Zagreb is probably typical European and most assuredly eastern European. People are friendly; few speak English so far but somehow we do fine. Prices are reasonable everything is paid in the Kuna. MLDR ate tonight at Vinodol restaurant and it was fabulous. Wine was Istra Cabernet Sauvignon and it was perfect with the Wild Asparagus and Greens soup and Gnocchi with Gorgonzola. While bread was not on a par with everything else, the olive oil and balsamic vinegar more than made up for it. We all had something like gelato for desert and it was the perfect finish.
R stayed at base camp still preparing for shoving off on Saturday. MLD went touring and we'll leave D to tell about that. 2130 time for R to get horizontal.
Addendum: Typing on a Croatian keyboard and the keys are laid out differently as well as contain interesting characters like č ć č0ž ß which makes writing 3 strokes back up two to correct! :-)
As R said above, Larry (L), Marilyn (M) and I (Donna or D) went out this morning for about 3 hours and we walked all over. The main square is where all the trams converge and then head out to different parts of the city. Where we went did not require taking a tram, but maybe if we knew better, we could have saved some walking. As it was, the weather is warm and it was a beautiful day, so walking was just fine.
We first saw Zagreb Cathedral, which is very ornate in neo-gothic style. There were several tours going through but none in English, so we were unable to listen in and understand, but most areas of the cathedral were accessible and I took quite a few pictures. There was a glass tomb with what looked like a bishop or some important person lying in it. Working around the glass tomb was a nun who was arranging flowers and greenery around the outside.
From there we walked to the venicular, a counterweight tram that takes passengers up to the 'old' part of the citz. As it was, it was closed for rennovation and so we walked up the several flights of stairs to get to the top. The old city used to have gates that closed every evening. To warn residents that they needed to get back, a canon was fired from the lookout tower. So, we found a sidewalk cafe to get a beverage and wait for the canon to fire - which it does each day at noon. Even though we were expecting it, it still made M and me jump! It was really loud!
Ended up coming back to the apartment as we are still feeling a bit jet lagged and needed to take a nap. The apartment is clean, basic, with comfortable beds and a computer with internet so no complaints.
Tomorrow we train from Zagreb to Split in the afternoon, getting into Split at 8PM. Then Saturday we pick up our boat! The weather and winds look to be perfect, so stay tuned.
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