Day 65 Zagreb
Friday February 8th.
[Again I went to save this posting and lost a lot of work – so frustrating – it is hard enough to make time to create the entries but being forced to do it twice is disheartening – I fear the second version is never as good as the first.]
We get up barely in time for the free breakfast – I am about to pass on it but Pam checks it out and it is a very nice spread – eggs, bacon, sausage, fruits, breads etc.
She reports back and we all go down for the meal. We meet a very nice lady – Sash from Bosnia – I think she is about 31. She talks about the wars WWII and in 1992. She talks about the male population being diminished because of the 1992 wars. This area has seen much ethnic cleansing over its history – as early as 1992. Most of the ethnic cleansing has nothing to do with race – simply religion –in some cases just the difference between Orthodox vs. Roman Catholicism. I do not know many of the details – just what the guide book has stated but I am going to make a point of researching and better understanding - especially after talking to someone only a few years younger than me who has lived through the ravages of war. She speaks of whole families and friends that were killed. She moved to America to escape the war and her 2 brothers still live there in NY and Washington DC. I think that Americans have never really have not had to live through a modern war being waged in our country – I wonder if it would change our attitudes towards it – even Iraq and Kuwait are very distant with the affects being felt mostly by the military and someday our children who will bear the financial burdens of these activities.
We strike out by foot and visit a Chagall exhibit at a gallery it is very interesting – he worked in so many mediums –I am very committed to taking some formal art training when I return. From there we hit the Mimara Museum – it has works by Michelangelo, Botticelli, Renoir – wow – a great museum and we have the entire place to ourselves.
We then have some time to kill so we look for a Cinema and end up back at the mall from yesterday where we see Butterfly on a Wheel. It was ok a nice diversion and we got to rest our feet in a warm place. We head back to the hotel, the girls used the computers and I read while Pam purchased the train tickets. We then grabbed dinner which was spectacular - Aria had a filet Mignon with gorgonzola sauce – I had handmade pasta with truffle sauce, Pam had a beefsteak with truffle sauce and Allysha had tomato soup which she loved – it had rice in it, and some Turkey kebabs. We had a nice white wine. Our waitress had just moved back December 29th. She had been working for Carnival cruise lines. We also had crepes stuffed with ice cream and cherry sauce and whip cream. A spectacular meal again – for about 60 US dollars. We head back to the hotel to pick up our bags and then to the train station. Loaded into our car and off we go.
My knee, ankle and wrist have been hurting for the last few days – I am considering starting another round of steroids – I wonder if the rest of my life is going to be measured by the amount of pain I feel each day?
Pam is able to get us tickets on a 3 bed sleeper car. Although I could not sleep very well it was much more comfortable than sitting in the chairs – and as we waited until the last minute we got a discount on the sleeper car. The cars are a little cramped but they are private. We even got a care ackage with toothpaste, shoe shine kit, toilet seat cover and bottled water. They also have a small sink. I highly recommend them for overnight train trips.
I read though much of night and spend the early morning I am staring out the window trying to pick out features of the landscape. We make many stops throughout the night.
When we disembark only one of the rooms on the sleeper cars remains populated although when we retired last night they were all full.
We are in Split, Crotatia and I cannot help but notice it much warmer than I expected – even though it is only 7:30am.
