Croatia: The Gelatto Tour...Part 5 & A Quick Note...Part 6

Dobro jutro! (good morning)

It is 7:47am in Zagreb, Croatia. We arrived here by tain last night after 9. Our hotel is across the street form the train station and just a few blocks from the main square in the city. We traveled there by tram last night and walked around a bit. Saw a beautiful cathedral and a couple of pedestrain streets filled with tables and LOTS of people (for after 10 on a Wednesday night.) The main square is as big as a city block and surrounded by lovely tall buildings and was very brightly lit. Our cousins took us to a well known street where the celebrities come to "be seen." Alas, no one took our picture.... but we did enjoy some lovely traditional Croatian cakes. Very light and tasty. Apparently if we go to this street on Saturday about noon there will be many celebrities and the papparazzi. We may skip that.     ;-) 

Yesterday on our way back to Ogulin I accidentally had Jim take a different road off the main highway into Ogulin. It was the old road that took us through the countryside. Fortunate mistake!! We wound through the beautiful, lush, green hills for about a half an hour. So lovely! The road is very narrow and passes through some very small villages. I can't imagine traveling that road in the winter, though, but people here must do so. Gas and groceries are all in Ogulin. 

We spent some time at Darko's house before our train came. His father, Mato, picked us more grapes, served cookies, and gave us some walnuts from his tree. If I hadn't been insistent, I would have had a purse full of walnuts. As it is, I took five. They are sitting here on my nightstand at the hotel. I'm sure we will be offered more when we return to Ogulin. We had a nice dinner of chicken and vegetables at the hotel. Yay for healthy food!! We have enjoyed the "mixed salads" here when we can find them. They are a plate with lettuce, cabbage or peppers, cucumbers and garden fresh tomatoes. Though they're called "mixed" they are actually not mixed together at all, but sit next to one another seperately on the plate. Very fresh and delicious, though! The tomatoes are especially tasty! 

Here in Zagreb, we will meet up with our cousins later, then join some other relatives for dinner in the city center tonight. My cousin Tea would like for us to try some more traditional Croatian dishes. The cabbage here is supposed to be especially good. The desserts she had us try last night were very good, but I'm getting pretty maxed out on desserts. Perhaps we should become the Tour formerly known as Gelatto...or the Croatian Cabbage Tour. I do love the "coffee with hot milk" and the cappucinos here. The espresso here is mild and delicious. It is served with sugar packets, but you don't really need them. I have seem some "caffe bar" menus offering lattes with chocolate, vanilla or caramel, but I'm sticking with the plain versions. Cappucinos are great when the shots are good. Croatian Cappucino Tour....? 

We will get to do some laundry at my cousin Tea's house tomorrow. There is no way to bring 3 weeks of clothing without being overloaded. It has been hot here, so our warm weather clothes are running out. It will be very hot again today...even more so because we are in the city. 

I will sign out for now. Time to get ready for breakfast. Have a great day! It will be a good one here. Dobro! (good)

Dovidenja for now,

Bernadette

Croatia: A quick note....Part 6

September 8, 2011 at 6:20pm

It is after 3am here in Zagreb. I've just finished Skyping with Jillian, Cadence, Monica, Danny & Ty. I will lose this laptop - and the ability to Skype - when my brother heads home to Redmond tomorrow. It was so good to see everyone, and to see my home. 

Zagreb is a city of about 1 million people. We spent much time in the city center today. The streets were crowded with people this morning when we went out and were still very crowded as we walked home accompanied by several cousins late this evening. I wish I could remember all the monuments and historical buildings that we've seen. There were so many...and it is 3am. ;-) We did see a few different statues of Nikola Tesla, who is a Croatian who invented electricity. Yes, I know, we in America credit that to Thomas Edison, but they will say it was Tesla, and if I recall correctly, this is probably true. We tried a few traditional Croatian foods today and will sample some more tomorrow when we meet the family for dinner. 

One thing that my daughters would like about Zagreb, there are coffee shops everywhere! I hope to add more details to all this later if possible.

It is very late and I must sign off. I hope to be able to access the hotel computer for more updates after today. Blessings to you all!

Laku noć! (good night!)

Bernadette

P.S. We had no gelatto today. :)