After finding our accommodation, finding Sinéad at her accommodation (we were adopting her for the next leg of our journey and her and her friend had left their Sail Croatia boat early because it was awful – note do not go on the cheapest of the Sail Croatia boats, we found that your budget is what determines your age bracket on these boats) and helping our new pal Meila out with her accommodation we were ready for lunch (finally – it had seemingly been a very long day already)! We found this delicious little cafe – BEPA! – on recommendation from Bryce that made Eggs Benedict and had avocado! We hadn’t seen either of these things since leaving home! And it was actually really nice! After we secured our bus ticket to Zagreb for the next day we split up for a while – Roisin and Sinéad went to have a rest and properly check into our hostel, Max and Meila went to find some chocolate crepes and I went exploring!

I first went to explore a little bit more around the Diocletain Palace, which is actually not a palace/museum but the imposing Roman ruins that make up the city, covered with beautiful vines and flowers. The lustrous white marble creates a labyrinth of hidden passageways and courtyards, some deserted and eerie, others thumping with music from bars and cafes, while the local residents hang out their washing overhead, kids play football amid the ancient walls, and grannies sit in their windows watching the action below.

Next I went to see Split’s octagonal Ancient Roman cathedral – the Cathedral of St Domnius. The exterior of the building is encircled by an original colonnade of 24 columns and a tall Romanesque belfry with (for some reason) two lion figures at its base. The interior of the cathedral is domed and has an impressive frieze running high up on the walls but potentially the most impressive part is the large wooden entrance doors, beautifully carved with scenes from the life of Christ. The next room was the small treasury, which was rich in reliquaries, icons, church robes, illuminated manuscripts and documents in Glagolitic script. Lastly I was directed towards the Cathedral crypt, which was an eerily quiet and cool chapel.

Wanting a slightly different perspective, I decided to climb up the belfry for views over the old town’s rooftops and I’m so glad I did.

The most curious thing in Split was probably the towering statue of Gregory of Nin, a medieval Croatian bishop who fought for the right to use the local Croatian language in church services. With his pointed hat, topped with a small cross, robes and his stance, he looks rather like a wizard! People also love to rub his big toe for good luck, so I jumped on the bandwagon too, it can’t hurt right?

For dinner we decided to meet up with two of the boys from our tour (Roisin decided to stay at the hostel as she wasn’t feeling too well) and head up to Marjan hill for a sunset dinner. Marjan hill or park is a hilly nature reserve that offers trails through fragrant pine forests to scenic lookouts, medieval chapels and cave dwellings. We found an adorable restaurant overlooking the town and the water, with heart-shaped cushions on the chairs and enjoyed some delicious wine and food as the sun set over Split. The only hiccup was, when posing for a very “candid” photo, Sinéad’s phone fell from her pocket down a flight of stairs. Maybe she too had rubbed Gregory of Nin’s big toe, for her phone landed in the only patch of dirty in sight and had but the tiniest of dints in the frame of the phone! Not even a scratch to be seen on the screen!

Early in the morning we jumped on a bus and made our way to the capital city – Zagreb. We were not too sure what to except from Zagreb – was it just going to be somewhere we needed to go to get out of Croatia or would we love it? It ended up in our favor as we we all pleasantly surprised by how much we loved Zagreb! Zagreb had culture, art, music, architecture, gastronomy and everything you could want!

We arrived about lunch time, and after dropping our bags off at our hostel, we headed into town to enjoy some lunch. Our first choice – Nishta, a delicious vegetarian restaurant that Sinéad had been raving about – was unfortunately closed, so we decided to try Ivica i Marica. This restaurant was inspired by Hansel and Gretel, with the cake shop made to look like a gingerbread house and the waiters clad in traditional costumes. The only downside was that we were hungry and ordered way too much food, at least it was delicious. We tried the štrukli (baked cheese dumplings) and paprika cream cheese which were amazing.

