Zagreb Orientation Walk and Afternoon Chill Session

We arrived in the dark last night and had to access the apartment using the provided instructions. Access is via a main street, down a dodgy-looking alleyway. It then opens up to a closed (by the time we got there) café. The stairway and key lock are through a door between a ground-floor apartment and the café. It’s dark! But the automatic lights come on once inside, so all good. Key lock successfully accessed and key in hand. Up a level via two sets of steps. Unlock the security gate. Another level up via two more sets of steps. Two apartment doors at the top. Security lights eventually turn on. Door unlocks, and we’re in. Relax!

The apartment is 30 square metres—same as in Budapest—but looks smaller as the bedroom is on the same level (no stairs up, which is good). The kitchen, dining, and lounge areas are combined. The bathroom is off to the side, essentially a closet with a toilet, shower, and sink. Everything is clean and well thought out in terms of what’s provided. Fortunately, we didn’t bring a cat! 😂 It’s small but very comfortable and way better than a hotel room.

We don’t carry breakfast supplies from one city to another, so we make sure to only buy enough for each stop. But this means we had nothing for breakfast yet—except for the free coffee and a biscuit. First priority this morning: breakfast. There's a Spar supermarket just five minutes away, and it's the largest we’ve encountered so far. That’ll be handy. Muesli, yoghurt, eggs, and milk acquired—we're sorted.

With breakfast out of the way, we headed out for an orientation walk around the block (well, multiple blocks). We think we found the main street, which has a nice square with trams, shops, attractive buildings, and a statue. We continued the circuit, sticking to the shade and strolling through a couple of lovely parks. It’s a city of contrasts—we see streets like ours covered in graffiti, but also elegant buildings and green spaces elsewhere. Google warned us about graffiti in these parts of Europe. It’s not a sign of gangs or trouble—just young people being rebellious.

Eventually, we made it back to the train station where we arrived last night, which looks much different in the daylight. Less scary-looking streets now, Sarah? Stopping at the station was part of this mornings plan to get our tickets to the next destination. Tell you later—“no spoilers, darling!” 😉

(That’s a Doctor Who reference for those not across these things!) 😂

Back at the apartment, we stopped for a coffee, then returned to the supermarket for ham, bread, and cheese for lunch, and chicken and coleslaw for dinner. Prices here seem slightly more expensive than in Hungary, but still comparable to home even when converted to NZD.

Mid-afternoon, we walked down the street to check out the botanical garden, but they wanted to charge us €4, so we decided instead to explore a few other local parks. One of them featured a beautiful building—the Zagreb National Theatre. It’s nice to have a break from the big walking days. We probably only walked 6 or 7 kilometers today. The apartment location and city size feel ideal for a bit of relaxing.

Before dinner, we stopped downstairs at the café for a drink. Sarah had the house wine—named after Dalmatian dogs but very tasty—and I had a Croatian lager that was also quite good. €7.70 or around $14.80 NZD—better value than at home.

Dinner tonight is home-cooked: chicken with a mystery spice which is delicious, little potatoes, carrots, and coleslaw. Very yummy.