" than "bads," which I consider a great sign. I hope you enjoy!

Top 7 Memories (in sorta order, but hard to do, really)

“Billy Elliot” in London with Eno

Trip to Lake Bled, Slovenia

5 hours in Venice, italy

The Alhambra in Granada, Spain

The top of the Rock of Gibraltar

Walking above the town in Andorra

Red Panda at the Zagreb Zoo

Top 5 Food Experiences (in order)

Fitzbillies (Cambridge, UK)

Pasta e Basta (Bergamo, Italy)

Greggs at any and all times (UK)

Bohinj Restaurant (Slovenia)

Grocery Store (Andorra and Zagreb)

Top 5 New Foods (in order)

Gnocchi

Spagnola Gelato

Burek

Matevž

Couscous

Top 4 Places to Stay (in order)

Hotel Meksiko (Ljubljana, Slovenia)

Hotel Univers (Nice, France)

B&B Better Trieste (Italy)

Garden Hotel (Zagreb, Croatia)

Top 3 Museums (in order, but I don’t really do a lot of museums)

Museum of Broken Relationships (Zagreb, Croatia)

Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge, UK)

Mimara Museum (Zagreb, Croatia)

Top 4 Churches (in order)

Cordoba Cathedral (Spain)

St. Albans Abbey (UK)

Rushen Abbey (Isle of Man)

St. Pancras Abbey ruins (Lewes, UK)

Top 4 Castles (in order)

The Alhambra (Granada, Spain)

Lewes Castle (Lewes, UK)

Castle Rushen (Isle of Man)

The Alcazaba (Malaga, Spain)

Biggest Disappointments (Places) (worst to least)

Morocco after lunch

Gibraltar Town

Monaco

Bottom 5 Experiences (worst to least)

Being hounded in Tangier, Morocco

Getting feet blisters in Andorra

The “Hotel” in Bergamo, Italy

Finding out the Tram in Trieste was inoperable

Missing the train to Zagreb



I could also add that deciding to ditch air travel was one of the best decisions I could've made for this trip. It's made things much more interesting!

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