Sightseeing in Zagreb, Croatia

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Thursday, July 12, 2012 Zagreb, Croatia



Wow! We are so impressed with Zagreb! What a beautiful city, such nice people, and delicious food! We started the day off with a tram ride to the upper town where the (interesting) museums and other sights are. The first thing we saw was the Cathedral. Unfortunately one of the towers was being worked on so there is construction in the pictures.



We then continued on our self-walking tour and happened upon an outdoor market. They had everything from hand made crafts (from Croatia), and produce to souvenirs, honey, and lavender. The various colors of all of the produce were beautiful. The fish market was one of the nicest fish markets I have seen. It was so clean and the fish were displayed so nicely. Most of their fish (if not all) comes from the Adriatic Sea and all of the local restaurants serve fresh fish from the market.



We continued on to the first church in Croatia to have the National and City Seal tiled on the roof constructed in 1880. The rest of the church dates back to the 13^th century. The church was situated the heart of the Croatian Sabor or Parliament and the Presidential Palace. After getting some great pictures of the church we found our way to the Croatian History Museum. It is a rotating exhibit because they do not have the space. The exhibit that is there now is War on the Homeland. We learned a lot about the Communist rule in Yugoslavia and the tensions among the many ethnic backgrounds. What amazes us the most is just how recent these hardships and independence are.



Next stop was lunch. We thought about going back to the fish market area but didn’t want to walk that far. Instead we found an amazing hillside restaurant in the area. It was by far my favorite meal on the trip. Zach had fresh grilled calamari and I had two appetizers-scallops au gratin and shrimp and arugula risotto.



With our full bellies we were able to now continue. First we went to the Museum of Broken Relationships. This museum originated in Croatia but has gone on tour all over the world. The museum consists of objects or poems or even videos donated to help get over a painful relationship. Most were about relationships with a partner but there were some about familial relationships. One was even about the disappointment with a certain president.



Now it was time to work off our lunch. 119 steps to the top of the bell tower to get a great view of the city. It is also where they fire a cannon at noon every day! We must have heard it but didn’t think anything of it because at twelve o’clock we had no idea that it was still fired.



It was a great thing that we ran into the outdoor market when we did because by 3:30 it was packed up and only the pigeons picking up scraps were evidence it occurred.



We continued to meander through the upper town and into the lower town and take pictures and step into souvenir stores. We ended up eating dinner on a pretty quiet street that seemed to only be visited by locals. Our meals there were excellent and our waiter was great. He apologized for his English, but as I said before, they learn it in school so his was very good. This time we had desert. Zach had homemade apple pie and I had homemade cheesecake. It was delicious.



It was such a wonderful day. We even made it on a tram that took us back near our hostel. Our day ended with a nice evening walk back to our hostel and some English T.V.



P.S. Zach will add pictures later 😊

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