Day 64 Zagreb, Croatia
We hang out at the train station getting our bearings and then Pam walks to look at a couple hotels.
The first one (Hotel Central) changes the price as we are checking in so we got to the second one – The Astoria Best Western. We get a nice room but it seems a little pricey – 1000 Kuna. We are tired and need a place and they let us check in at 5am- we sleep till noon. I was able to get internet access which is good as I had some work to do and a conference call to join later.
I am a little stressed over work and out plans for the next week.
Pam wants to make it to Dubrovnik but it is a long ways away. I have some work to review, emails to send and a conference call to attend.
We also need to get in touch with the house appraiser somehow.
I stay in the room and work while Pam goes to try to figure out travel plans. The girls stay with me and work on school work.
I am so far behind on my blogs – nearly a full week I try to catch up but the details of each day are lost to me. I need to try to blog every day.
The end of our tip is in sight now – I am anxious to get home but do not want to miss the experiences still ahead of us. It is a tough balance to strike – especially with everything going on with the company – leasing our development center etc.
Pam got info on the trains and we decide to head to Split tomorrow night on an overnight train that departs at 10:35pm and arrives at 7am.
We went and had a wonderful Croatian meal. The food was great the manager was very personable and handled everything – even when Allysha got an omelet with ingredients she did not order he noticed and sent it back. We thanked him after the meal and he said no "Thank You – you are the customer." It seems customer service is alive and well at least in Croatia – the Restaurant was called Kapljica Gostionica Purger locate at Petrinjska 33, Zagreb – and I highly recommend it. We then walked around the town getting our bearings. We go to the cathedral and walk through a small museum dedicated to the Bishop that is about to become a Saint – I wonder what his miracles are?
We continue our walk and find a very modern mall - stories very strange layout – not symmetrical as far as I can tell. The city is sprinkled with some very nice fountains. We grab a cappuccino and head back to the room.
Overall – my first impressions of Croatia and Zagreb – I like it. This is the first country where I have felt short – a large portion of the men and women are very tall. I can see why this country puts out so many world class athletes out of proportion to its population.
As I look around I do not feel that we stand out from the general population – but there must be something about us that exposes us as tourists as we are the subject of many subtle observations. I would blame the guide book but I see people studying Aria who insists on walking 30 feet ahead of us. I wonder what it might be.
I attend the conference call, the girls use the computers in the business center and Pam goes out for snacks for the room and more information.
We stay up late – put schedule is very out of whack with the strange hours we have been keeping. The Pelican Brief is on TV and we watch it.