June 6th, Zagreb Upper Old Town

6/6       Thursday

            Starts out to be a beautiful spring day. We finally see the parks full of roses in the bright sunlight, everything looks prettier, the buildings look more elegant, the statues more monumental. We take a look at the new National Library, right on our block. It’s impressive, very modern, full of college students, yet funnily enough, there’s a huge room with the card catalog! An older gentleman is actually using it.

We walk into the city past the main train station. The underground passage is a huge mall, a maze of boutiques and shops. A person could get lost. The city is ringed with green space, sycamore trees and rose gardens, and it all looks just lovely today. We head to the upper city, the older part of the town. The big draw for us is the funicular, a tiny, funny little thing. The car has room for about a dozen people, and the short, steep ride takes about two minutes. You could walk it in the time it takes to buy your tickets and board. But it’s a very pleasant two minutes, with a great view. So we go down and back, just for the fun of it.

There’s a notable church in the upper town, and it’s been recently restored. The tile roof has the country crest in bright colors, and it’s all gleaming brightly in the sun. It’s strange to see such an old church looking so shiny and new. We follow the tourist maps to the “most colorful street” which follows a former creekbed through a city neighborhood. The pedestrian street is lined with small cottages, all restaurants, pubs and shops now. The street is lined with big umbrellas and café seating. Every other man walking through the streets is wearing a kilt. Then we see pretty much all the guys sitting at the cafes quaffing beers are wearing kilts as well. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that there’s a Scotland vs Croatia soccer match going on this weekend. They’re all having a lot of fun, but one group explains to us that they’re (EXPLETIVE), i.e., not going to win. So that takes the pressure off, at least.

We’re enjoying a lunch of Croatian donuts and beer at a little café, when the sky turns black and the clouds open up. We can’t withstand the rains, we head inside. It’s a huge torrential downpour, complete with booming thunder. The waiters run out to gather up all the seat cushions before they’re totally soaked. We enjoy the club atmosphere inside. It doesn’t bother us because 1) when it rains this hard, it never lasts too long, and 2) we're not camping, so we don't have to sleep in it!

1 Video Included

Zagreb Upper Old Town