Hotel Phoenix Zagreb

... br><br>Figuring out the parking is a challenge. It appears that the first spot is reserved. Chris wants to just leave it presuming we get a ticket. There are tow away signs so I veto that idea. Other parking spots are for only 1 hour and require coins while we don&#8217;t have any Croatian Kunas yet. Finally we find a lot for a chopping center. At last. <br><br>We find our way to the tourist office who has some great ...

... one. <br><br>Anyhow, I followed instructions and got off the tram at the station before it turns. But it turns out that that turn used to be the last stop but now some trams turn and some keep on going. But as a result of this mis-understanding I ended up waiting in the wrong place for an hour and a half. But at least Joe and Slavko were looking for me. Trouble is they were looking for me in ...

... conflict between the political parties and how most of Croatia tries to ignore its historic connection with the Ottoman Empire and associate more with western Europe.  He also mentioned the movement of Serbs in 1995 in which the government tried to remove the Serbs living in the country.  Further, he mentioned how the different ethnic groups were kept relatively separated, especially with the school system in place.  <br><br>After the lecture we walked to lunch at ...

So I made it to Croatia. Took an overnight train from Venice that landed me in Zagreb at 4:18 AM. So what do you do in Zagreb at 4:18 AM? You sit in the tiny rail station (where at least there is heat) keeping an eye on your luggage so it does not get stolen. Also, it was nice sitting in an enclosed room with 8 other people, one of whom is chain smoking next to a NO SMOKING ...

... a walking tour with a local guide-so it improved. But it is still a bit grotty. LOTS of graffiti and you don't feel safe walking around on your own-so you don't. Saw a famous cathedral and also St Marks Church-it has a cool mosaic roof which you always see in photos of Zagreb. Checked out the upper and lower town and saw the old stone gate where there is a shrine to an icon of the Virgin Mary ...

... for a week and some for as much as 5 or 6 months. We also drank some homemade booze call Rajika that was a little to harsh for Ryan, but did the trick. We woke up to more rain this morning and my umbrella was finally put to use...and Ryan saw that it might just be worth it to buy one for himself, so he did. We just bought our tickets for an overnight ferry from Split to Ancona, Itlay for tonight and as week speak ...

... gas and Europe's oldest pharmacy. Other then that there was not too much to see. On Saturday night we hit the town for some drum and base at an industrial night club on a lake. Croatians are into their own style of pizza, which was the best I have tasted in Europe. Very thin crusts with lots of chunky toppings. After Zagreb I jumped on a bus to Split ...

... all the various exchange rates are. Of course we cannot let our uncertainty show to Paddy, just in case he senses a rip-off and cancels the deal. "Right, so it is, um, 50 dinars to the Euro," I say as confidently as possible, choosing a suitably high, round number and assuming that he will not have the foggiest idea if I am correct or not. "But because we are so keen to get rid of these things, we will give you 60 dinars for each Euro", I continue, counting ...

... but there's this small town along the way called Jajce that I was really wanting to check out while I was in the area. There's no direct transport from Zagreb to there and it's really too far from Sarajevo to do as a daytrip, so I'm stopping off in Banja Luka for one night and just doing it from there. Once that's done, I'll be going straight for the capital to hopefully take it easy for several nights and soak in the atmosphere. Here I go southwards. . .

... that she would stay there because she couldn't be bothered dragging her suitcase with her any further, as I was currently carrying over 20 kilos on my back I didn't have a great deal of sympathy for her plight. Found my hostel and collapsed on my bed, awoke later to find that several people I had met in Budapest were also there, including my American friend of the horrified expression, unfortunately Mr T had left though and was on his way back ...