Zagreb, Croatia.

Remember the night train from Sarajevo I mentioned? How I thought it would be a good idea, since it is a 9 hour trip, I might as well use the time to save money and sleep, rather than travel all day, and arrive in the late afternoon somewhere I have never been before, only to faffe about in the dark trying to find my way to the next hostel? Well, in theory, it was a good idea. However, I didn't know about Bosnian and Croatian train conductors. In all, the train stopped 10 times, including border crossings out of Bosnia and into Croatia. For some reason, the conductors found it necessary to check my ticket each of those 10 times. So much for the sleeping part of the plan. The ONLY time I wasn't aroused was when we arrived in Zagreb. Naturally, by then I was in a deep, desperate sleep. Luckily, I was alerted by the sounds of silence, and managed to get myself and all my belongings off the train and into the chilly early morning of Zagreb. To top it off, after about a 30 minute walk from the station to my hostel, I found myself locked out in the freezing wind. There was no one at reception until 8:00, another hour away, IF they got to work on time. Fortunately, one of the guests buzzed me in a little more than 30 minutes later. the receptionist arrived a half hour late for work that day. No more night trains for me....

I was quite tempted to crawl into bed for a few but after a cup of Bosnian (Turkish) coffee, I felt good to go, and so I started to find my way around the old city. It is a very attractive place, and enjoys a sophistication that goes back a long way. Some very attractive buildings and stunning churches grace the streets. There are several squares (Trgs - if you read my earlier entries you might remember ho I mentioned the Croatian aversion to vowels.) which feature beautiful statuary of important historical figures. There is an National Theatre and a Concert Hall, both of which are of Austro-Hungarian vintage, so very grand.

The weather was really nasty during my three days in Zagreb, which resulted in my not taking many photos. At one point, when I was at the outdoor market, several of the tall canapies were blown over, which didn't really seem to deter anyone. After all, it was getting close to Christmas, and there was business to conduct. There was a beautiful assortment of fresh produce, honey, baked goods, yogurt, fresh and ripened cheeses, wine, olive oil, and nuts. The indoor market housed the permanent vendors of poultry, pork, beef, horse, fish, pasta, and sauerkraut. That's right - stalls selling ONLY whole pickled cabbage. Yum!

I had some excellent chats with one of my hostel mates, a Croatian who regularly came to Zagreb on business from his home on the beautiful Croatian coast. He would be about my age I suppose, and so has lived through several incarnations of the Croatian identity. It was very enlightening to hear his evaluation of the Yugoslav communist era. He made no bones about the fact that there decreased productivity from a country that had once had a booming economy in construction and engineering, ship building, shipping, and agriculture. During the bad old days of Tito's Yugoslavia, there was little incentive or reward for productivity. The state provided for everyone, and so why bother to make any effort? He had lived through that era, and was now witnessing how the country was still emerging from that mind-set, and commented that it would take another generation or two to put it to rest. Together with the ex-pat Irish owner of the hostel, the three of us had some fine conversation about economies, and the state of the world

today!

My next destination was beckoning me, so I made my arrangements to travel to Ljubljana, this time by day time train.