Split and Zagreb - October 23-25, 2018

We are in transit, slowly making our way home. We decided to ease our way out of Croatia with a night in Split and Zagreb.

SPLIT

It was only an hour ferry ride to get out of Hvar and into Split. This port city is beautiful and much more friendly on the wallet. We stayed at a small apartment in the old town and walking distance to the port.

Beautiful old town buildings
There was a large market only a few blocks from our place. They had everything from food to clothes and trinkets. One of our best purchases was a hunk of salami, cheese and a quarter of a giant loaf of bread. By giant I mean about 2 feet in diameter.

Meat, cheese and bread

We walked through the Diocletian's Palace, an ancient fortress-like complex built for a roman emperor that now mainly houses shops, cafes and homes.



We also heavily contemplated touring Froggyland. The only of it's kind, this museum boasts more than 500 taxidermy frogs posed in dioramas depicting ancestry life. I kid you not, I couldn't make something this crazy up if I tried. We passed on account of the hefty "over 10 euro" ticket price.

The evening therefore concluded with a stroll along the Adriatic, followed by a lovely sandwich dinner and adult beverage. We then headed home to our 1 bedroom concrete den where we enjoyed one of the worst night's sleep we have had in the last year. A little word to the wise, a one bedroom loft like block of concrete is not an ideal accommodation for 3 adults and 2 toddlers even if it's "just one night". Lesson learned.


The next morning we headed out on the bus, Isa via train to meet in Zagreb.

Success!

ZAGREB

The bus ride went quick and smoothly, likely due to the poor sleep from the night before. We got in an found our lovely and comfy 2 bedroom apartment not far from the sights. We met Isabel and took in some of the sights. Our first stop was one of the staple markets in the main square. We bought a couple of little snacks, an extreme garlic flavored bread, some fruit wine and an octopus salad.
Ban Josip Jelacic Square

We continued our venture to the Zagreb cathedral, which was under construction.

 And then we found fall............


 The boys were just in love with the leaves and it actually started to get really cool. So, we headed home and got ready for our final croatian meal. We went to a restaurant close by, suggested by our hosts, called Tiptop. Luke had a ribeye in peppercorn sauce, I had a pork chop and Isa got the veggie pasta. We topped it off with chocolate cake and an amazing pumpkin seed crusted ice cream and house brandy. It was delicious and a great way to close out our time here.

After a great night of sleep, we are boarding the train and on our way to Budapest. Not sure what to expect, but we have 4 days to figure it out.

P.S....If you are ever thinking of travelling in Europe with small children, Zoom (the main bus company here), will not allow children under 3 to travel without a car seat. They DO NOT rent them either. This almost forced us to fly to Budapest as there is only Zoom who buses there from Croatia and one train daily. Luckily we snagged the train.

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