After navigating my way around to the back to the station, I finally found the little room where there were two stations open. One had a couple buying tickets, so I walked up to the counter and began telling the woman what I needed, but she shook her head, told me I needed to get a number, and pointed back to the door. I walked back and took a number, after which the same woman immediately rang the bell and beckoned me forward. By this time it was 5:55.
After I explained what I needed, she began writing out the information (yes, writing it - by hand). I swear she was writing as if it was calligraphy meant for an emperor. Every letter and number seemed to take several seconds to write, and when she was finally done she told me, "it leaves at 6:05," as if it wasn't already 6:03 and I hadn't been looking at my watch every 5 seconds. However, she didn't know which track it was on, so I sprinted out to the platform (no small feat with a 50lb back-pack and a laptop case), found my train, and sprinted to track 11 which happened to be, predictably, the furthest one away from where I was standing.
I got on the train and began looking for a cabin, and it began moving before I was even half-way down the first car. The 6 hour ride was pleasant enough though, despite the fact that I was sweaty and tired, and I arrived in Zagreb around noon. I changed some money at the train station (this time I had checked the exchange rate before I left so I wouldn't get ripped off), and wandered off to find my hostel.
The first thing I noticed in Zagreb was the copious numbers of shrines. After walking for about an hour, I had seen 3 of them. There was even one at the train station. And there were always people praying at them.
That second shrine is located at the stone gate. Supposedly, a fire burned everything there except an anonymous painting of the Virgin Mary, so of course the religious think it's more magical than Jesus in a pita bread.
I also wandered over the The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (or simply, the Zagreb Cathedral). It was quite lovely, and I tried to be as quiet as I could because there were people that actually came in to pray (though there were a smattering of tourists too). As I was walking back from the front of the church, I noticed a wizened old lady staring at me from one of the pews. At first I glanced away quickly and looked at some of the stained glass, but she was still staring at me 60 sec later. So I looked her in the eye and smiled, an expression she did not return. I walked passed her to the back of the church, and checked out an interesting sculpture on the wall, and when I turned to look at her, she had spun around in her seat to continue staring at me. I wish i had had the presence of mind to whip out my camera and take a picture.
I continued to walk around the upper town, and felt like I had seen most of what I wanted to see in the first few hours I was there, so I wandered down to one of the many parks in town, where I got to lie down in the grass, read my book, and watch several couples making out as if their partner's lips wouldn't be there tomorrow.
I wasn't able to find the restaurant I was looking for, and instead managed to spend about $40 on dinner (it wasn't worth it).
Today, I resolved to only spend one more night here (originally I had booked for 3 nights), and tomorrow I will go to Plitvice national park on my way to Split. I took a leisurely stroll back down the main street and grabbed a small pastry and a water on my way to the Zagreb Botanical gardens. I hung out there for a couple hours, then strolled over to a technical museum that had some exhibits on Tesla, but after looking at the info, decided it wasn't worth the $3 admission fee. It's hot, and I just want to hang out and relax. I can definitely see why people usually only stay here for 1 night on their way to someplace else.
1 comment:
That is how we'll be kissing when you get back!
Post a Comment