Hotel Lisinski Zagreb

... change and of course it rolled in seven different directions.

Now how in the world was I supposed to know that this dip **** little bus station built in the 1960s that hands out hand written pee receipts uses a modern scanner to control the inventory of its food sales? That's just how it is down here in the Balkans...nothing is what it appears on the surface.

So here I am in Zagreb. It isn't a bad place to chill for ...

... my trip. I guess i really miss nature. I saw this place with the waterfalls and started to feel at home, and along with the limestone colouring of the water, i felt like i was looking at a tropical paradise. 3.5 hrs later and getting lost and i huffed and puffed my way back to the bus stop.

This is where the adventure begins. First, no bus comes to split...twice. So, im sitting and thinking that i just lost out on my booking, wihch was 20 euros. ****. Well, a ...

... left the impressive small town of Eger via the scenic route through vineyards, then more excellent twisty forest roads. Being Saturday morning the local bikers were out in force enjoying the same road, so obviously our instincts were correct! (Warning - bad pun ahead. We stopped to buy the makings for breakfast in the tiny town of Parad, and I wanted to open an icecream ...

... in the heart of the action. The next day we did a bit of a walking tour and checked out some of the history that the Old Town has to offer.  We first strolled the "Gornji Grad" or Upper Town which is the oldest part of town and home to many of the churches and best views of the city.  Here we found an oddly placed shrine in the old Stone Gate that lead to the town.  According to the legend, an intense fire consumed most of the gate in 1731, except for a painting of the Blessed ...

... a walk around the town and checked out a shopping mall which was underground. People very friendly and helpful to me even tho' some did not have a good grasp of English. Had dinner that night to meet the others on the tour and our tour guide. There were 24 of us, 16 Americans and 8 Australians. . I had an early night and needed to catch up on sleep.

... first being Trg Kalja Tomislavov. I walked past these, making my way to the main square, Trg Bana Jelacica. This is where the second tourist office is, as well as being the Trafalgar Square of Zagreb (without the fountains, or character). OK, the hub of Zagreb. It's also the site of the cathedral, which has been undergoing renovation for the past 15 years. A quick trip to supermarket Konzum to pick up some dinner, and I walked back to the hostel. Well actually, I walked back to the ...

... Angie. She had been in Budapest for a week to take part in a conference and was going back to Ljubljana where she used to live with her boyfriend. We exchanged emails and agreed to meet in Ljubljana for a beer in a few days. As I took the morning train to Zagreb I got there pretty early, around 2:00 pm. I had no trouble finding the tram stop and getting to the hostel (Ravnice Youth Hostel) about 4km from the city center. The hostel was actually quite OK, and the staff was friendly ...

... and half the village for breakfast because they were so excited to meet a real aussie( i think they got a bit of a shock to see I looked asian!) anyway they all wanted to hear me try to speak croatian, lots of laughs at my expense Im sure, I taught the kids how to say G'day mate, they kept on wanting to shake my hands. Ivvy explained to me that they dont get many foreigners up this way especially aussies! He then took me around and showed me the leftovers from the ...

... resembled a sign, the pigeons must have swiped it. Minutes after resting my head a loud commotion barrels into the room and now my ears are wide awake. The cacophony that seven-year-old children produce is a sound that is fluent in any language. Their laughter echoing off the marbled tiles with resonance and shrill, their teacher's best effort to subdue the noise and straighten the line, which always ends up expansive and loose. The young ones shine in an ...

... see buildings without roofs. In Zagreb we stayed in the suburbs. Out our window a rooster crowed and strolling along the canal path we observed intensive urban home steading with gardens, chickens, bee hives. The town is cared for, city gardens are full of flowers in contrast to Budapest and Cracow. Along the train tracks in marginal left over land rows of tiny gardens have been established, each with a small summer house. Vital for cities where most live in high rise concrete blocks.