OUR CROATIAN ADVENTURE BEGINS

Our 10-day Croatian adventure began in Zagreb. 

Jim, Jenny, Bruce, Barbara, Greg, and I getting off train in Zagreb (being led by our tour guide, Steve.)

On Thursday, 9/15 we began our 10-day Croatian adventure by boarding an early morning train in Vienna. Since our train had no dining car and our trip was six hours, it was fortunate that we brought food along.  Trains in this part of the European Union are a little more quirky so there are always surprises.  At one point officials (not so friendly) boarded the train to check passports and we were then informed that we would depart the train at the next stop, ride a bus for a while, then re-board a train to Zagreb. 

One of the "friendly" border patrols

Croatia borders the Adriatic Sea and was one of the most picturesque countries I've seen.  Influences of the Austro-Hungarian empire and Italy are evident (the back side of Italy is just across the Sea.)

How blessed we are to have friends in Zagreb who offered for us to spend the night.  Tom is the director of a Bible Institute there.  He and Sandra even provided us with Steve (one of their employees) as a tour guide.  We felt quite special to be able to get picked up in a vehicle instead of having to use public transportation.  Since we had all afternoon, Steve gave us an excellent walking tour of the city.   He then took us about 15 km to Tom and Sandra's home where she had prepared a very tasty meal for us.

The beautiful home of Tom and Sandra.   They are Americans, but have been living in Croatia 12 years and plan to retire there.  They built their home 10 years ago.

The City Hall

The store where we bought our Naive Art.

The Market goes on everyday from 7 am until 2 pm.  The entire area is swept and washed afterwards only to have to do it all over again the following day.

Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, originally two medieval cities that battled frequently, was separated by a stream called Krave Most (Bridge of Blood.)  Interesting fact: the necktie and the fountain pen were invented by Croatians. Greg likes to dream about the idea of the necktie having never been invented!   



On Friday morning we went with Tom and Sandra to Samobor (a neighboring village) to have breakfast of some of the best french toast I have ever eaten. Sandra introduced me to White Coffee (very good!)  We then drove into Zagreb to buy a store that sold Naive Art (called so because the artists have no formal training.)  This technique of painting on the back side of the glass began in the 1800's. The artist paints the foreground first, painting each subsequent layer and allowing to dry before finishing with the background.  We bought a picture of a large red pot filled with tiny blue flowers and sunflowers with a field in the background.  Much of it is folk art depicting Croatian village life. 

Sweet little cafe courtyard where we had breakfast.

 Later in the day we re-joined rest of our group in Samobor for dinner before Steve drove us to the airport to catch our evening flight to Split (where the real adventure began!)

Our excellent tour guide and chauffeur, Steve.

Stay tuned for the next leg of our journey...........