Getting to Zagreb was supposed to be an easy train journey, but it proved to be a bit longer and funnier. Our train was losing power sporadically. Once we got to the Croatian border, immigration officials boarded the train to check and stamp passports. It was humorous because they continually tried to turn the lights on in the cabin so they could see the passports, but ... again ... we lost power, so no lights. Instead, I switched on my iPhone flashlight for them to surf through my stamps. The other train passengers and I wondered, should we get off the train? Is this train going to make it? But I had faith in the train, and I didn’t want to wander around some train station without an alternative way to reach Zagreb. The power plopped back on after a while, and onward we traveled until our train lost power again about 40 miles outside of Zagreb, in the middle of nowhere and nothing with only farm fields as far as the eye could see. We were stuck there for a few hours. I got to know my fellow train travelers, including the family in the cabin next to mine, who were from the U.K. and traveling with their two-year-old, trying to keep him from going stir crazy. He was running up and down the train while people from other cabins helped to entertain the little bundle of … joy.
We kept looking out the window and could see a farmhouse in the distance. We wondered, what if we ran to the house? Could we call for a pizza? Mmm ... getting so hungry and there was no food car on the train. But you knew that as soon as you stepped foot into that corn field, the train would start puttering away. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. It wasn’t a big deal to me, though, besides the fact my tardiness was probably annoying my Airbnb host. I had my tablet filled with Netflix downloads and my Kindle with books, so I could be kept occupied for a while, but the family with the two-year-old … those poor things, they were troopers. The father did such a great job of gritting his teeth and keeping calm, but in the end, he said it was one of his worst travel experiences ever.
We finally puttered into Zagreb a few hours behind schedule, as the sun was going down. There was a big concert going on across from the Zagreb train station, so there was a nice energetic buzz in the air. My Airbnb host was super understanding of the delay, and luckily, I had been able to keep her updated from the train via Airbnb messages on my cell phone. She said it wasn’t surprising at all because the Croatian trains are hardly reliable and always late. I thought, “Oh, good to know now.” My host ended up taking me out that evening to show me around, and I immediately loved Zagreb. There was this great outdoor area called “Strossmartre” overlooking the lower town right around the corner from my apartment. Strossmartre was filled with lights, music, food and drinks. A bit further down, there were steps leading toward the lower town with a kind of in-between, outdoor bar rest area, which was again filled with lights and drinks and outdoor ping pong. We had a couple drinks, met up with some of her friends and continued down to the lower town to find a place to indulge in Burek (a delicious, greasy, meat-filled pastry) and Rakija to toast with. Rakija is an extremely popular fruit brandy in Croatia and comes in many different flavors. I didn’t love the flavor I got, but gotta keep trying, right?
What I loved about Zagreb was that there were so many outdoor areas to enjoy and experience in the day and at night. In the lower town, Park Zrinjevac also had an outdoor festival going on where bands would play in the gazebo, and there were plenty of food and drink stalls lining the walkway through the whole park to take your pick of snacks and desserts. There was a smoothie stand near the gazebo, and I asked if they had strawberries and bananas. They said no, but that if I came back the following day, they would for sure have them for me. I said, “Great, I’ll be coming back!” When I came back the next day, I could tell the smoothie stand worker was surprised to see me, and I said, “You didn’t think I’d come back, did you?” He replied, “Honestly, no and we were so busy last night that we didn’t have a chance to get the strawberries and bananas.” I just laughed, and he offered me absolutely any drink under the sun he could make, on the house.
Continuing through the lower town, you can find a path and stairway from Radiceva ul. back to the upper town. Once you hike up the steps to the top, you get a really nice view of the Zagreb Cathedral. Now if you look down from where you are perched, you will also see that people have started adding their “love locks” to the railing. This is interesting, because this isn’t a bridge over water – this is a giant grate so you don’t plummet off the cliff, so there is no water below to throw the keys into. Instead, do people just throw them over the railing and inevitably into someone’s backyard? Who knows? But hopefully nobody is sunbathing down there, continually getting hit by little padlock keys falling from the sky. If it were me, I would collect all the keys and then go unlock the padlocks and donate them to the Museum of Broken Relationships.
Ah yes, one of the more unusual museums in Zagreb, the Museum of Broken Relationships. I had actually never heard of it until I arrived in Zagreb, but it was just down the street from my Airbnb in the upper town. I found out that the Zagreb museum is the “original” and has now spun off a secondary location in Los Angeles. I was wary about going into this museum because the stereotypical image you automatically have is just a museum of bitterness, but I read about it in my Rick Steves guidebook and thought, “Well, if Rick endorses it, I’ll give it a go.” I must say, some of the stories were lighthearted and funny, and some were silly, but there were definitely others that hit much harder like relationships that were lost due to war or family separation. The relationships aren’t just specific to lovers but also include relationships between family members. There’s a piece of memorabilia donated with each story, and you’ll find things such as wedding dresses, photo albums, video games and gnomes. It’s definitely thought-provoking. Again, the lighter, funnier stories create a good balance, so you don’t feel utterly depressed when you leave. Attached to the museum is a cafe, and one of the things that made me laugh out loud was the WiFi instructions on their chalkboard, which said “WiFi Password: just_friends (with space in between ‘just’ and ‘friends,’ just as it should be) :)” See the picture of the chalkboard in the photo gallery below for reference – and hopefully, a laugh.
