After a great time in Ljubljana, we left Slovenia and headed into Croatia. Before crossing the border we popped into Novo Mesto, a very cute little town. It also had a great shoe shop, good outcome for Rhonda!

We then crossed the border and made our way into Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. It has an upper town and lower town. Our apartment, although not flash on the outside, was great inside with a small balcony where we could overlook the gorgeous building on the other side of the street!

On our first day we decided to explore the Upper Old Town.The first thing we noticed was the huge amount of scaffolding on many of the old buildings due to restoration work being done primarily due to the earthquake that struck in 2020. The Cyril and Methodius Church was built around 1830 and rebuilt after the earthquake.

St Marks Basilica is one of the oldest buildings in Zagreb and dates back to the 14th century. It’s tiled roof was created in 1880 and bears the Coats of Arms of different areas.

The main square, the Ban Jelacic Square was rather large with the famous trams running through the middle and standing proudly in the centre was Count Josip Jelacic one of the most important Croatian politicians in the 19th Century.

The Dolac Market is a large Farmers Market, open daily , selling flowers, fruit, veges and meat. We loved the red umbrellas which we found all over Zagreb. It has been operating for over 80 years. The statue of Kumica is a tribute to the hard working women of Zagreb. Greg thought she was pretty cool!

Very few parts of the Old City Walls are still standing, most were demolished in the 19th century. We decided to have a typical Zagreb lunch and opted for the Zagrebacki Odrezak, a pounded veal cutlet filled with cheese and ham, then rolled , covered in breadcrumbs and fried! OMG , it was delicious!

We continued on our tour to walk our lunch off and came across the Stone Gate with the statue of St George, after he had slain the dragon, not before. Sorry no photos of the Stone Gate and the statue of the Virgin Mary, too man tourists in front of it!

On our way home we walked through the Tunnels of Zagreb. They were built during WW11 as a bomb shelter. They fell into disrepair and renewed in the 1990’s. They also functioned as a shelter during the Croatian War of Independence tween 1991 and 1995.

Of course in between this walking there had to be time for hydration and we had plenty of bars to choose from.

The following day we hit the Lower Town and found some beautiful buildings that had already been fully restored, well on the outside at least! The Croatian National Theatre was magnificent and built in 1860. At the entrance to the Theatre is the Well of Life, a sculpture depicting people in various phases of life , crouching and twisting their bodies. Sadly a couple of “ring ins” crashed their party!

Greg was impressed with the statue of Nikola Tesla, a Croatian inventor and engineer, best known for his design of the AC electricity supply system.

The beautiful Art Gallery was built in 1896 and the statue of King Tomislav, the first king of Croatia stands proudly in the square.

The Croatian State Archives , again a lovely restored building was built in 1913, and further along the street was the Italian Embassy.

Of course as we wandered we had to try the cream cakes of Zagreb….verdict……Ljubljana wins hands down!

Here is a selection of buildings that didn’t have scaffolding on it.😂

We must admit we were a little underwhelmed by Zagreb when we first arrived, however it did grow on us and by the time we left we loved it. We had great weather, found good watering holes and ate some great food, both out and about, and also prepared by our in house chef!

We are a little behind with our posts, sorry, been a bit busy but we will try to catch up.

No need for an update on Greg, apart from his knee , all other ailments have disappeared!

Lots of love

Greg and Rhonda and Judy.