Zagreb - Where Things Begin to Feel Different

I left Torino really early in the morning on January 5^th, 2015. I went out the night before and I had too much fun so I had to wait all night for the train station to open at 4:30am in order to wait more and catch the train at 5:40am. The train was 6 ½ hours to Trieste, Italy (near the Slovenian border) and after a 5 hour layover in Trieste I would be on a 4 hour bus to Zagreb, Croatia. Zagreb was a very pivotal point in my trip for a number of reasons. First, I was finally really actually on my own at this point. Apart from the week that Alex and I split up in Italy (in which case I was only alone for maybe two days), and a few days in London a looong time ago, I hadn’t really been alone at all this entire trip. This is the turning point where things would begin to change. I was now officially traveling solo. Although even when I look back at it, it’s hard to say how lonely I really was at this point in the trip.

Trieste

I had a great layover in Trieste. This place was beautiful, situated right on the coast by the northern tip of the Adriatic Sea. Geographically it might as well be part of Slovenia, but Italy still holds on to it. Most of my layover was spent walking around while listening to music pretending that I’m in a movie (one of my favorite traveling hobbies). I also spent a lot of time writing in my journal (another new favorite hobby) on the pier over the water as the sun made its way towards the horizon. This was a good time, but there was something in the background that didn’t feel so good. It was actually a sliver of sadness, creeping into my emotions even though I refused to accept such negative emotions on this trip. It passed pretty quickly at the time though and I shook it off and made my way to the bus station.

It was a quick 4 hour bus ride to Zagreb, nearly passing through all of Slovenia on the way, including a 10 minute stop in Ljubiljana (the capital city) where I got off the bus and put my feet on the ground. But I still don’t feel like I should cross Slovenia off the list of countries visited since I didn’t actually do anything there. I met a friend on the bus, Alex, who was a really cool guy and gave me a nice introduction to Croatia, while swapping stories of traveling and growing up and all that jazz. It made the trip go by really fast and the next thing I knew I was in Zagreb.

Now it was time to make the quick 15 minute trek to my Couchsurfing host's apartment (back at it!) and I had my accommodation set for the next 3 nights. Vlado was yet another amazing host. Selfless, curious, and always welcoming new people to his place. I loved how interested he was in my culture and experience, always asking questions and trying to learn a thing or two. I actually enjoyed answering all of his questions because I appreciated his curiosity for different people and cultures. He treated me like another roommate at his place and gave me a great introduction to my home for the next 3 nights. As I was getting ready to turn myself in and prepare for this new city the next day, the sadness crept in again and I couldn’t help but notice it. Why? Leave me alone! But it persisted a little longer this time. I didn’t lose any sleep over it so I just went to bed (after being awake for almost 36 hours) and woke up the next morning feeling fine.

It's like the scaffolding isn't even there!

One thing that I really had to do while in Zagreb was go to the dentist :) I had to go to the dentist because a couple days before while flossing my teeth in Marco’s home, a cap came off of one of my molars (I guess these things still happen when you travel). It was still completely intact and it still fit, I just had to get it cemented back on. It was easy to ask Vlado about it and he told me we can get it taken care of before I left within the next two days. That was the only thing on my agenda, so Vlado had some free time and spent it with me, taking the tram from his place 3 quick stops into the city center. It was a really nice city center with Christmas decorations still remaining, as the holiday magic slowly begins to dissolve at this point in the New Year. Vlado had some things to take care of, so after a quick meal together in the city he let me loose and I was off, exploring yet another unfamiliar place with the most familiar feeling.

Quick side note: During our initial conversation when I first met Vlado, he asked me a really good question that he knew from his own experience from hosting so many people in the past. He told me how most people that travel for a while tend to appreciate the big cities a little less because they all start looking the same. “Is this the same case for you?” Well actually, it’s becoming a little bit like that, yea. I didn’t really think about this when I started my travels, and I know Alex agrees. To me, it’s just the way the mind works. In every big city there’s usually a big square (oftentimes with a statue of a dude on a horse), a river, a cathedral (with scaffolding), a main street for shopping, the biggest, largest, oldest of this or that, and “the food is amazing!” These are things we've seen and heard in just about every place we've been to, with a few exceptions. But for the most part this is how it works and your mind can tend to clump it all together and get bored of it. I try not to let this happen to me by obviously realizing what’s going on, and still trying to take everything in as a fresh, new experience…because it still is! I thought this was a valuable thing to mention since I just remember talking about that a couple times during my trip (mostly with Alex) and again here with Vlado.

