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A reason to celebrate - Our Epic Trip | Zagreb

Mimi is one of my oldest friends in this world.  We knew each other since we were 7 and so you can imagine we know each other extremely well.  Since our 30th birthday is coming up soon, we thought of an epic 30th trip.  To celebrate our birthdays.  To celebrate our friendship.  To celebrate life. :)

We decided to go away to Croatia and Slovenia, as per my recommendations hehe.  I'm intrigued by these two young nations which were part of the former Yugoslavia.  I've always wanted to go to Zagreb, particularly the Plitvice National Park (Plitvička Jezera) which is a UNESCO site.  And being in Zagreb, why not take a 2h train ride to Ljubljana?  I loved Ljubljana when I was here two years ago and I didn't mind going back again.  Can I say I planned the trip really well, haha coz I had booked highly rated restaurants for every night of our trip before we arrived.  I saved down the names and addresses, and using my trusty iPhone's map, we made our way to every restaurant.

1) Zagreb

Zagreb is the capital of Croatia.  JL who came here 3 years ago said Zagreb was the highlight of his trip.  K has been there twice too and said it's a nice city.  Didn't need another person to confirm again so when we arrived, I somehow knew I'm gonna love this place too.

The main square (Trg)

The belly of Zagreb - Dolac Market


The red umbrellas they use in in this market is actually part of their traditional costume which you see below.  Hence the market is almost definitive of Zagreb.

The traditional costume

We were handed these as part of our walking tour



The Zagreb main train station in the background

St Mark's Church.  Love the tiled roof.

Change of guards outside the church

Did you know that the tie was invented in Croatia?  The red tie which soldiers used to wear around their necks gradually became the neck tie that is universally worn today.

ZAAAAA-greb!

I haven't experienced such hot weather in a while!
During the summer months, the Zagreb Tourism Board arranges this "Time Capsule" in the heart of the old town.  People would dress up in famous or traditional Croats and walk around taking photos with tourists.  We saw quite a few characters along the way for our dinner.

The lady is a famous Croat who fought for the rights of the country, and the gentleman is a famous writer in his time.

These are common peasants during their time, selling their wares in the cart.

Ah these are the nobles who do not live in Zagreb but would come into town to hear the latest gossips and news.
How interesting!  In addition, the upper (old) town, there are more than 200 street lamps that are still manually lighted till this day.  They say if we were to be here when the sun goes down, we would see them lighting the street lamps.  Unfortunately we didn't see any.

The cafe culture is very strong here and many cafes line the streets.

An outdoor cafe

Another outdoor cafe

Street baskers at night

People-watching and chatting right into the night

A non typical museum we visited: Museum of Broken Relationships.  This museum has been on a world tour, including Singapore!  When the lady found out we were from Singapore, she excitedly mentioned they were there at Esplanade in Jan 2009.  Cool!
The Museum of Broken Relationships grew from a traveling exhibition revolving around the concept of failed relationships and their ruins. Unlike ‘destructive’ self-help instructions for recovery from failed loves, the Museum offers a chance to overcome an emotional collapse through creation: by contributing to the Museum's collection.  Whatever the motivation for donating personal belongings – be it sheer exhibitionism, therapeutic relief, or simple curiosity – people embraced the idea of exhibiting their love legacy as a sort of a ritual, a solemn ceremony. 
 It is a very innovative museum and we were intrigued by some of the stories, we were saddened by some of the stories... a must go when you are in Zagreb.





Besides the interesting exhibits, they sell really interesting stuff in their shop:





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