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Interrail 2016: ZAGREB

What a wet and dreary 24 hours in Zagreb. We arrived before noon, giving us most of the day to see Croatia's capital city. However, as the train from Ljubljana progressed, it became more and more apparent that we wouldn't be seeing the sunny, humid weather that Croatia is known for in Zagreb. Instead, heavy downfalls of rain plummeted across the city, meaning the streets were practically empty of people except for hardcore tourists making the most of their visit. 




Another issue arose when I learnt that my bank was denying me from getting money out. I had little euros left and needed to pay for our first hostel in Croatia. Panicking, we went to the hostel anyway and thankfully found out that we could pay for our night's accommodation in euros. Thank you, Hostel Chic!

After hanging our sodden clothes on the end of our beds, we set out into the centre dressed in every waterproof covering possible. Before long, we caved from the rain for a bit and headed into the first cafe we could find.
It turned out to be a 'health' cafe.
Whilst many of my friends enjoyed the vegetable soup we had, full of the delights of broccoli and other greens, I must confess that green vegetable soup is clearly not my thing. In terms of Interrail hunger, however, I of course finished the lot.

Because of the rain, it was after the cafe that our group split up into the rain-bravers (including me) and the museum-goers. My friend and I strolled around a vast amount of Zagreb, getting a feel for the city and popping into some of its many cathedrals. Despite the dreadful weather, it was abundantly clear that Zagreb is a beautiful city, with colourful houses and grand mansions and gardens. We managed to see a great deal of the city in the three hours of walking we did, showing it to be a small place. 
We then met up with our friends at the Museum of Broken Relationships, where they had been hiding for the rain. On reporting back on their experience, they all agreed that the museum greatly surpassed their expectations. The museum presents an artefact from a relationship and underneath presents the story behind it, with stories ranging from the happiest possible outcomes to some dark and harrowing relationships. We treated ourselves to a hot chocolate while discussing what we'd seen.

After a number of attempts at phoning the bank, I managed to find out that I have an automatic limit on how much I can get out abroad, which, whilst very, very irritating, at least sorted out my worries. Instead, I would be getting my Croatian Kuna out in batches over a couple of days. Yay.

For dinner, we were the most adventurous we have been so far and opted for baking potatoes. A (probably too) long experience but the results were definitely more satisfactory than my vegetable soup. We played a number of rounds of cards and headed off to bed early, as the next morning we were to be getting the train at 7:35am. The joy.

Writing this from the train now, I can confirm that we made the train and I managed to have a shower, get dressed and packed in record-breaking time (I slept through my alarm). 

Next stop: Split and Hvar- the final places!

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