Travels with Kathryn

Today (Monday), we had a plan, we were booked onto the 8.14am direct train from Split to Zagreb. We arrived at the station with plenty of time, made our way to platform 2 (were I sat in something sticky and did then vigorously rubbed my bottom with a wet wipe!), and then noticed that the train had disappeared from the platform board. We went back into the station office to be told we were on a rail replacement bus – NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Whilst it is a perfectly nice bus, even quite fancy, I was looking forward to a train journey (I do love trains) and feel MASSIVELY cheated. This will take some time for me to get over…

Arriving into Zagreb 2 hours earlier did help me to get over it a little…

Zagreb dates back to Roman times, but the city owes much in terms of architecture to its long years under the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The first recorded use of the name “Zagreb” dates back to 1094 during which time the city actually had two city centres: Kaptol which was inhabited mainly by the clergy and owned by the bishop, and Gradec which was were people actually lived (generally craftsmen and merchants).

We would be doing the walking tour on Tuesday, so we decided that we would have an amble through the Old Town and visit the Mirogoj Cemetery. This may seem an odd choice, but it is the only starred attraction in the guidebook – therefore we shall visit it! We headed to the bus stop looking for somewhere to buy tickets, and not seeing anywhere, got on the bus and tried to offer the bus driver cash or card payment – he wanted neither and directed us to sit down i.e. free bus trip, and then he pulled off.

Mirogoj cemetery started building on a plot of land purchased by the city in 1872 and due to the fact that it is owned by the city, which meant that it is open to any religion. It is huge and surrounded by impressive arcades and cupola. However, these (like many places in the city) were heavily damaged by a 5.5 magnitude earthquake and currently under heavy renovation so you cannot actually access these (or a number of other sites we could otherwise have seen on this trip!)

We then walked back to the city centre, and on route, the setting up of the Christmas market is in full flow. Zagreb has won the best Christmas market in Europe for the past 2 years. However, due to bad planning on my part, it does not open until the day after I leave! We also had a fabulous meal (the restaurant does have a 4.9 Google rating) which including an amazing starter of panko breadcrumbed covered smoked tofu with oyster mushrooms and kimchi – if you are ever in Zagreb (and you should come!) we heartly recommend Rougemarin.

Today (Tuesday), we started the morning with the traditional walking tour beginning at Josip Jelacic Square in the central square of Zagreb. He is something of a Croatian hero for leading a revolution against the Hapsburg monarchy in 1848 (although he did this from within the Austrian army which means he is rather unpopular with the Austrians), and he also abolished feudalism within Croatia. In 1945, his statute was removed by Tito and not seen again until 1961 – no one knows where it went…

Our first stop is Zagreb Cathedral. This was also massively damaged during the 2020 earthquake, hence the serious amounts of scaffolding… Had we been able to visit inside the cathedral, we would have been able to see 2 chandeliers which previously adorned a hotel in Las Vegas – nice to see the catholic church reusing/recycling rather than paying for new ones.

From Kaptol, we crossed over the “bloody bridge” into Gradec. This was named for the number of murders that took place between the Caholic/ Religious Kaptol and poorer/working Gradec. We climbed up the hill to Lotrscak, which is an observation deck, just in time for the noon canon. The Gric canon has been firing for the past 137 years, and it is actually really loud (140 decibels) – what is quite cute, though, is that after it has been fired, the canon man (we were unsure what the correct term is here), waves to the crowd, and accepts his applause. Bless.

The upper and lower town are linked by stairs (which we walked up rather quicky to ensure we were in position in time for the canon) or the world’s shortest funicular. It is 66m long, and the jorney takes just 64 seconds. I will come back and ride it as a funicular opportunity should always be taken!

We continued exploring around the Upper Town, including the aptly named St Catherine’s Square, which has another lovely church (St Catherine’s), which is also being rennovated after the earthquake The most recognised church in Zagreb is St Mark’s Church, which is known colloquially as the Lego church (as the roof looks like it was made out of Lego). The coat of arms on the left represents Croatia (the checkerboard), Dalmatia (3 lions(?) wearing crowns) and Slavonia (a pinemartin) and on the right is the symbol of the city of Zagreb.

The tree in front of it was being decorated for Christmas – this looks like a job I think I would really enjoy. I would also have made a better job of distributing the ornaments evenly!

We left the Upper City through the stone gate (which is the only gate still standing today). In 1731, much of Gradec was burnt to the ground in a massive fire, however, the stone gate survived (it being made of stone and all) and also inside a painting of the Virgin Mary survived in perfect condition. This is now a place of pilgrimage with a small shrine for the painting, and the walls are lined with thank you tiles from people giving thanks to Virgin Mary.

After our tour, we decided to visit the Museum of Broken Relationships. This is a rather quirky museum which began its life as a small collection around the concept of failed relationships – the idea is that you donate an object with a story of failure as a cathartic way of getting over said failure. The museum is full of odd things, some funny, some sad. Here are a couple I particularly liked:

After all this emotion, we decided it was time for food and followed our guide’s recommendation for a traditional Zagreb dish of Strukli, which is a thin dough, filed with cheese, and then baked. The best way we came up of describing it is a dumpling wrapper, layered like lasagne. Absolutely delicious:

A walk and then back so Diane can pack as she is leaving me tomorrow. I have really enjoyed having my travel companion back, and we have both particularly loved our time in Croatia. She has even planned a trip for her and her daughter to hopefully return, particularly to visit the Plitvice Lakes, which I wimped out due to weather forecasts of torrential rain. It’s not my idea of a fun days walking… Tomorrow, I have a few things left on my Zagreb list and I shall also be doing some shopping as there is a Deichman for me to buy some sensible boots for the Baltics (at a price I am prepared to pay). Hurrah.