We just got back from a long weekend in Zagreb, and the photos as ever are up on the gallery. We stayed at Ivanas (she was a very good host, as always, thank you! We’re returning the favour in England soon though :-) )
I went out for a long weekend, but as Mare had accrued more holiday than me she spent a week out there (and got to do stuff like go to the theatre - things that she can’t usually do when I’m with her). She visited a couple of exhibitions, including the painter Mark Chagall (who I’d never heard of!)
We had a great time, the weather was surprisingly warm and sunny (though it was cold for Mare at the start of the week - she was there for the Snow Queen ski races, and saw many politicians and celebrities in the town).
We went to the Zlatni Medo (golden bear) pub - they have their own microbrewery. Last time we were in Zagreb we went, but I overdid it eating delicious sausages, this time I concentrated on the beer :) I sampled all of the beers - Crna Kraljica is very good, but my favourite was the GRIČKA VJEŠTICA, it went down very well! Mare is not a big lager drinker, but she did enjoy the zlatni medo…
We ventured outside of Zagreb; it’s not every day that you get to visit the birthplace of a communist dictator. We stopped off briefly in the town of Klanjec, to visit the museum of renowned Croatian sculptor Antun Augustincic. We visisted the village where Marshal Tito was born, and it’s setup just as it was in the olden days, with examples of rural life and customs. It was very peaceful, fascinating, and in beautiful surroundings. Not far away we visited a castle, again very interesting.
We finished off by eating at a restaurant serving traditional cuisine in the style of Hrvatsko Zagorje (the part of Croatia west of Zagreb, and close to the Slovenian border), very different to the Dalmatian style of food I’ve been used to so far. I gorged myself silly on homemade cheese, bread, followed by exceptional country style mushroom soup, and -then- venison goulash. I did feel guitly afterwards though, just outside the restaurant were the brother and sister deers!!! Marijana was then trying to make me feel guity to point out how cute the bambis were (but my stomach beat my head).
Sadly the time went too quickly, but we managed to squeeze in another trip to town in the morning, where we made it to the antique market in the Britanski Trg (British Square). We then sat around drinking coffees enjoying the last rays of sunshine before we had to return to rainy England.