Croatia

15 January 2011

We had to be up quite early (eek!) for our journey to Zagreb - just a couple of hours by train. As Croatia is not in the EU, our journey also involved passport control at the border. This is always interesting on a train. In this case, the Slovakian police boarded the train at the last station before we crossed the border. The train did not leave the station until they had been through and checked everyone’s passports. They then left the train and the Croatian police got on. The train started up again and continued on its way while further checks were made and stamps were stamped.

After arriving and finding our hotel, we had a full afternoon to commence exploring Zagreb. First stop was the Croatian Museum of Naïve Art – a fantastic little gallery in the ‘upper town’ (the oldest part of Zagreb). Naïve art is characterized by its simplicity and its often significant departure from the conventions of more formal art. We really enjoyed the paintings and sculptures on display.

We then walked through the area immediately around St Mark’s Square which is dominated by the beautiful St Mark’s church and flanked by parliamentary and government buildings. There were many locals standing around the door of the church, spilling out into the square waving flags and singing. Phil asked a policeman what was happening (as you do!) – apparently the celebrations were related to Croatian independence.

Continued our exploration of the upper town, through Dolac – the amazing fruit and vegetable market and onto the cathedral. Zagreb is a beautiful city.

Part of the old town wall near the cathedral

Finished the day with a walk through the lower town. Enjoyed the nightlife before calling it a day.

16 January 2011

Walked via the beautiful Croatian National Theatre (unfortunately no opera or ballet on while we’re here so no opportunity to see the building from the inside!) to the Sunday morning antique market. Had a ball here looking at all the interesting objects. The stallholders were really lovely – one even gave us a memento when she found out we were visiting from Australia!

Next stop was a second visit to St Mark’s square. As it was very busy yesterday we wanted to return when things were a little quieter and we could see more. We were really glad we did because there was hardly anyone around so we could really have a leisurely wander. 

           
One of the fascinating parts of this area is the Kamenita vrata (or stone gate) – the last remaining gate of the five that were once part of the wall around the upper town. In 1731, there was a fire around the stone gate destroying all the surrounding houses. A painting of the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus survived, though. This painting has now become quite an icon and people stop and pray on their way through the gate. There are pews and candle stands for the faithful – and it’s always busy. 

Stone gate in the background

There are a couple of art galleries in this area also and we were interested in visiting the Mestrovic Studio which houses a collection of works by Croatian sculptor Ivan Mestrovic.  When we got there, however, it was closed! Never mind – there was a lovely little bar across the lane that looked very inviting and it was definitely time for a cup of tea.

This was a local bar indeed. Just us at one table and a group of four men at the other. They were lovely and spoke perfect English so helped us with our order. Eventually we joined them and so began a truly wonderful afternoon. 

We talked about anything and everything and had a fantastic time. They all should have been somewhere else and we had planned to visit a couple of other sights but all plans went out the window as we shared a few drinks and enjoyed each other’s company. It’s experiences like this that can’t be found in a museum or read about in a guidebook and we loved every minute.

Spent the evening having a final wander through Zagreb – eating at little market stalls and taking in new sights.

Dusk on our final night - the view from our hotel window

On arriving back at our hotel (which was really quite a large one – not the sort we usually go for but chosen for its proximity to the train station) we rounded the corner of our floor heading towards our door and bumped into… our Brazilian friends!! We couldn’t believe it – we were following each other across countries! We exchanged stories and talked about other travels we’ve done. It seems as though we are kindred spirits as we have a lot of past journeys and future plans in common. The world really is a small place. And yes… they were very glad they took our advice and went to the castle at Bled!

New beer: Ozujsko 

Zagreb train station - our last morning