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Category: Croatia

  • Balkans Trip Day 15 – Coach Journey from Mostar to Split

    Balkans Trip Day 15 – Coach Journey from Mostar to Split

    Another day and another coach trip, so we went to the supermarket to buy some snacks for the journey and I got my usual chilled coffee to start proceedings with. This had by now become an essential part of my transport infrastructure plans.

    It was around a twenty-minute walk from our accommodation to the coach station and, as usual, we arrived in good time.

    I was relieved to see that it was a proper coach that pulled up to take us to Split, which was going to take over three hours and I felt I’d enjoyed enough minibus journeys on this trip. It was unclear where we were supposed to sit on the coach and we were shuffled about until taking up the rear five seats between us.

    The coach swept out of Mostar and I was pleased to discover that it had both air conditioning and Wi-Fi of sorts. I didn’t have roaming in Bosnia, but I did in Croatia, so this meant that I was able to breathe easily.

    This is the border town of Čapljina in Bosnia and that’s the River Neretva. I didn’t take photos of the border crossing into Croatia, but the sedate arrangements in Bosnia were informal whilst it was very much Fortress EU when arriving into Croatia. Everyone’s passport was checked in person, the Entry/Exit System was in operation and it felt secure and well managed.

    Many passengers seemed delighted when we stopped for half an hour. I’m not fond of these breaks, which usually appear designed to extract money from a captive audience through an overpriced café while making the journey longer. The driver presumably needed a rest, however, so I confined my protest to buying nothing and returning to the coach to sit by myself. This was unlikely to bring the business model crashing down, but my principles had been maintained.

    Here I am back on the coach enjoying my alone time.

    We then passed the Baćina Lakes, a group of remarkably beautiful freshwater lakes near Ploče. Taking photographs through a moving coach window did not entirely capture the scenery, although it did produce an extensive record of reflections, roadside barriers and occasional sections of lake.

    This is Drvenik and the Adriatic was looking rather lovely. I’ve been to Dubrovnik many years ago, as well as Zagreb many years ago, but this was my first time travelling along the Croatian coastline.

    The church in Makarska, photographed during one of the relatively brief moments when the coach, the building and my camera were all pointing in compatible directions without me appearing in the reflection of the window.

    Located near the village of Dubci, the glorious views continued and I took several videos, which will make an appearance on this blog at some point.

    I remember this coach trip fondly. The route delivered one coastal view after another and, unusually for a long coach journey, I was in no particular hurry for it to end.

    This is Omiš and this stretch of coastline was more built-up and was evidently popular with tourists.

    The harbour a couple of miles further along the coastline.

    Then into the outskirts of Split and I liked the architecture of these buildings whilst noting that we had arrived on-time. We only had one evening in Split and I was keen to see what I could of the city.

    This had been one of my favourite coach journeys, as it is rare to enjoy such consistently beautiful views for so much of a route. The proper coach, functioning air conditioning and absence of collapsing seats had also established an exceptionally high standard by this stage of the trip.

  • Zagreb – Zagreb Zoo

    Zagreb – Zagreb Zoo

    Just photos in this post, primarily as I can’t remember much about this zoo (I’ve been to so many that I’ve got them all muddled up now). Anyway, these are from my visit to Zagreb in 2016.

  • Zagreb – Rocket Burger

    Zagreb – Rocket Burger

    My visit to this Zagreb location in 2016 and was part of my plan to always go to the best rated pizza and burger restaurants in every city I went to. I still sort of do this, although I can sometimes get a little distracted by craft beer…. Anyway, this restaurant is still one of the best reviewed in the city, so they’re clearly doing something right.

    A bright decor, with a not overly done space theme. And a panda.

    That’s half a litre of Bavaria lager, which tasted like most other European fizzy lagers. Incidentally, at the time (and perhaps now) this lager was actually cheaper than the soft drinks. They did though do a few bottled beers, including some Belgian beer, which they are still offering.

