Friday
• We
took the afternoon train to Zagreb and arrived around 9:00 PM. We connected to
the city wide Wi-Fi (yes, Zagreb has city wide Wi-Fi) and then headed off to
our accommodations for the evening. We were suppose to stay at a place for two
in the city center but a water pipe broke or something so we got switched to a
larger place about a 30 minute walk from the center. While the location was not
as ideal, the place had lots of character!
• After
arrival, we each had a small bowl of cereal before heading to bed. We got
little sleep due to the loud trams on the street.
Saturday
Zagreb
is tiny (with lots of people) and we basically did it all in a day.
• I
started my morning by going to mass at the cathedral. I then took some pictures
while I waited for Olivia to arrive.
• We
explored the Dolac market for a little bit before heading up to Mirogoj
Cemetery.
• The
bus driver was super friendly and even smiled at us when we bought our tickets
- I don't think I've even seen a bus driver in Budapest smile.
• We
took a multitude of pictures at the cemetery before returning back to the city
center. Note: these bus drivers do have change unlike the ones in Budapest.
• We
walked around Zagreb, explored some streets, and some parks. We saw St. Mark's
Church, the Stone Gate, and the Lotrščak Tower before eating a yummy
cheese dish for lunch at La Struk. After lunch, we wandered around the
parks.
• The
rest of Saturday afternoon was AAAAAHHHHHHHHH and Sunday we enjoyed a
wonderful day at Plitvice National Park.
• Okay,
I suppose I can tell you about the chaos that occurred Saturday. It was very
stressful for the following reasons:
1. While
in Zagreb, we accidentally walked to the wrong bus station at first and added
20 minutes to our walking. We wanted to be there somewhat early because we have
never taken busses like this before. Luckily, we had left early enough that the
20 extra minutes still gave us time to figure out what we were doing before
catching our 2:30 bus.
2.
Finally, at the bus station, we tried to figure out how we could buy return
tickets back to Zagreb from Plitvice, but either we couldn't or no one
understood us. Hence, we assumed we would be able to buy it on the bus Monday
when we wanted to come back. 3. We then got on the bus to Plitvice, and after
2.5 hours (and a long story short), the driver didn't stop at the stop we had
paid to get off at . . . By the time I finished talking to the bus driver, the
next stop was 15 minutes away by bus and we were told to get off at the next
stop and wait for a bus back!
4. So we
got off and waited at the bus stop that would take us back to our destination
with no idea when or even if a bus was coming. I wanted to cry I was so
stressed. Luckily, 40 minutes later and a $3.25 ticket, we were on our back to
our destination
5. We
checked in at the AirBnB, noticed that we had no refrigerator like expected,
checked to make sure the supermarket that was 10 minutes away by walking was
open with hope they would have non-refrigerated food we could eat for 2
breakfasts, a lunch, and a dinner, and headed off to the supermarket. Upon
arrival at the supermarket, we found out the hours on Google were wrong and the
market closed at 3 PM, not 8 PM. This required us to adjust our food schedule
completely, but luckily we had enough food (aka peanut butter) to feed both of
us for two breakfasts and a lunch.
• After
a long stressful evening, we ate some good pizza at the only Bistro in town for
dinner, went back to our AirBnB, and basically went to bed after a long day.
Sunday
• We
spent the day at Plitvice National Park from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. The
park was absolutely stunning and my pictures do not even begin to show you how
beautiful this place was. The water was incredibly clear and blue and the fall
colors were so beautiful. I had so much
fun playing with my camera settings and playing around with how to make the
shots of all the different waterfalls slightly different! This day made me fall
in love with photography even more! See more pictures below!
• After
8 hours in the park and a short conversation with a guy at the bus ticket booth
near entrance two about how to get back to Zagreb by bus, we walked the 20
minutes back to the Bistro near us, got pasta and a delicious salad with trout
to go, and ate dinner back in our AirBnB.
• I
talked with a friend from home for about an hour on FaceTime before heading to
bed at 8:30 PM. Yes, 8:30 PM. I was exhausted and we had to get up early the
next day!
Monday (Happy Halloween!)
• We
checked out of our AirBnB at 7:50 and waited at the bus stop for a bus to
Zagreb. About 10 minutes in, I went to look something up on my phone and it
wasn't in my pocket like I thought it was. I searched my backpack, couldn't
find it, and determined it must be back in the room we stayed in. I sprinted
back up to the AirBnB, asked for the key to the room, and luckily found my
phone! Five minutes later I was back waiting at the bus stop with Olivia. I
know God was at work here to make sure I realized I forgot my phone when I
did.
• The
bus arrived at 8:30 AM as planned. We bought our tickets from the driver
and headed back to Zagreb! We thankfully were able to receive a student
discount, saving Olivia and I $3.75 each - making up for the extra cost on
Saturday!
• We
arrived back in Zagreb around 11, bought some berries and apples at the market,
met up with my roommate Jane, saw the national theater building, ate lunch, and
then headed towards the train station. For lunch, we had waffles because the
potato house ran out of potatoes . . . we thought that was quite funny.
•
Finally, we watched a very pretty sunset on the train back to Budapest and
arrived back around 9:15 PM safe and sound.
Overall,
despite the few stressful times, I ate a lot of Peanut Butter, took an insane
amount of pictures, and explored a wonderfully small city with a lot of people
and a beautiful national park! I'd go back to Croatia in a heartbeat to explore
all the other national parks and other cities in southern Croatia, but maybe
next time I'll rent a car instead of taking the buses.
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