Zagreb

I went to Croatia this summer and for the first two weeks I traveled the country with two of my bestest friends from High School. The first stop on our tour was Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. We spent two days in this city.

Crkva Sv. Marka

St. Marks Church

We woke up at the crack of dawn (7 am) to catch a bus to Zagreb the first day we arrived in Croatia. It was exhausting to say the least, but we made it to our first destination!

Crkva Sv. Marka, or Saint Marks Church, is a Roman Catholic Croatian church constructed in the 14th century during the Gothic Period. The roof is tiled with two coats of arms. The one on the right (and not featured in this photo) is the oldest coat of arms for the city of Zagreb.

It was so cool to see the church and just stand outside of it. Not many churches have roofs that are so artistically decorated like this one is. If you look at the photograph above, you can probably see what looks like little cubbies above the door of the church. There are figurines inside of Joseph, Mary and Jesus surrounded by the Twelve Apostles. My friends and I actually visited the church twice, once on the first day and once on the last.

On our way down from the Crkva Sv. Marka we saw the Kamenita Vrata, or Stone Gate, which was one of Zagreb's first defense systems for the city. We passed through a little chapel area honoring the the Mother Mary.

As we walked down we saw a really fun tie store with a huge checkered tie attached to the front door.

*Fun Fact* Croatians invented ties

Traveling further down we saw the Katedrala or Cathedral.

The Katedrala is the tallest building in Croatia. It was damaged during an earthquake in 1880. The damage done to it is still being repaired, but the Church itself is beautiful.

We stayed for part of the mass, listening to a reading and the Gospel.

The deteriorated stone is on the left and the renovation on the right. The clock that stopped working is to the left and was never fixed.

After the Katedrala we kept walking until we hit Trg Bana Josipa Jelacica or Ban Josip Jelacic Square. While there my friend Kyleen and I had fun posing next to some Croatian beer bottles.. Don't worry Mom, we didn't drink any!

I also stopped to pose in front of Ban Josip Jelacic's statue.

While at the square we stopped and saw a Croatian Folklore performance.

A 3D map of the city of Zagreb.

We were feeling pretty exhausted from walking around so we went to our hostel (Swanky Mint) which I would 110% recommend and stay at again. We had our own private apartment with a kitchenette, bathroom, air conditioning and cable TV. It was also in a prime location by the Trg or Square, which is a central location that leads to all of Zagreb's coolest sites. For one night we booked the room for $150 and split it between the three of us.

Then we started feeling peckish...

When it came time to food, it was definitely a struggle to find places to eat. Both of my friends are vegetarians and Croatian cuisine typically includes meat. We were recommended by the Swanky Mint staff to a restaurant called Zrno Bio Bistro. The food is not authentically Croatian at all but I had a green vegetable soup of the day that reminded me of my late grandfather so it ended up being okay. I would also say that the food is more expensive than that of other restaurants. However, since most Croatian cuisines include meat, this restaurant is a great alternative.

We got up from our seats, returned to our hostel and decided to walk around again before it got too dark.

Zagreb Government Building.

I love how old it looks. We just don't have this in the United States.

We retreated to our hostel and went to bed. Woke up and got right back into action.

View of Zagreb from above. 

As I've gotten older I have really started to enjoy going to museums and seeing different things. The museum we saw in Zagreb was so unique, emotional and personal. If in Zagreb (and a museum goer) I would recommend paying a visit to the Museum of Broken Relationships. The museum is entirely created from worldwide donors who want to share their story and a piece of their broken relationship.

That's all for Zagreb folks!

By 7:30pm we were back on a bus to Zadar to chill for a few days before our next destination.. 

Dubrovnik

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All of my friends are going to college. I mean, I am too but it just feels weird. I'm excited but I need to relax. I feel like everything is moving quickly, especially since I just returned from Croatia three days ago.