More from Zagreb
We started the day by storing our cases in luggage lockers at the train station at a cost of just £3 for 24 hours. With our night train bound for Split departing at 22.56 we had a very long day ahead to explore Zagreb. We headed first to Dolac Market where on the top of the left stairway you can find "Kumica Barica". This bronze statue is a famous symbol of older peasant women from Zagreb who sold vegetables, fruits and dairy products at Dolac market for
centuries.
Dolac Market in the heart of Zagreb is an open air farmers market selling fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers. It's open seven days a week from early in the morning until early afternoon.
Down below you can find the indoor meat and fish market which also sells dairy products. The fish at Dolac is caught in the Adriatic Sea and transported to Dolac
overnight. So you can always expect to find really fresh fish here.
Close to Dolac Market you can find Ban Jelačić Square, home to the famous Ban Jelačić statue. My wife had gone to explore the Museum of Naive Art so I spent some time exploring the city. When I say exploring the city I kind of mean exploring places that sell food.
First I visited a bakers for a slice of toasted bread topped with tomatoes, courgettes and cheese. Very nice indeed but I was really craving something sweet.
Salted caramel ice cream totally hit the spot!
The Gulliver by Dominik Vukovćis another piece of excellent street art I spotted in an area known as Art Park. It can be found slightly North of the Cathedral.
You wouldn't believe how long it took me to get a photo of this without somebody walking along the steps! This piece by Mislav Lešić’s can be found on the steps leading up to Dolac Farmers Market.
Zagreb Cathedral is the tallest building in Croatia. I didn't go inside and thinking back I can't for the life of me think why, but I did walk around the outside to admire the architecture.
Some beautiful buildings can also be found just beside the cathedral if you follow the pathway around it.
It was time to meet up with my wife once again who had thoroughly enjoyed her time at the Museum of Naive Art.
Radićeva ul is a street lined with restaurants and it's along here were we decided to stop for a beer and a pizza. The pizza's here were massive and the red canopies protecting us from the sun made damn sure I couldn't take a decent photo!
Finding Tunel Grič was an unexpected surprise. Built as a bomb shelter and promenade in 1943 the tunnel spans 350 meters underneath the historic neighborhood of Grič.
It was used as a shelter during the Croatian War of Independence and was only recently reopened to the public again in 2016. The cool temperature down here was such a welcome relief from the heat outside.
The tunnel is open daily from 9am till 9pm and even has toilets inside near two of the exits.
We admired more street art as we made our way towards a museum we were keen to visit.
The Museum of Broken Relationships features a collection of objects left over after a relationship ends, each with a story attached. The objects range from a toaster (taken by someones ex so they couldn't make their toast in the mornings), to an axe donated by a woman who used it to chop her former lover's furniture in frustration after being left for another woman. The exhibition has travelled the world before finally settling here in Zagreb. Definitely well worth visiting but be aware it does get very busy as the museum is quite small. We had to purchase a ticket and return after twenty minutes before we could enter.
With many hours left before our train departed we decided to relax over a few drinks.
This area can be found just above Art Park, a long row of tiny bars serving cocktails and beers. An excellent spot to sit back and watch the world go by.
The next museum we visited was Zagreb 80's Museum. For the cost of 40kn you can step back in time in a space that takes you back to 1980's Yugoslavia.
First you enter the living room where you're invited to explore every nook and cranny. We couldn't resist dressing up in the clothes we found in the wardrobes!
The kitchen reminded me so much of the kitchen I grew up with as a kid. Once again we explored every drawer and cupboard which all contained 80's kitchenware and gadgets.
My favourite area was the games room. Playing Breakout with a joystick is impossible though, it definitely requires a trackball.
Nobody else was in the Museum except us which was an unexpected bonus! This place is definitely worth visiting if you're in Zagreb.
Afterwards we explored the eastern area of the city but there didn't seem much in this area of interest to us so we made a u turn back to the centre.
I loved this drink Cockta, my wife wasn't so keen though! A really refreshing drink made using herbal extracts, it's actually made in Slovenia but is popular in Croatia too.
After a late meal we collected our suitcases and boarded the 22.56 night train to Split. The cost for a couchette ticket was £35 each and the journey takes about 8 hours, we booked using this website but you can buy tickets on the day too.
The couchette car had about 8 compartments containing six beds in each one, the beds were basic with just a pillow each but fairly comfortable. When we first boarded the train it was so hot we couldn't imagine how we'd ever get to sleep. As the train pulled away though two things suddenly became very apparent. The air flowed nicely through the train making the temperature much more bearable. Best of all though we had the compartment to ourselves and that's something we was not expecting at all!
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