Devin's Travels: Zagreb

After Split we arrived in Zadar just after noon where we planned to spend a few hours examining the old town and mainly the sea organ which was installed a couple of years ago. So after storing our bags we headed out in search of the sea organ and after about an hour of wandering around we eventually found it built into the stone stairs descending into the sea just outside the old town. The sea organ was quite unique to see as there were about 30 holes in the ground which each emitted a slightly different note when air was pushed through them. The sea organ worked by waves from the sea pushing air through the pipes (holes) that are built into the stairs and the air in the pipes each emitted a sound. Unfortunately there wasn't much waves when we visited so the sea organ was fairly quiet but we could still hear the truly unique sounds that it made.

After examining the sea organ and wandering around the old town for a bit we made our way back to the bus station where we boarded a bus bound for Zagreb, the capital of Croatia and our next destination. We arrived in Zagreb at about 9pm and unfortunately most things were closed by this time so we were left to wander the streets of the capital on our own looking for accommodation. Luckily a friendly local spotted us and helped show us to a nearby hostel where we spent the night.

The next morning we awoke and set off to find the store carrying Teva sandals to replace mine now that they were just barely holding together. So after succeeding in buying a new pair of sandals we looked into finding some cheaper accommodation as the hostel we were in was fairly expensive and not in the greatest condition. After about an hour of searching we succeed and moved into another small private apartment where we again dumped our bags and set off to explore the rest of the city. Unfortunately Lianne wasn't feeling the best so most of the day was spent taking it easy either in a park or back in the hotel room. We did manage to see the magnificent Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary which is probably the most impressive church in Croatia (that we saw anyway). Along with the church we also managed to see the nice outdoor fruit and vegetable market and just wander around several of the streets. That evening was also pretty low key and other than going out for a simple dinner we didn't get up to very much.

The next day was our last full day in Croatia and thankfully Lianne was feeling better so we set off to some sightseeing in Zagreb. We started off in the old town (also known as Gradec)and entered into it through a 13th century stone gate which is the only surviving gate into the old town. Inside this we made our way to the centre where we saw St Mark's Church, even though we couldn't enter the church the exterior was fabulous as the roof had been covered in painted shingles which showed the Croatian coat of arms and the coat of arms of Zagreb. Surrounding the square which contained St Mark's Church were the parliament buildings which were also beautiful old buildings. From this central square we made our way to the Museum of the City of Zagreb which went into quite a detailed description of the history of the city.

After wandering around the old town we made our way to the lower town where several museums, art galleries and parks are located. Due to a lack of time I was only able to visit the Archaeological Museum (Lianne decided she was museumed out and lay in a nearby park writing postcards) which started off quite interesting talking about the first people who settled in Croatia but then for the second half of the museum was a bit of a let down. The rest of the evening was spent enjoying a few drinks and dinner along the street containing most of Zagreb's nightlife.

The following morning we packed up and set off for the train station. Upon arriving at the train station we quickly boarded a train bound for Ljubljana in Slovenia, the next destination in our trip.