partying in Croatia
I arrived in Zagreb about 8pm last night, it was pouring with rain, and I had about a 10 minute walk to the hostel. Then it took me a while to find it as it was through a courtyard and up some stairs, so I was a little squelchy & my pack a little damp by the time I got there.
The hostel - Fulir Backpackers - is basically just a large apartment, with a little kitchenette, lounge & bathroom downstairs, and two (large-ish) bedrooms upstairs. The guys who run it were so friendly & a lot of fun - the one who checked me in joked around a lot but also told me the places I needed to see etc. Within about an hour of arriving I was back in dry clothes, sitting around chatting & trying this fabulous pear-flavoured drink that apparently is a Croatian specialty. We all (including the owner, in fact he was the one rallying the troops) ended up going to a bar up the street - at about 3am some of them moved on to a club, but I decided it was time for some sleep.
This morning, once I finally managed to wake up, I wandered all around Zagreb - it has an old town section up on a rock, and then the rest of the city is sort of spread out underneath. The old town is basically a couple of churches, a few museums & then the rest is residential, and it was actually quite eerie up there - the market & main square down below were absolutely bustling, but there was no one around up above.
Zagreb is the first capital city I've visited where I haven't seen a Starbucks or a TieRack (yes, believe it or not, the store I've seen in every city on my travels is TieRack - who knew it was a global mega-chain?) - I almost didn't even see a McDonald's, but right as I was finishing my wanderings I turned a corner… and my dreams were dashed.
