Zagreb, Croatia
We crossed back into Croatia with no hassles and drove through uninspiring scenery all the way to Zagreb. Garmin has become useful again, actually displaying all the roads and towns we require. We were pretty happy about finding a car park only two kilometres out from the city, until we realised it was only two hour parking. So we followed the tram line out of the city until we found an unrestricted car park. We jumped on the tram, disembarked at the city centre and walked a loop of the south side of the city (the museums and gardens section). Beautiful buildings, well preserved, plenty of pastel colours (although far too much yellow for my liking) and pleasant gardens. There was the occasional building that hadn't been restored, reminding everyone of the war that passed through here. Near the centre were numerous streets lined with outdoor cafes, many of them strangely busy for a Monday afternoon.
While we were looking around for some local cuisine a bird flying overhead pooped, which managed to land on both of our hands (we weren't even holding hands). I thought it was hilarious; Danny was not amused. He rushed around looking for the nearest cafe so he could wash his hand like a doctor prepping for surgery. The cafe he chose also happened to sell burek so, with clean hands, we sampled one spinach and one potato variety. We can't get enough burek. We also tried ćevapi, a flat garlicky meatball inside a soft foccacia, served with raw onion on the side. We would definitely be happy to eat ćevapi again (without the onion). That covered us for dinner, which was handy because we still couldn't cook anything without gas.
Into Zagreb again the next morning, this time covering the north half of the city (the churches and the hills). Danny wanted to use internet for a while, plus go to the market (of course), so I left him to do his own thing. I toured the cathedral and palace complex (not very impressive for a palace), a church with a fantastic tiled roof, a chapel inside a small tunnel in the middle of a walkway (random), and caught a funicular up a hill to see the view over Zagreb (not the most attractive city going around) before finally meeting up with Danny again. Danny had been busy at the market, buying cheese, wine and cakes. I love when he comes back with treats for us.
We hopped back in the car and headed for Slovenia, for the second time. This time we did spend our leftover currency wisely and filled up the van with petrol. Our Garmin took us to the border (avoiding tolls) but when we arrived we were told we had to head back to the tollway and take a different border crossing (the "international border crossing"). At this stage we had no kronan left to pay for a toll but luckily for us they accepted euro. I wish Garmin was savvy enough to know how non-locals could exit the country - it's not the first time it has done this to us.
