Tuesday, 13 May 

Zagreb - Hotel Astoria 

Weather - Cool morning, warm afternoon - 20c Max

This was our first full day of the Bunnik Tour “Jewels of Dalmatia” and it was also Brian’s birthday. After the hotel buffet breakfast which offered a wide range of fare for all tastes, we met our fellow travellers in the lobby at nine o’clock. We were duly given our audio sets which we will keep for the duration of the trip. The day was broken into three sections: a two hour walking tour by a local guide, a free afternoon and the group’s welcome dinner at a local restaurant.

Our guide was excellent. We leisurely walked the streets of Zagreb through beautiful parks from the New Town to the Old Town. The parks are large, numerous and beautiful. It is a beautiful city with many old buildings and squares. 

Blue trams run quietly and frequently through the city.

As we walked we could see many large buildings being repaired from the 2020 earthquake which occurred seven kms from the city’s centre at magnitude of 5.5. The hardest hit were the older buildings in the historic centre of the city which we walked passed. The Zagreb Cathedral, the second tallest building in Croatia, was hit hard with one of its spires falling on the nearby Archbishop’s palace. It will be sometime before the repairs are completed so we could only view it from its square. 

The city has many museums, large and small, traditional and quirky. The quirky ones were the Museum of Broken Relationships and the Museum of Hangovers. The Museum of Broken Relationships located in the Upper Town was started by two Zagreb-based artists who, after the breakup of their four year relationship joked about setting up a museum to house the leftover personal items. The collection is built by people donating a personal item with an accompanying story. I loved these erasers in the museum’s side front window. 

Ironically, close by there was a metal fence with hundreds of locks placed by lovers.

After the tour Henk, Brian, Julia and I set out to find one of Zagreb’s leading cake shops, Vincek, located close to the main square. We found it sells not only many different cakes of all sizes and shapes but also a wide range of flavours of ice creams. We had a late morning coffee and cake and set out to explore in depth the places we were shown by our guide. 

We revisited the markets in the Old Town. The fruit, vegetables, flowers and souvenirs were in the open under many red striped umbrellas and the meats and cheeses were down steep steps to a cooler, darker area. 

Whilst Julia and I set off to explore the cheeses and meats Henk and Brian set off to buy themselves a cap. They succeeded! 

We had lunch at the small cafe in the Old Town recommended by our guide. When we entered we found our guide was having her lunch. We all chose the pumpkin soup knowing we were going to have a three course meal in the evening at our group dinner. We then walked to the historic railway station where guests from the Orient Express would arrive and be escorted to the nearby luxury Esplanade Hotel. 

We returned to the hotel mid afternoon to rest and get ready for our dinner. We met in the lobby at 6.45pm and walked ten minutes to the restaurant for our group dinner. The meal and wines were very good. We are now starting to know our fellow travellers and all have had varied lives. The restaurant organised a surprise for Brian’s birthday and we all joined in to sing him Happy Birthday. It was a very good first day of our trip. 

Tomorrow is a long day as we travel to Sarajevo, Bosnia a journey of about five hours. The bus leaves at eight o’clock.