Zagreb

We just spent a wonderful day in Zagreb, Croatia. To say I enjoyed these few hours more than the rush tourism job we pulled on Paris would be an understatement.

Definitely possessing the energy of a big city, Zagreb still felt wonderfully other-worldly (totally a real word). It is friendly, picturesque and also earned Ben's clean city seal of approval. I did feel a bit nervous arriving in Croatia for a variety of reasons, mostly the unknown. Pulling into Zagreb I saw graffiti everywhere, but found the city did not have the roughness that this amount of graffiti may suggest. Some areas were dedicated to this art form and we saw some great talent.

The Acotel Allegra was our conveniently located hotel, a short walk to the train or the bus, we needed both. And, as it turned out an easy access point to the city center. Originally we had not planned any time in Zagreb so the few hours we got today were all bonus opportunity.

We first walked to purchase our bus tickets for later that day before grabbing our packs and heading into the city. Croatia is the only country on our trip that is not part of the free data network provided by T-Mobile. This realization was hard to swallow on the inbound train as we resolved ourselves to using maps and our own keen sense of direction. Google maps we will miss you until we meet again in Italy. However, I am also glad for the break from technology and another element of uncertainty as we use other resources to find our way around. I'm not sure how much Ben is enjoying the break:)

Getting from lower to upper town is a climb straight up. A bit like San Francisco in steep grade but with more narrow streets and cobbled stones. There you will find a medieval bridge, museums, churches and an awesome view.

On our way down, we found an open air market, a hopping pedestrian zone and a close up of the cathedral.  With more time, a chair at a cafe would have been a great way to spend the day.

The funniest part of the day came on our way to the bus station. Route mapped, we paused regularly at intersections to confirm street names and check the map to confirm we were still on course. We paused at an intersection just before turning at a diagnoal road that took us almost directly to the station and were approached by a young woman offering her help. We explained that we were just checking streets and were en route to the bus station.  She pointed us in another direction indicating it was the best way to go. Recognizing that the shortest route is in fact always a straight line, we decides to stick to our originally planned route, with one problem. The helpful girl with the bad ideas was on that route. We wanted to go that way without being seen and therefore entered spy mode as we trailed her on "our" route, even ducking behind a car at one point. We succeeded in arriving at our destination undetected.

Based on what I had read, I envisioned us on some kind of rickety regional bus where I could end up sitting next to a lady with a chicken in a cage. In reality it was a very nice bus, like a tour bus, with mostly comfortable seats and no chickens.

The scenery on this ride was spectacular. Beautiful forest covered mountains that at times reminded me of Blue Ridge Parkway of the Great Smoky Mountains in the distance. We passed through countless little villages and road side houses. It was a typical curvy mountain road and I swear Dramamine is a miracle drug. My motion sickness has been worse than ever lately, but I had no problems on this ride at all. Woohoo!

We are at Plitvice. This mountain girl is feeling relaxed and enjoying the sounds of waterfalls off our hotel room balcony and the tremendous views. Having scouted the area upon arrival, we are prepared to hit the park when it opens in the morning.

More details to come!