It was love at first sight. This small-town-with-a-big-city vibe was just what the doctor ordered. A walkable city with great public transportation, tasty restaurants, chic boutique shopping, and incredible parks. The church bells were familiar and pleasant sound to our ears — very old-world European. What a lovely surprise.

Zagreb is a town filled with energy; young and old. But we did notice a lot of young families with strollers and a lot of pregnant women. COVID-19 baby boom? I think so.

But the fashion! As I walked down the streets, I was treated to a continuous cat walk of who-wore-what. Even on the weekends, women dress stylishly just to meet for coffee or shop at the farmer’s market. The styles were sophisticated and classy or flowery and feminine, paired with ankle-strapped sandals or chunky sneakers and fashionable sunglasses and handbags. We watched the endless fashion show with awe; and me, with envy.

We also noted shockingly few people using cell phones. I saw no Instagram posers and relatively few digital nomads. Just large numbers of people enjoying face-to-face ‘work meetings’ over cups of espresso and people-watching — the national pastime.

Covid requirements

Entering Croatia was a little tricky. We were required to take a PCR test within 48 hours prior to our arrival. Since we were staying 45 minutes away from the Istanbul airport, we took our chances and arrived early on the day of our departure to take our tests with the hope of receiving the results before we landed in Zagreb six hours later.

We landed and quickly checked the website for results. I received my negative confirmation, Scott did not. We approached the passport office, standing at the head of a long line of tired travelers, and started to sweat.

The passport officer was already losing her patience with us because I didn’t have printed results and Scott didn’t have any. She was about to say “step aside” when Scott hit refresh on the test website and the words NEGATIVE finally popped up. Whew! No quarantine required.

Zagreb’s Earthquake

As if 2020 needed another reason to be the worst year ever….

Upon arrival into town we noticed that many of the buildings were in a major state of disrepair. Most were surrounded by scaffolding, netting and construction fencing, and there were piles of debris everywhere. It was puzzling, but Luka, our Airbnb host (and local guide) told us why.

On a cold morning in March right after the country’s COVID shut down, Zagreb experienced a 5.3 earthquake. The last earthquake to hit this area was 140 years ago. Thankfully only a handful of people were hurt, but the Zagreb historic buildings were greatly impacted. Many of the facades and exterior walls crumbled like dust. The shutdown, along with other COVID restrictions, kept this town from cleaning up debris or rebuilding in any significant way. It was sad to see the damage that had been caused to these old historic buildings; as they are the true character of the city.

Our sweet 1-bedroom New York-style apartment located in the heart of the city only received superficial damage. This lovely home-away-from-home had a kitchen, dining table, nap-able couch and work desk. It felt like we had hit the jackpot ($45 per night). Comfort on the road has really come down to these simple things.

We enjoyed checking out the neighborhood burger and film festivals at Park Zrinjevac and we often visited the local farmer’s market to purchase everything from local cheeses and prosciutto to heirloom tomatoes, fresh peaches and nectarines.

Just heaven.

Croatians (a.k.a. Croats)

Luka explained Croatians to us like this — “they are extremely helpful and warm-hearted though maybe a bit lazy. They won’t smile at you on the street. And if you smile at them, they may not return it. It’s just their way.” For our part, we didn’t have issue with the locals and we kept on smiling.

Croatians love to read, and actually, reading a book a month is a required part of their school curriculum. This is evident in the number of bookstores we found.

Students are also required to learn English, so almost everyone speaks fluently. We like that.

Hiking, biking, picnicking and explosions

Luka led us through the city on bikes one day to see the historic landmarks, best city views and to explain the loud boom we heard each day at noon. When we first heard the blast we were pretty sure there had been an explosion nearby. But no, it’s a city ritual that has been kept alive for the past 140 years. You can set your watch by it.

Scott and I took off the next day to walk up to the local cemetery. It was like a large park, with beautiful headstones; a few toppled by the earthquake. We found a nice shady area and picnicked with the ghosts.

We also enjoyed a more remote hike into a nearby forest. After a strenuous 45 minute hike we were rewarded with a beer, sausage and beans. All the necessary carbo-loaded ingredients needed to get us back down the hill.

With a shout-out to Heather and Summer…

ADDITIONAL TRIP NOTES

We spent 11 delightful days in Zagreb; from September 7th through the 17th. It was lovely to unpack our suitcases, do laundry, stock the fridge and settle in. We enjoyed having a home base for more than just a few days and we were sad to leave.

Weather: mid 70s to low 80s; clear and beautiful. Perfect September weather!

People we met along the way:

Daniel, one of the lovely street musicians

Luka, our Airbnb host and local guide

Food, Drinks and Restaurants

The history of the Croatian food culture is this… while the men were off fighting wars, the women were home caring for the children and elders. The only way these women could keep their families fed was to fish for easily caught fish (anchovies, mackerel and sardines) that swam close to the shore. They pared their catch with homemade breads, dried meats and aged cheeses and, in the summer months, whatever was growing in the garden. Relatively simple enough to harvest and prepare and filled with protein and natural fats to fill empty tummies. This story is reflected in the current-day restaurant menus throughout Croatia.

Hertitage - No. 1 on TripAdvisor, this 10-seat restaurant is normally packed but due to lower-than-usual number of tourist and slightly off-season timing, we walked up and sat down.

They have a strict first-come, first-served policy. No take-out orders. They don’t recommend bringing your children (as their flavors lean towards adult tastes). And don’t forget to pee before you come. They don’t have a bathroom.

They don’t cook either. Their highly-coveted menu provides the best of cured and prepared offerings of the region: sardines, anchovy toast, Istrian regional wines, truffle sausages, prosciutto, local breads and cheeses, and delicious salads (a/k/a Croatian street food).

El Toro - To our delight, on the ground floor of our apartment building was a great ‘street food’ restaurant. Interesting salads and generally healthy fare.

Expresso - for our daily espresso drinks and smoothies. By the way, ‘take-away’ (to-go) coffee isn’t a thing here. Croatians like warm, not hot, coffee and they love to sit around and savor it to the last drop at one of many sidewalk cafes.

Basta - great Italian fare with pizza as their speciality.

Roots Juice and Cocktail Bar - Although signature cocktails aren’t a thing here in Croatia, we found this rare find: Roots.

Normally a hot-spot for hipsters, us old folks were able to gain an outdoor seat early for a delightful Tommy’s signature margarita and a Manhattan.