Hello and a very happy new year! As Juhi and I had apprehended, our Croatia series is unfortunately progressing much more slowly than we would have liked. However, something is better than nothing (is what we are telling ourselves). So, continuing from our introductory post, we’ll now discuss the first city we visited – Zagreb. It was a long overdue reunion and a great way to begin our trip. While Zagreb doesn’t necessarily top the list of recommended places to visit in Croatia, we didn’t regret spending a day here. In fact, we quite enjoyed our short time.
Fiona: First up, how did you find your journey to Zagreb?
Juhi: It was very long, haha! But, of course, that was expected. I flew Lufthansa from Delhi, via Munich. This may be obvious to those who travel abroad often but in case helpful, I did immigration at Munich and therefore, did not have to do any immigration at Zagreb. Having a decently long layover at Munich really helped because (1) the flight from Delhi was significantly delayed and (2) the immigration queue was insanely long! The flight from Munich to Zagreb was short and sweet, and I really liked that we could coordinate our flights such that we were able to meet at the airport itself! (more specifically, at the belt where I was waiting for my luggage, haha – I loved the surprise hello!).
Fiona: Perhaps unsurprisingly, I had a much easier time from London. Firstly, I was flying from Heathrow airport (which has a very convenient and pleasant train connection from where I live in London). Also, it was a British Airways flight (not that they are terrible, but definitely nicer than a budget airline experience – particularly a Ryanair). I like to be cautious and get to the airport incredibly early, so that left me enough time to have a leisurely breakfast at the airport (and I really leaned into the holiday spirit by skipping coffee – wanted to have a nap on the 2.5 hour flight – and instead having a cheeky glass of champagne…). We landed at pretty much the same time at Zagreb airport and were waiting for our bags at almost the same time (but I managed to get mine a bit quicker, so went to surprise Juhi)! I finally got my coffee of the day at the Caffe Nero at the airport. Not a bad place to sit, even though it felt a bit weird to go to a UK coffee chain in Croatia. Indeed, Nero was not the only British coffee chain we encountered in Croatia. I remember a few places in Zagreb which proudly (?!?) advertised the Costa Coffee they were selling (I think the origin of that is Coca Cola doing a launch a few years ago of Costa Coffee in certain European jurisdictions).
Juhi: How did you find the accommodation, Elenas Rooms & Apartment?
Fiona: It was probably my favourite of the places we stayed at in Croatia (and from recollection, the cheapest per night) – think that was partly because Zagreb was the most affordable for accommodation out of the cities we visited, so we got more bang for our buck. It had quite a funky modern design (loved the mustard yellow motifs in the room – almost the same shade of yellow as the Croatian National Theatre pictured above), was spacious and it was very conveniently located. We were less than 5 minutes away from a busy part of the city with lots of restaurants and things to see. There was also coffee / tea (a kettle too, which I think is crucial) and a sugar hit via some packaged pastries. I was less a fan of the fact that they had a curtain (that was controlled from outside the bathroom) for the shower, but I suppose a minor complaint… Overall, glad we found the spot (as I found it pretty hard to figure out what the Zagreb accommodation was like just from searching online).
Juhi: Yup, similar thoughts. I was a bit stressed since my universal / travel adapter was not fitting in the socket (or any socket in our trip for that matter) but your power bank came to the rescue. The location was great – short walking distance from the main attractions and the main square, the Ban Jelačić Square, which is located at the intersection of the Lower Town and Upper Town.
Fiona: What did you think about our first meal in Croatia?
Juhi: Mmm, I remember that we went to Vinodol after taking a short stroll through the lanes near our Airbnb. It was a nice place. I cannot recall the name of my dish but it was some tasty fish with a tad too many bones. Overall, while there was nothing particularly outstanding about the place or meal, it also was not a bad first meal in Croatia.
Fiona: I enjoyed our meal at Vinodol, even though it might have just been hunger / excitement for our first meal in Croatia. Probably one of the ‘fancier’ (without being pretentious) restaurants and meals that we had. I also had a fish thing – luckily, mine was a fillet so no bones (and then what felt like the same weight as the fish in dried breadcrumbs on top – but to be fair the breadcrumbs were tasty). I found the presentation of it quite intriguing – there was some celery and pea shoots on top of some barley in an empty tinned-fish-tin? Was tasty even though eating barley out of a tin actually isn’t that practical. Btw, I looked back at the Vinodol menu online and I can’t see anything that resembles what I had for lunch, so I guess they have a seasonal menu.
Juhi: Do you want to talk through what else we did on our first afternoon / evening?
Fiona: We walked to the Old Town (only a 10-15 minute walk from where we were staying) to the Museum of Broken Relationships, which is in the Upper / Old Town. I was a bit sceptical about the museum (even though it came really well-recommended), but it was really interesting and quite (bitter)sweet. We then walked around ‘soaking up the atmosphere’ of the Old Town, which wasn’t that big. Still nice to walk around, but there was quite a bit that was shut (see below the home of the Zagrebački Solisti, a concert hall – observe the fencing and building materials and scaffolding). The Cathedral of Zagreb was also shut / under renovation, although it was still nice to sit in that square by the Monument of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is rather grand. To get back from the Upper Town, we took the Funicular.
A pretty short ride on the funicular and honestly not sure about the value of it (for me at least, I don’t mind some stairs) but I guess still a fun and not very expensive thing to do. As Juhi reminded me, I nearly forgot to talk about the funicular in this post so it clearly didn’t make the hugest impression on me. We also, shortly after riding the funicular down, found an entrance and walked through the Tunnel Grič, a pedestrian tunnel (also bomb / conflict shelter in a couple of conflicts). Interesting history, even if the actual experience of being in the tunnel itself is what you would expect (it’s slightly cold and dark, a little bit, even if not excessively, claustrophobic).