We decided to do our own little walking tour with our afternoon. We started at the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (formerly knows as St Stephen’s). It was an imposing building with its twin spires soaring over the city. It dates back to the 13th century but was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1880 and has been under reconstruction since the turn of the 20th century. Inside was decorated with beautiful baroque marble and the buildings next to the cathedral were adorable. Our next stop was Trg Bana Jelačića, the main square of Zagreb, surrounded by lovely buildings, cafes and fruit and flower sellers. Still feeling unwell, Roisin left us here and we continued on up Tkalčićeva – a pretty, colourful street lined with bars and cafes – until we reached the Stone Gate. The Stone Gate is a medieval remnant which turned into a shrine with engravings of thanks and praise to the Virgin after a fire that engulfed the rest of the wooden gate, left this section, with a painting of the Virgin and Child, untouched. We finished our stroll at St Mark’s Church which was really striking. It has a beautiful and colourful tiled roof constructed in 1880, and has the medieval coat of arms of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia on one side, and the emblem of Zagreb on the other. Outside the church, there were Croatian men and women in traditional dress scattered around who were there to help promote tourism in Zagreb and answer any questions may have. Everyone feeling pretty buggered after a big week and long day of travel we headed back to our hostel for an early night.

Our next day in Zagreb started with lots of rain, being drenched with a puddle of water when a car drove past and with a trip to the train station to organise our Eurail passes (leaving Roisin at home again). After an eternity of the men going back and forth between the counter, trying to figure out our passes for us (they were super lovely about it) we tried again to go Nistha (the veggie restaurant). We were actually devastated when we found it was closed. With our heads hanging low, we trudged along in the rain and went into the next open and indoor restaurant we found. It turned out to be delicious and fancy with the menus being on an iPad! Feeling like new women, with our full bellies, we begin our tourist portion of the day.

We started by climbing up the steps to the Dolac Market – Zagreb’s colourful fruit and vegetable market. We didn’t have high hopes that it would be bustling with people given the rain had just stopped, but there was still a few stalls braving the weather selling meat, dairy, flowers, fruit and veggies as well as handmade ornaments. We continued on to the Lotrščak Tower via the funicular, one of the shortest in the world! The view from the top of the tower was stunning, although the spiral staircase was somewhat dizzying. We also got to see the canon, which for the last hundred years, has been fired at noon allegedly to commemorate one day in the mid-15th century, when the cannon was fired at noon at the Turks, who were camped across the Sava River. On its way down, the cannonball happened to hit a rooster, which was blown to bits – according to legend, this was so demoralising for the Turks that they decided not to attack the city. (A less fanciful explanation is that the cannon shot allows churches to synchronise their clocks.)

We then ventured across the road to the fascinating Museum of Broken Relationships. This was a terrific and quirky museum, home to to donations from all around the world that represent different parts/meanings of relationships. It certainly hit on a range of emotions, from a vinyl record that was played during a teen- age breakup forty years ago to a stun gun that never got to be used.

 

 

Now that the rain had gone, it seemed like the perfect time to explore the “Art Park”. After years of neglect, this park, formerly known as disorderly and fit for junkies, is now a unique part of the city thanks to well known regional names from the world of street art. We had a ball exploring some of the art and playing on the swing and playground equipment (even though I did happen to somehow fall off the swing … coordination goals). It seemed like such a great initiative! Our decision to then explore the weird and slightly creepy tunnel we found may have been questionable, but there were other people in there, and we made it out – so all’s well that ends well!

 

Before heading back to see how Roisin was faring, we wandered around the lower town and ate some market-fresh strawberries and raspberries in an adorable gazebo in the middle of a park. Our excellent day in Xagreb was topped off by a $7 trip to the cinema to see Suicide Squad, giant popcorn and the discovery of cinema “love seats”. I’m not even sure I can put my finger on what made our short time in Zagreb so good, maybe it was just the vibe of the place, but we certainly look back on it fondly and giggled pretty much the whole day through!

Such a nice way to end our stint in Croatia. As a whole, this country was always buzzing and exuberant, with just the right balance of tradition and modernity. I already know I have to go back, there are lots more corners of this country I want to explore!