Today we left the coast and headed north-east towards Zagreb taking the scenic route as we were not in a hurry since Zagreb was only 3 plus hours away. We were once again in bikers’ heaven, without our bike! The road twisted and turned climbing up over the hills gradually descending to the other side. There were very few houses initially but as we headed further east, we gradually saw more small communities. They were certainly isolated with seemingly little source of employment as there was no agriculture, being in a heavily forested hilly area.
After about
2½ hours travel, we finally came to a fast-food restaurant where we were
able to order either sausages, chicken or beef in a bun. They were extremely
large so, much stayed on our pates when we left! The name of the restaurant/biker bar is Micky
Maus Haus Fast Food.
Of course,
soon after stopping, we saw a number of eating establishments we would likely
have preferred since there were more and larger communities as we continued our
travels. The scenery opened somewhat with less forest and many corn fields which
looked like they should already have been harvested.
Midafternoon,
we arrived in Zagreb. The first thing we noticed was the extensive graffiti on almost
every building along every street regardless of the upscale nature of them.
What an unfortunate sight! We continued to our rooms in the centre of Zagreb
and though there is no parking at our rooms, we were fortunate to find a temporary
parking spot just across the road (and tram tracks) from our place to unload
before taking the car to a parking destination. We will likely walk or take
trams while we’re here. After settling
in, we walked around a little to orient ourselves and finally found a restaurant
for dinner.
Impressions
so far:
A very busy city with dense traffic
Cyclists whiz along the sidewalks at breakneck speeds weaving around
pedestrians. Disconcerting!
As in many European cities, parking here is extremely difficult to find.
Many “Café Bars” for drinks, not for food.
A Scenes from the car:
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| On the road again ♫♬ |
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| Corn on the left ready for harvest - mountains ahead |
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| A small village |
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| Note the stack of firewood ready for winter - typical throughout Croatia |
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| Country homes |
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| Many homes in the region have 'weathered' exteriors |
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| Heading into the mountains |
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| A HUGE sausage on a bun (more like a loaf) for lunch. We left more than we ate. |
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| The gold hues on the trees give notice of the approaching Fall. |
