Arrival in Croatia

Well, I've abandoned the warmer climes in favor of keeping myself out of immigration woes, and so I find myself in Croatia.  Let me start by saying I knew nothing about Croatia, let alone had it on my list of must-go places up until a couple weeks ago.

Let me tell you how very, very stupid that was.

And if you ever get a chance to come visit, absolutely do it.  I recommend you choose a less frigid time of year, unless you're like me who kind of prefers suffering through inclement weather in favor of not dealing with hordes of tourists.  Although even I admit I would just kill to see this place in the summer.

That being said, where to start...

I landed in Zagreb, which is on the Northern end, to be met with a cheerful announcement by our flight crew that the temperature was 0 degrees C.  (For the record, when it talk temperature, it's usually going to be in celcius, because the rest of the world has figured out that it makes much more sense than fahrenheit).

So, 0.  Perfect.  After spending almost two months in balmy Mediterranean weather freezing was a bit of a blow.  Zagreb has one of the world's tiniest airports, in which I got a new passport stamp and happily collected my bag before getting a crash course in Croatian currency, the kuna, and the public bus system.

$1 is just under 7 Kunas.  All kinds of math my brain isn't used to.  The bus ride from the airport cost me 30 Kunas.  I like the currency because it always sounds like a lot, then when you divide it up you're stoked.

The bus ride was about 30 minutes, then at the main bus station I hopped on a tram which conveniently dumped me out literally outside the front door to the hostel.  Which, by the way, was called the Swanky Mint Hostel.  I might have chosen it partly because it had the word Swanky in the name.

I wound up spending a total of four nights in Zagreb.  The first night I slept something like 14 hours, falling asleep before 8pm without even attempting to go get dinner.  The next morning I did what turned out to be he bulk of my cultural and sightseeing intake for the remainder of my time there, starting with a visit to the Museum of Broken Relationships.

Yes, I'm serious, such a thing does exist.  I heard about it from a couple girls I met in Porto, who described it as "pretty sad but also funny."  I can safely say they hit the nail on the head.  It has to be one of the most bizarre experiences of my life, but totally enjoyable in a mostly depressing but also funny kind of way.  Let me explain: it started off as a temporary exhibition moving around before it had a permanent location.  People send in objects as donations that hold some sort of significance for them as part of a past relationship, and also contribute an explanation about the objects in question.  This was my favorite:

The toaster of vindication: when I moved out, and across the country, I took the toaster.  That'll show you.  How are you going to toast anything now?

Totally quirky.

So then I took a walk around old town in the rain, taking in the city views.

I also finally managed to stumble on a church that wasn't a carbon copy of every other church I've seen in Europe.  For the record, every traveller I've talked to says the same thing, "I honestly can't stand to see any more castles or churches..."  Museums tend to fall in there too.

It does get a bit monotonous, as snobby as that sounds.

So, anyway, after this point the rain started picking up while I scouted a lunch place.  The restaurant I wanted to go to was booked until 4pm (not happening), so in order to just get out of the damn rain I wound up grabbing a (really tasty) slice of pizza.  They put sour cream on pizza in this country.  And it's absolutely delicious.

By that point I was soaked and over it, so I went back to the hostel to dry off and be lazy.

The next couple days can be summed up pretty succinctly.  I hung out with one of my room mates and got into all sorts of fun mischief, ate really tasty (spicy!) Indian food, drank red wine out of the bottle in public (going for the classy awards) as well as a fair amount of local beer and rakia (the local firewater), and wandered around the city after sleeping in.  Also, it snowed, which is really fun for California girls, and I behaved like an excited kid.  I did find this really wonderful outdoor market on one of the sunny days, which made me miss cooking.

I really wanted to buy flowers, but resisted on the principle that they are useless if you're staying somewhere only a few days.

I totally loved these older gals gossiping in their fur coats.

I also had one of the best restaurant experiences I've had to date, at a place called La Štruk.

I had heard about the place, and after passing by, decided to try my luck no see if I couldn't get in to eat.  For the record, everywhere in Zagreb is seriously into reservations.  Just try walking in somewhere and see how it goes.  Even if the place looks half empty they'll frown and say they have no room.  I don't get it, but that's how it is.  So, enter, La Štruk.

First of all, they have a total of four tables.  Four.  They're all full.  But, I ask, and this lovely Croatian woman behind the counter totally makes my day.  They have no tables, and a couple reservations coming in, but would I be ok sitting at the counter and ordering, and moving to a table if one opens up?

I love her already.

She walks me through the menu, which consists entirely of štrukli, a typical Northern Croatian dish.  It's kind of like a creamy lasagne without tomato; layers of pasta, fresh cheese, and cream.  You can choose salty or sweet.  There are also a couple different options for fillings if you want, or you can leave it plain.  On my new friend's recommendation I went for the salty štrukli with Swiss chard.

I title this, heaven.

No tables wound up opening up, but I happily ate at the counter, without wasting a single bite.  It came fresh out of the oven in the dish it was cooked in, and it was truly spectacular.  The meal itself cost under $10 including a beer.  I'm a fan of this country.

So I came, I kind of saw, and I went.  I left Zagreb on the bus yesterday, for a small town called Slunj (don't pronounce the "J" - I'm currently known as "Ulia") about 30km from Plitvice, and right next to Rastoke, both of which I will talk about in the next blog post.  Get ready to see some photos of real snow and lots of gorgeous natural landscapes!  I currently have a 9 bed dorm entirely to myself, which is kind of magnificent after months of zero personal space.  I leave tomorrow for Zadar to continue my exploration of Croatia.  But so far so good, I've had a great time and expect to eat more lovely food and try some of the local wines, which I've heard nothing but good things about.  

Off I go!

~Swan