A Deserted Zagreb - Where is Everyone? Plus a Big Surprise!

We decided to head out early to see Upper Zagreb before it got too hot. But we hadn’t gone far when we realised something was off. Something weird — there were no cars or people on the streets at all. Was there something we should know?

Yes — it’s a public holiday here! Corpus Christi.

It made for a very peaceful walk around a few of the main sights: a couple of churches and some older streets in the upper part of the city. I say "upper," but it didn’t involve much climbing — nothing like the hills in Budapest. We found and passed through an old city stone gate that dates back to 1266. We came back down the hill via the steps next to the funicular, which is currently closed for maintenance.

While we were out earlier, we thought it would be a great time to look for a couple of geocaches. But my phone refused to show them — data issues. They popped up fine once we had Wi-Fi, so before lunch (when the shops would open), we popped out again and found two of them — one partway up the funicular steps.

The afternoon was spent reading and editing some videos.

At 5 p.m., we headed out to grab something from the supermarket to cook for dinner — but it was closed! Hmm. We went a bit further to another store Google said was open… but it didn’t even exist where it was marked on the map! Bugger. Oh well — we’ve got half a dozen eggs, so we won’t starve. We stopped at the Figa Garden Café for a drink before heading home to cook dinner.

I made a cheese omelette and used up the leftover ham, while Sarah had poached eggs on toast. That girl’s a cheap date! 😂

After dinner we enjoyed an amazing catch up with some friends from Nelson who happened to be in Zagreb for just one night tonight. We picked them up, on foot, at their hotel and they came back to the Figa Garden for a drink and a wonderful catch up chat. They are heading to Budapest tomorrow morning. Emma and Kate will certainly recognise them as they live next door! 

So cool to see Kerry and Anne while they were passing through. It's amazing our holiday paths managed to cross even if only for a short time. They gave us at least one great idea for another spot to visit in Croatia in the next week or so. After our catch up drink we accompanied them back almost to their hotel. 

We stopped short of their hotel because there was a free outdoor opera concert in the King Tomislav Square near the train station. We watched that for a little while and then said our farewells.