The remainder of this day consisted of sightseeing and walking around the streets of central Zagreb. It was a really nice city center, and after walking around for a bit I discovered a view of the city which led me to another touristy part of town that had another really nice square and a small group of museums. One of these museums was actually something that I had already read about and really wanted to see. It was a lot different from most museums which is why I really wanted to see it. This was the museum of broken relationships. It consisted of sentimental objects donated to the museum by real people from real relationships from all over the world. Either between family members, lovers, or childhood romance, this museum had an object for most types of relationships that didn't work out for one reason or another. Is it depressing? Of course, but sometimes it’s cool to feel emotions like this when reading interesting stories about what some people have been through. I thought it was so cool because of how different it was, and trying to imagine what some of these people had been through almost made me feel like a stronger person because of it.

The empty nightlife on a Sunday night

We had another roommate coming in to stay for the second night, so I returned back to the apartment to meet her and then go out into the city center for a couple drinks. Harpa is from Iceland and she was on a little trip through Eastern Europe to write music. She was extremely well-traveled, and had a great mindset on traveling and people. We had a really great conversation about traveling and the types of people you meet and just the overall mentality that we share from our experiences. It was one of the better conversations I've had with a stranger on this trip, and I was really happy to be able to talk about those kinds of things with someone. She was also the only person I've ever met from Iceland, which was interesting enough by itself.

Before I continue, I need to mention that I’m writing this right now on a bus from Split to Dubrovnik and HOLY COW, this is one of the most beautiful drives I think I've ever been on. I’m for sure coming back to Croatia in the summer with my wife and renting a car and driving on the coast everywhere…just wow.

Puppy and I

...Okay, oh and also when I returned to the apartment that day just before Harpa’s arrival, there was yet another roommate that I had to meet. This roommate was a six week old puppy that Vlado bought to surprise his girlfriend when she returns from Sweden in a few days. The puppy was as cute as a puppy, and it would poo and pee everywhere and cry a lot, much like you might expect a puppy to do. I've never come across many puppies in my time, or my travels, so it was fun for me to get to know this puppy. It didn't have a name yet, since his girlfriend couldn't name it yet because she didn't know it existed yet, so it was just called puppy, it was a female.

Harpa had to take off early the next morning and the last full day I had in Zagreb was mostly uneventful. I spent most of the day on the computer trying to plan more of my trip. In the evening Vlado took me to the dentist which was fun. I got my crown put back on and everything for only $15! Then I got a really good meal after that to test it out. After the successful dentist visit and meal I headed back to the apartment and spent the rest of the night there.

Over the course of most of this day and this evening the sadness hit me pretty hard. I miss Torino a lot, it’s that simple. I had so much fun there with my friends and Italian family and I didn't want to leave yet, wah wah wah. But that’s basically what it comes down to. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I really love that city. My personal experiences there and the people I know there are the sole reason why I love that place, and Torino will always have a special place in my heart. It’s easy to justify why I had to leave though, since I left on my 90^th day of my tourist visa, but I really wish I could have stayed. I don’t know when I’ll be back in Torino again, but I will return and I hope it's sooner rather than later. Don’t be surprised if that’s the city that I end up living in down the road. I know I sound like an emotional little boy right now but I want to share with you what I’m going through on this trip, and this is it.

Alas, don’t think that I’ll let this little sadness put a damper on my trip though and where I’m at now. But now that I've got that off my chest I can end this post by mentioning how I left Zagreb early the next morning, and it was off to the famous Plitvice Lakes National Park, which I was looking forward to the most on my visit to Croatia.