Zagreb Day One

Here I sit on the balcony, full moon beaming from my left, and looking out at the city of Zagreb, with its twinkling city lights beyond the forest below me. I can’t capture it by photo, but here is a photo during the day.

Today was Zagreb marathon day, which totally disrupted my morning grocery shopping.  Every time I wanted to turn left, the road was blocked, and the navigation system on the car would readjust but try to send me back the same way.  After looping twice, and seeing the distance go from 3.2 to 2.5 to 4.8, I finally asked a nice young policeman, who gave instructions that eventually helped.  It makes me appreciate all those times in San Francisco when I knew all the alternate routes.

I walked to the city center later, thinking there might be festivities associated with the marathon, but there wasn’t much – a few tents, a few balloons from the sponsors and the finish lines for the 20K and the 44K.  But it was nice to walk around anyway.

Zagreb still has that relaxed but vibrant vibe, and even though I have been here three times now, I still enjoy walking around the center, the Cathedral and Kapitol, and the pedestrian streets lined with cafes. And this time, when I went into the Croatian product stores, I had actually been to the places from which they came.  I recognized things from Istria, wines from different parts of the country, the sponges that I had seen in Zadar, the olives oils, the jars of ajvar, lavender products and of course, the truffle salamis and spreads.  These stores now feel like a recap of my Croatia travels.

Last night for dinner, we ate at Restoran Tač, which we found because I saw the steps to it across the street from the apartment we rented, and we needed wifi to contact them for the keys.  We first had a drink while using the wifi and later returned on the promise of their special, cabbage rolls. Or maybe we returned because our waiter, Josef, was so nice, attentive, sweet and conscientious.  It turns out they were the best cabbage rolls any of us had ever had, and the mashed potatoes were among the best ever, too.  Looking it up today, I found that Restoran Tač received a Bib Gourman listing in the 2019 Michelin Guide for Croatia, so what a lucky find!!

With a restaurant on one side of us, a comfortable, well-appointed apartment, and the view of the city from the balcony on the other side, we are pretty set for our next few days in Zagreb.

I am getting ready for the Zagreb štrukli tomorrow!!