Uneventful flight into Zagreb and 1/2 hour Uber ride (with a driver unwilling to chat or smile - I thought was rather surly) to an apartment in Upper Town.
Early evening arrival and enough energy to scout the neighbourhood and pick up some food items from a corner store.
The clerk was quite stern faced and did not speak English. My Croatian amounted to a handful of basic words memorized on the flight over. She pointed at the till readout for the total - 12,21 euro. I placed 10,00 euro in front of her and she shook her head, pointed at the readout again, saying something I had no clue of. No one else in the store to ask if they spoke Croatian and English so pulled out another 10,00 euro - maybe I was not getting the decimal (comma) right and groceries were super expensive here.
She got more emphatic with what she was saying and jabbed her finger at the comma - I’m thinking there’s no way the comma is at the end and the 6 items I had cost more than a 100 euros. I looked at her utterly confused and she repeated her request to me … I caught one word that sounded like ‘cents’ … ahhh, pulled out some change and offered her my palm full to pick thru for the 21 cents. I managed a ‘hvala’ (thanks) and she broke into a wide smile and a Dovidenija (goodbye).
Ate in and called it a day at 9 pm local time.
Day 2: tram ride to the centre of Old Town - Jelacic Square - that features of the national hero - Josip Jelacic, early 1800’s governor.
Just in time for a concert by Baby Lasagna performing ‘Rim Tim Tagi Dim’ - just placed 2nd in 2024 Eurovision. Wandered past flower stalls, a few of the entrances to Tunnel Gric - used as shelter by the locals during WWII and Yugoslav Wars in the 90’s, then rode the world’s shortest funicular up the hill - 55 seconds to avoid the steep stairs up the hill.
Street signs date back to Australia-Hungarian era and are in Croatian and German.
Stop in the Museum of Broken Relationships - funny, poignant and sad displays with stories of breakups and losing loved ones. Peek into Church of St. Catherine, check out the plaque honouring Nicola Tesla, past the Church of St. Mark flanked by one of the +200 gas street lights that are lit and extinguished each day.
Down the street past the oldest operating pharmacy in the city (since 1355), thru the Stone Gate with a tiny chapel dedicated to St. Mary, by a statue of St. George slaying the dragon (looked like an oversized catfish to me), thru the old red light district, past an accurate wall sundial, the Zagreb Cathedral (under repair since a 2020 earthquake) and its guard tower then a tram ride back to home base.
