Zagreb is a very easy city to walk, and parking by the train station to walk in worked out great and became our norm. There were several little Christmas Markets and an ice rink set up and many of the buildings are lovely in their own right; it was fun to walk through them as we headed into the city, starting out by just walking in the direction of the cathedral, as it was easy to spot as we went.
We ended up having lunch directly across from the cathedral. Such prime real estate ought to hve comanded high prices, especially in a cute pizerria with excellent food, but once again we were please to find a bargain: 2 large wood fired and delicious pizzas, a big baked pasta dish, pasta agli olio, a full liter of really good local wine, 4 sodas, a bottle of water, a hot chocolate and a plate of local dessert (sort of like thick crepes--2 big ones, with cream and chocolate sauce) all came in at less than 40 euro. We left stuffed.
Wandering across the street, we wanted to see the cathedral. We were stopped on our way in and asked if they could interview us about how tourists enjoy Zagreb in Advent for the local news. So we did that, which was kind of fun, and then went into the church; it was so pretty all decorated for the holidays. Outside, this display shows how badly the church fared under communism, when pollution and no upkeep dulled its beauty (it had been repaired and rebuilt in the early 1900s after an earthquake, so started off those years in good condition). It's nice that it is being redone and nearly there now.
(speyers as they looked at the end of soviet control, vs as they should look and most do today)
As we were leaving, the live nativity in the little Bethlehem mock up was about to start. It was about a 20 minute performance put on by local, amateur dancers and was a lot of fun to watch--I was so glad we caught a performance.
I've been wanting a nativity set over here in Europe for a while now. David and I talked about buying one at a Weihnachtsmarkt in Germany, but ending up not getting one. There was a lady selling them after the living nativity and we decided having one from Zagreb, that would always be connected with the memory of the day would be perfect--and yes, I carried it around with me up to the museum and then back to the car!
It was late afternoon as we made our way up the stairs near the funicular (a very short funicular! Walking seemed faster and easier) and to the museum. The Museum of Broken Relationships gets excellent online reviews and sounded, well, quirky as all get out. At a cost of about 2.50€ it was worth checking out what the fuss was about and I figured we'd only need an hour at most.
The museum is a permanent home for what started out as a travelling exhibit. People "donate" various objects which represent a broken relationship along with a letter explaining a bit of the story behind it, and those are put on display. Each letter is translated int both English and Croation. It's odd, occasionally amusing or touching and often depressing.
This one was from a long distance relationship. The story was that the couple decided to cut one leg off of the stuffed caterpillar every time they got together and when all legs were gone it was time to move near one another. O.K. Yeah. That just seems so sick and twisted that it is not surprising the relationship did not work out. I mean, really, who thinks caterpillar dismemberment is a good way to count down to moving in with your love?
Marika and I both liked this best. It was a letter the writer had written to a girl he met during the siege in Sarajevo (I think, I am suddenly second guessing which city it was). He had given her some tapes to listen to while they were all hiding. The siege ended and they were able to get to safety before he ever saw her again to give her the letter or get the tapes back, and he likes to think that music helped her. So touching.
Dave was the first of us to migrate to the bar by the entrance and kept saying he couldn't believe they charge to visit.
Rio and I both found it fun and interesting, but also were pretty much done after 20 to 30 minutes and about a third of the exhibits overall. For the price, it was OK, though I would feel much more positively about it had it been about half the cost, given what it was.
Marika spent an hour there reading every single story (yay for the bar for the rest of us!).
We all noticed that Boulder, Colorado is represented by several items--hmmm, what does this say about my hometown?
After the museum we headed back to the car, enjoying the lights as we walked. All in all, it was a lovely day in a lovely city.
--Hadley
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