Zagreb Market and WWII Tunnel

This morning started with some chores. We needed to hang out the washing we put on last night—but the blimmin’ door won’t open! I sent a message to the apartment host. She replied saying to pull the door harder but that she’d be around about 10 o’clock and would call in. I didn’t want to break the washer door, so I left it for her.

The washing would have to wait. We headed into the city market, which is open today—Friday—and not a public holiday. Out front are flower sellers, and Sarah spots peony roses among them. Inside, there are at least 20 different butcher stalls, along with many bakery, cheese, honey, chicken, salami, and vegetable stalls. Up above, under umbrellas, there are dozens of fruit stalls. We forgot to bring a bag, so decided to come back later.

Next stop was the Zagreb Tunnel, Tunel Grič, which isn’t just one tunnel but a series running through the hillside. They were built during World War II as bomb shelters and later fell into disrepair. They were reopened and used again during the Croatian War of Independence (1991–1995). In 2016, they were remodelled and opened to the public as a tourist attraction. They’re free to enter and make for an interesting visit.

We popped back to the apartment to get our shopping bag, and Ivana, the host, called in while we were there. She had the machine door open in seconds—just moved the dial back to zero and gave it a good pull.

Off we set again to get our fruit and lunch. We ended up buying apricots, a nectarine, an orange,  some small pizzas, 300g of mince, and two large filled donuts. Yum! Prices were very reasonable. The mince was €1.50, or about $10/kg NZD. That’s ridiculous! The young butcher was Russian and was interested to know where we were from. He knew that New Zealanders are called Kiwis! A nice guy.

Back at the apartment, we had a short WhatsApp video call with Kate, Emma, and Braydon. Lovely to see and talk to them. 💕 Sammy was sound asleep on his bed.

Below is a photo of the outside of our apartment. The window we have a view from is top left. The Figa Garden Café is on the right. Our door is in the middle.

The afternoon was a typical chill session with plenty of relaxing. We did pop out to grab a couple of things we needed for dinner. Great to see the supermarket open again today. Tonight we’re cooking beef nachos, which turned out pretty much like they would at home. We’ll call that a success.

After watching the final of Clarkson's Farm season 4 we grabbed an ice cream from the corner dairy to end another great day. Tomorrow is moving day again. Wish us luck! 🤞