From Zagreb to Slovenia

Wednesday 26th June - Zagreb

Staying in this very nice hotel on real holidays with no meeting or schedule for the day, so there was no need to rush through what was an excellent breakfast, including a table with gluten free cereals and biscuits, and a note encouraging guests to ask for gluten free bread if needed.

View of Zagreb

The gluten free cornflakes were a treat, as was the good selection of fruit, along with the usual cheeses and meats.

After breakfast we dropped off a couple of large bags of Dirty clothes for washing in consideration of the reasonable costs involved - I was thrilled to return later in the day and find the clean, ironed clothes presented in plastic bags and on coat hangers. Given that the laundry included a weeks worth of grubby riding gear, that was an excellent outcome - and a different standard in our first hotel (not a criticism, just different) where ironing was not part of the basic service.

Domestic chores done, we wandered out into the streets of Zagreb and made an initial enquiry about the local hop on and off bus, after the Budapest and Vienna options were so good. However, it turned out that in Zagreb there were two options basically for a tour - one around the old town and the ‘green line’ which goes out further. Having done a walking loop of the old town on our arrival yesterday, we opted for the outer loop at 12.

essential in the heat

00 noon.

Filling in time till then meant a chance for a look around the fruit and vegetables market in the old town, and a quick look around a small museum that traced part of Zagreb’s war torn past.

Then it was onto the bus on time, and taking in the sights as we went a little further afield to Lake Jarun, Maksimir Park and the Museum of Contemporary Art. While I took in the enormous variety of sights I didn’t recall too much detail, but was super impressed with Jarun Lake, which is the largest entertainment centre in Zagreb, and which centres around a man made lake, initially constructed for Universiade (world university games) in 1987 and hosted 6000 students. All year round, day or night Jarun Lake features activities for all age groups. A popular getaway for locals, especially during warm summer days.

Today Jarun Lake is a multipurpose recreational sports centre for rest and recreation, Featuring a 2 km artificial lake surrounded by cycling tracks, promenade, forests and parks. Numerous sports are available , such as: football, basketball, bowling, volleyball, badminton, skate Park, etc.

Also called the Zagreb Sea, swimming and all sorts of water sports are organised during warm summer days. There are lifeguards on duty during the swimming season.The Big Lake (Veliko Jezero) is the part of the lake for rowing and windsurfing, while the Small Lake (Malo Jezero) is reserved for swimming, pedal boat rides, bars, and cafes.

There is also a very, very long ‘road of fame’ with photos of Croatia’s sporting heroes!

Other notable sights in the tour were the racecourse, the main tv studios, a huge opera house, several hospitals, heaps of large and small parks, and beautiful streets of multi story, semi detached and detached houses.

In the hotel

It was a very insightful and enjoyable tour with a pretty good commentary and roof-only air conditioning!

The tour done it was definitely time for refreshments and we found a delightful restaurant ‘Amelia’ in which we feasted on cake, coffee and ice cream. Like most restaurants it had lovely gluten free options. Next was to head up the road past the zagreb cathedral to find the ‘Bornstein wine and food bar’, owned by the brother of a contact, who recommended dropping in and saying hi. The brother John, a Croatian born Australian, set set up the wine bar in 2015 in a magnificent 200 y.o. brick vaulted cellar, from the the first Croatian wine shop (Vinoteka) which was established 30 years ago. We made contact with John and promised to return in the evening to try some of his Croatian wines. He does also stock and heavily promote Australian wines.

Next stop was the ‘Museum of broken relationships’, a museum dedicated to failed love relationships. Its exhibits include personal objects left over from former lovers, accompanied by brief descriptions. It first began as a travelling exhibition and now is well known and award winning. Each exhibit is donated and accompanied by a short description of its context in the broken relationship.

However the museum is not air conditioned and the temp was over 30, so it was back to the hotel to cool down before going back to the wine bar for a few wines and snacks which was extremely well done with a chance to sample many wines.

Hotel staircase

The evening was topped off with a ‘sit and eat an ice cream’ in the park opposite the hotel and watch the passing parade. This has become a feature of each evening in Zagreb and at many other times on this trip.

Thursday 27th June - Zagreb

With the continuing ‘European heatwave’ a decision was made to have an easy day with a slow start and to dawdle over the hotel’s delicious and comprehensive breakfast. The first activity was to find the main entry to Zagreb’s Gric tunnel, and we then realised we had walked past others during our walks around the old town as they are not as well signposted as many other attractions in the city. The tunnel was built during World War II by the Ustaše government to serve both as a bomb shelter and a promenade, but following the war it quickly fell into disrepair and disuse. The tunnel was then reused only in the 1990s, hosting one of the first raves in Croatia, and functioning as a shelter during the Croatian War of Independence. In 2016, the tunnel was remodeled and opened to the public as a tourist attraction and for hosting cultural events. Planned expansions include a museum and a lift.

One next option was a visit to the large Arts and Crafts Museum or the Technological Museum, but I chose to wander back along the main road and looked in a variety of shops - snaffled a few things (items of clothing) though not the sandals I was looking for. After a short, inevitable ice cream break it was on to the bank to change some currency (at present Croatian kuna) into Euro in preparation for the drive to Ljubljana and find the post office for a few postage stamps.

Entry to apartment Ljubljana

Then back to the hotel to get some EOFY business matters (as a small business owner I can’t escape from the inevitable) sorted and records kept!

After cooling down for a bit and feeling organised, it was out for dinner and the easy option of returning to the previous steakhouse restaurant in the Dubrovnik hotel were we enjoyed the good service on arrival, and where the waiter remembered us including my gluten free needs. Dinner was delicious and after the routine people watching ice cream in the park it was back to enjoy the hotel’s air conditioner!

Friday 28th June - Zagreb to Ljubljana in Slovenia

Today was the day I had to (again, as in 2016) face up to my fears of driving in Europe with the help of an assistant, armed with electronic support. So after a hearty and leisurely breakfast our airport transport arrived and transferred us to the airport (site of car pickup) promptly, with directions about how to find the car rental desk.

With a bit of a premonition that something was going to go wrong, we quickly discovered that to my shock and horror that the car hire booking was actually for yesterday and the booking (through car hire.

Parked!

com) had been cancelled. I won’t bore you with the details but while the car hire company were naturally pissed and not too helpful, a call to the provider saw us secure another vehicle (albeit a manual) and fortunately get organised with another company before the morning rush hour at the airport began and there was a queue of 8-9 groups waiting to be served!!

So after a short wait for the car to be prepared, we were on board and off. Again I won’t bore you with the details of my mastering the multiple driving, road and car challenges, not to mention tolls, roadworks and a 2 sided (in one side then 1/2 hour later after crawling, out the other) border crossing ... oh as well as speeds varying often between 80 and 130km, trucks, camper vans, vans of all sizes and death wish Audi, Mercedes and BMW drivers itching to get past.

After a minor GPS glitch we made it to our apartment, down a narrow cobbled street and through a tight driveway under an arch to an even tighter parking spot in a dump of a courtyard. But as often is the case, external appearances overseas can be deceptive and the apartment was ‘light and bright’ as promised (but warm, with no air cond), and as we headed off to check out the old town, I was surprised to find myself walking past the cafe on the corner of the street I stayed in when visiting in 2016!

Thus I suddenly felt at home and while the crowds are much busier than then, it was all just as wonderful!

So ......Despite totally stuffing up the car booking, the day turned out super well and was a great start to a couple of weeks driving in the region!