    The double burger was deliciously meaty (which was handy since it was meat) and had a decent flavour to it, with the chips being nice and firm on the exterior. That’s about all I can remember, but I know I liked this restaurant and its laid-back atmosphere and friendly staff. The prices were a little expensive for Zagreb, but still moderate by international standards. I’m pleased that four years on the restaurant continues to be thriving and still on-trend.

  • Zagreb – Museum of Broken Relationships (The Toaster)

    Zagreb – Museum of Broken Relationships (The Toaster)

    Another exhibit from the Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb. The last photo I posted (Snoopy) was quite sad, but this ending of a perhaps once happy relationship has a more comedic side. The exhibit panel reads:

    “When I moved out, and across the country, I took the toaster. That’ll show you. How are you going to toast anything now?”

    The relationship was in Denver, Colorado, between 2006 and 2010.

  • Zagreb – Museum of Broken Relationships (Snoopy)

    Zagreb – Museum of Broken Relationships (Snoopy)

    My visit to Zagreb was a few years ago, but this is the Museum of Broken Relationships, a cheery little museum which is quite a beautiful idea I think. And it’s still going strong.

    “He gave Snoopy to me on my 17th birthday. We had fallen in love six months before, on October 5 1981. Thirty years later, we have three sons, a house, etc. He fell in love with another woman and he chose her. He broke my heart. He said that for thirty years he hadn’t loved me at all. I just don’t understand”.

    I found the whole museum quite addictive, the messages verge from sadness with this one to those which are rather more vengeful and angry. All quite thought provoking really.

  • Zagreb – Mimara Museum

    I’m a little unsure what to think of the Mimara Museum in Zagreb, which I spent a couple of hours meandering around. It’s a well designed conversion of a former gymnasium building and there’s an extensive area for the exhibits. Unfortunately, there are persistent allegations against the museum that a chunk of their exhibits are fakes and forgeries.

    The museum doesn’t seem to be doing much to defend itself against these persistent allegations, so goodness knows what the truth actually is. There’s an interesting article about the museum at https://www.lootedart.com/MFEU4T15383.

     

  • Zagreb – Vagabund Pizza

    This is going to fall into the category of pretty much pointless blog posts, although to be fair, I have a lot like that. Unfortunately, I visited this restaurant in Zagreb two years ago and I appear to have forgotten just about everything about it. Which isn’t ideal when trying to write a little something about it.

    The kitchen area.

    This is the house pizza, which would explain why I ordered it, which has toppings of salami, bacon and mushrooms on it. If I could remember anything about the visit then I’d mention if it was a decent pizza. But I can’t, so I won’t.

    This is why I should write about stuff at some point fairly close to the event taking place….

  • Zagreb – Harat’s Pub

    Harat’s is the largest chain of Irish bars in the world, although they’re nearly all in Russia and eastern Europe. There is now though a solitary presence in the United States, as a Harat’s opened in Miami a couple of months ago.

    That’s an eclectic mix of beers to say the least, but the presence of Belhaven Black and Guinness make it entirely acceptable to me. The prices aren’t cheap, something like £3 per drink, but there must be a transportation cost in getting these beers over to Zagreb.

    Most Irish bars around the world are a little over-stated and gaudy, well, with the exception of the Irish bars in Ireland which have heaps of character and charm. The bar was fine though, staff spoke good English, beer selection was acceptable and the atmosphere felt welcoming. There’s an outside area to the pub which overlooks the market, although that was rather too smoky for my liking.

  • Zagreb – Antun Gustav Matos Statue

    Antun Gustav Matoš was a poet and writer who has become one of the most important literary figures in Croatian history. He lived in Zagreb for some of his childhood but had to be careful on his later return to the city as he ran off in 1894 to avoid conscription into the army.

    All was forgiven with regards to his desertion by 1908 and so he returned to Zagreb. It wasn’t though a long return as he died in 1914 from throat cancer, at the age of just 41.

    The statue in memory of the poet was designed by Ivan Kožarić and although I thought it seemed quite modern and contemporary, it actually dates back to 1978. It’s located on the Strossmayer Promenade, which has views over the city centre.

  • Zagreb – Do Worry

    Either this is some local cultural thing that I’m not aware of, or something has been lost in translation here….