Illica, Zagreb.
Roma kids in downtown Zagreb.They clutched each others hands as I took the photo.
I’m old enough to remember the 1980′s. Fashion hasn’t changed much since then. Ban Jelacic Square, Zagreb, Croatia.
Ban Jelacic Square, Zagreb. It’s quite the scene.
They had been sitting at that bar for twenty years, and this was day one for me. Tony, Nino, Lydia, the Ref, the Boss – I had walked into a real life Cheers, and nobody knew my name. And, they wouldn’t take my money. I tried to pay for the substantial tab Phillipa and I had racked up. Oh lord, how I tried. Nope. It’s on us they said. Come back and see us again one day, they said.
Last night, almost every Museum in Zagreb was open, along with many galleries, and they were all free to enter. With most staying open until 1am, The Night Of The Museums is a hugely popular night in Zagreb. Some Museums had thick lines going down the streets, and had to hire crowd-control security. I’ve never seen burly bouncers inside a museum. Fact – Zagreb has more museums per square foot than any other city, on Earth.
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Nino, The Boss, and Big Tony. Cheers, Zagreb style.
Crowds outside the Archaeological Museum of Zagreb, on Noc Museja – the Night of The Museum.
Zagreb Modern Gallery.
Later that night, over a slice of Pizza, a local man asked us “do you know which Museum the mummies are in?”. Yes, we knew. Backstory to this mummy – it was donated as an assumed fake, made in the 18th century. Carbon dating was performed, just to be sure, and it turns out it’s around 2500 years old. “Now listen up children. This is an actual dead person from 2500 years ago. The hole in the nose, is where the brain was extracted.” Of course, the kids loved it. As did I.
The “Noc Muzeja” was a little too popular. As the novelty of the crowds wore thinner, I decided that a stiff drink, or two, would be a great idea. Phillipa spotted what appeared to be a locals-only bar, and walked on in.
We spent hours inside this bar. Our drinks were being replenished automatically. I was never without a cold beer, Phillipa never without, well, we weren’t entirely sure what spirit is was that she was drinking. I was happy to just sit there and chat in broken English. You know the conclusion of this story. We made some friends, and we weren’t allowed to pay.
After a few beers, getting in the face of a proud Doberman didn’t seem such a bad idea. Illica, Zagreb.
Zagreb is my kind of city.
More importantly, Croatians are my kind of people. Welcoming, friendly, and just a little crazy. I like that.
I’ll be here in Croatia for a little while yet, so any tips – fire away.
Nate.
PS, exactly one year ago today, I quietly launched Yomadic.
This life, it’s not so terrible.
My personal thanks goes out to you, just for being here today.
Hmmm, what a wonderful city and timing — I love free stuffs :D… Wish I can visit Zagreb someday :-).
I love free stuffs as well! Good luck in getting to Zagreb one day.
Congrats on the anniversary. The only way you could have failed is if you didn’t take the plunge in the first place.
Knowing your penchant for abandoned buildings I thought you might like to aim your camera at the long abandoned sanatorium in Zagreb. Not sure how far it is from where you are but looks pretty cool with an interesting story as well: http://www.secret-zagreb.com/2011/11/till-death-do-as-part-in-brestovac.html#more
Cheers Eugene. One year down. Thanks for the link! It led me to reading about all sorts of abandoned buildings around Croatia. Hopefully I can get to one of them…
Zagreb is on our list to visit too and I hope we can find people who will also pick up our bar tab! I just don’t know why you say you want to meet nice people and “shoot them”. If you’re going to shoot people at least shoot the ones who are nasty, not the nice ones! ;)
I also hope I can find more people to pick up more bar tabs. I’ll try to stick to shooting the nasty ones, but I love to shoot the nice ones as well!
I’m looking to visit Zagreb in September. Your post is making me look forward to it.
Oh it’s a great place Steve. I’ll have more posts about Zagreb in the coming weeks, stay tuned.
Hi Nate, I am loving reading about your adventures in each email update. As always, your photos do every location absolute justice! I want to just dive into each image. Safe travels to you both. Can’t wait for the next installment :o)
Bec, that’s a really nice thing to say. Thanks! The next installment will be up in 3..2..1….
Congrats! I hope this year will be even better :)
Thanks Angela!
Oh I miss this place while I was in Croatia last time. In next month i will go with my family so i will visit this Free Museums.
For me the best city of the world is Bruges, Belgium, but I’d like to visit Zagreb to compare.
And I would love to visit Bruges to compare! We should compare notes afterwards Victor.
Ok, totally belated but, HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY!!! I’m so glad I stumbled upon your website through Twitter. I’ve been hearing so much buzz about Croatia over the last 5 years or so, it sounds like a great place to lose some time. And now that it has the Yomadic stamp of approval, it’s definitely going on my list. Love the experience in the bar, those are what make traveling worth while. Cheers!
Museum of broken hearts is interesting too. Love taking a stroll through the nearby forest and cemetary. The lakes were great during the summer. So much activity. Rakija is always nice and plentiful. You plan on going to Plitvice too?
Hi Cheryl – I did visit the Museum of Broken Hearts – loved it. Didn’t get to check out the forest and cemetary. As for the lakes, they may be nice in summer but I think they might have been frozen when I was in Zagreb (a lot of heavy snow and cold days!). I may head back to Plitvice, I hear nothing but amazing things about the area, perhaps when the temperature warms up a bit.