Zagreb, getting into the swing of things

view into old Zagreb

More hustle and bustle, a gritty city. Style, polish and stylish attitude.

Acclimating to bűrek(phyllo dough pastry, sometimes in a pie,sometimes rolled up. Bűrek is everywhere: sweet, meat, cheese, your choice.

Hanging out in cafes gets serious; everybody does it, especially from about 3-6 PM, especially cigarette smoking mamas with their kiddies bundled-up in a carriage, possibly chewing on a piece of bread. You can hang out for as long as you want over one coffee or beer…

digging it Zagreb style

First time we have been in one place long enough to hit the farmers’ market. WOW! Beautiful greens and unbelievable savoy cabbages, squash, and surprisingly, it’s tangerine season!

We ended up in a hotel that had the classic mega-breakfast included: linen table cloth, etc. and all you can eat: fish, cheese, meat, breads and pastries, coffee coffee coffee, fruits, yogurt, cereals, eggs (for Doug), coffee! The last morning we each had a shot of rakia, which flavored the rest of the morning.

 

ANDTHEN TAKE A STEP INTO THE REALITY OF THIS PLACE:

Museum of War/Images of War: very small and very intense. Emotionally well-designed because you see (and hear and read) accounts of the Homeland War (Croatian name)/ Breakup of Yugoslavia (Serbian name) from “both sides. Horrific because it was a war amongst neighbors in cities and countryside very very much like where we live. Came out and looked at Zagreb with new eyes: the bus line we ride, the streets we walk, the buildings and plazas around us were bombed, regular people who were on the street (or the bus) killed. Terror. The exhibit ends with a film of interviews with the photographers who made the images, talking about how the war came to them vs. being “war photographers.”

We even got a bathtub at our hotel, and the kind desk clerk spent her evening looking up Roslyn and the Croatian community there.