Blogs from Zagreb, Central Croatia, Croatia, Europe - page 18

After heading back to Ljubljana for a very brief stop, it was on the train again, into Croatia, where I got my first passport stamp of Europe! It's taken a month or so, but finally got one cos Croatia is not yet part of the EU, and Zagreb was my first port of call. Zagreb was fairly manic for 2 reasons, a) Croatia were playing Russia here in a European Championship Soccer Qualifier, so every second person was draped on the national colours, and b) tomorrow was a public holiday. So it was fairly lucky there wasn't much I wanted to see, cos everything would be shut anyway. Not like back in NZ, where shops just open anyway and charge you more. So like the rest of Zagreb who didn't have tickets, I headed along ... read more

Our Hostel. It was out of town, but it was right next to a chocolate factory. The Outlet sold ˝Lom˝čhocolade, ie 'broken' chocolate, or seconds. Luckily I was saved by bag room issues and weight control. ie I can't have a bag that weighs too much! Aaahhh... where was I? Cause I haven't been writing for a while. But maybe the pictures will explain this. I met up with another girl, Karen, and we have been travelling together for nearly a fortnight, hopping Islands, hopping bars, generally complaining when we have to pay more than $A3 for a beer... Generally, The Dalmatians were everything I expected (holiday, Sun, beaches, no sand and party) and a few things I had not (4th century Byzantine City, still in working order, Turkish, venetian, roman, and Croatian ruins). Everything ... read more

Same day as we crossed into Slovenia we made it to Croatia in the afternoon, got held up a bit at the border, customs inspection took a while lots of questions, officer boarding the truck etc. When we finally made it to Zagreb as we were looking for our hostel we noticed some old dilapidated looking apartment complexes sattered about, made me think if it was a Soviet type apartments. The people are warm, very nice, gretting us at every opportunity. we have to change money to Kuna their currency as they do not take Euros, i exchanged just enough and we went out to Cafe Bolkas near the hostel for dinner, guess what i had, another sausage meal, this is what is popular here i guess. Off we go again tomorrow and will drive ... read more

Unfortunately, despite a lack of plans the girls did have a deadline, and no amount of distraction or stalling on my part could change the fact they had to be in cold, dark, expensive stockholm in two weeks time. we had to leave the warmpth and move north - first to Zagreb by way of an overnight bus. Zagreb is Croatia's capital and superficially uncannily similar to Chch. set on a broad plain and nestled against a long, low hill, the meandering river through the city and cathedral in the centre complete the picture. despite my dire warnings about the cold i was really looking forward to at last finding a big city with some decent music.. and there's nothing better than "I told you so's" when things are even better/worse than you expected. it was ... read more

Left Split after a four days stay with lots of walking and few day-trips. Went to the bank to exchange some money and there was no commission added on the posting exchange rate. Trying to make a phone call home in the States but the rate from the post office was too expensive so I stopped by internet cafe to check it out vs. buying a phone card. Got the bus ticket to Zagreb and it was going to be a long drive. It was supposed to be an express bus with very very few stops along the route. Being on the weekend, we did not have much luck as the highway was congested with holiday makers who was heading home, and at times, the bus driver made "illegal" move and drove the bus on the ... read more