Juhi: Hahaha (as regards the funicular) – I do have a thing for funiculars but in my defence, the Zagreb funicular is supposed to be the shortest in the world and the oldest means of public transportation in Zagreb – which is pretty cool right? Also, I am reminded of how while walking around, in our quest to take a different route, we ended up right back in the Upper Town – but hey, it was a nice walk and we also got several thousand steps in!
Fiona: After our second (unplanned) visit to the Upper Town, we saw the Oktogon Gallery, which is a passageway (basically a shopping arcade) that was quite pretty – it had an octagonal glass dome / roof. This included stopping by the Chocolate Museum in Zagreb. I quite enjoyed learning more about the history of chocolate there (and frankly, eating the different chocolates – there was a pink / rose chocolate, and chocolate fountain – those were highlights), even if it didn’t really feel that Croatia-specific. There were some references to Croatian brands (including some kind of rice chocolate), but felt a bit random. Nonetheless, like the Museum of Broken Relationships, I enjoyed walking through a smaller / quirkier museum. And it looked like Zagreb had quite a few of those more niche, not-necessarily-Croatian but still interesting museums.
Juhi: I enjoyed the Chocolate Museum as well, although the free chocolates got a bit much for me after some point. Then, after taking a quick rest in the Airbnb, we headed for dinner to La Struk. I really liked the lane in which it was located, which had a series of restaurants and bars. We were lucky to get a place outside after waiting for a bit. There’s also a cozy courtyard towards the backside. What’s special about this restaurant is that it only serves one dish – strukli – a local speciality made from dough and cottage cheese. We ordered one of the ‘gratinated’ (basically almost lasagna like) savoury struklis (it was the Dimljena paprika – the roasted pepper) and one of the ‘cooked’ struklis (the strukli balls) (the Sir slani – salty cheese). Everything was tasty, although quite filling, so it was a good call to share. However, I didn’t enjoy the warm milk with rum much. I am also reminded of our neighbour – seemed to be a solo traveller – who was very committed and ate two struklis on his own!
Fiona: I have so much respect for our dining neighbour – they made good progress on their two full-size / gratinated struklis – they got one savoury and one sweet one (a blueberry one). I personally preferred the roasted pepper strukli to the strukli balls, but I think that was mostly because I liked having a bit more vegetable content and liquid in that dish (you can see the bits of pepper in the photo below).
Fiona: And do you want to talk about our (more relaxed) second (half) day in Zagreb?
Juhi: Well, we started with Dolac Market, which is Zagreb’s main open air farmers’ market. While we didn’t have anything to shop for specifically, it was fun to walk around the colourful stalls. I have to say, the fruits, vegetables, cheese and fresh flowers looked very inviting! We then headed to Otto & Frank for breakfast – it was definitely a popular place and we were lucky to get a table outside on the street – I love people watching! Over here, we shared the ‘Zagreb Breakfast’, and the Nutella and banana french toast, both of which were tasty. Having eaten to our heart’s content, we took a long walk through the city towards (including a route via the Park Ribnjak) – you guessed it right – another food joint, haha. This was called Vrući burek, which is known for its burek (we went to the Kvatrić location). Burek is a savoury pastry made of phyllo and filled with cheese and/or things like spinach, mushroom and meat. While munching on this, we continued our walk and walked past the Croatian Association of Fine Artists (a set of exhibitions), the Botanical Garden, the Ethnographic Museum, the Mimara Museum (an art museum) and the National Theatre. We also took pit stops at the Park Zrinjevac and at a hipster (but nice) cafe called Botaničar (appropriately named given its proximity to the Botanical Garden).
Fiona: I enjoyed our morning in Zagreb – good chance to get some steps in, and although we walked past a lot of things (without necessarily going inside e.g. museums or spending much time in places), it was still good to get a feel of the city. It certainly helped that it was sunny and warm (but not too warm). I liked the breakfast too (and also the people watching) even if it felt a bit American in theme. However, the horseradish / sour cream sauces, radish and spring onion with the Zagreb Breakfast did have a distinctly European / non-American vibe. I also enjoyed the burek, although it felt a bit heavy after our night of cheesy strukli dinner (glad again that we shared the burek, like the strukli). There was also a pretty church that we saw during our walk (near museum-land and the botanic gardens), which we were hoping to show a picture of in this post, but I couldn’t find the name of it (even after doing some committed searching using Google Street View and Google Maps). Overall, we saw some pretty buildings – which I do love seeing and taking photos of.
Juhi: Overall, what were your favourite things about Zagreb?
Fiona: In addition to the walking and vibe of the city, I also liked Botaničar. The outdoor seating looked like it would be quite nice too, even though we sat inside. But the advantage of sitting inside is that we got to see some cool murals / art too. I can kind of see myself working in a cafe like that on a Friday (perhaps I need to go to Zagreb for a long weekend / working week, to go and do that at Botaničar or a similar cafe.
Juhi: I don’t really have anything to add to this. I quite liked the vibe of Zagreb – it was nice being back in a European city but at the same time, it isn’t a typical European city with a river and bridges connecting the old and new parts :p The architecture stood out and I had no idea that Zagreb had so many museums. I also fondly remember our short break at the Park Zrinjevac with the kids’ dance performance going on in the gazebo. All in all, I enjoyed our short stay in Zagreb 🙂
FORUM HOPPING 