Three day week-ends in Pristina are prime travel opportunities. Upon seeing that the three-day Easter week-end as coming up I went to one of the many local travel agencies in Pristina and asked if they have any travel deals. They told me indeed there was a special which included airfare on Croatian Airlines, and two-night stay (Sat and Sun) in a five Star hotel in Zagreb, Croatia for 289 Euros. I decided to book the trip and during the booking it turned out the price had dropped to 238 Euros. YES!
I had to catch the flight to Zagreb at 0555 Saturday morning which was, both good and bad. Bad because I had to get up at about 0400 to get to the airport and catch the flight, good because I would be in Zagreb by 0730 and have three full days to explore. The ride to the airport and the flight were uneventful. I learned that one of the cab companies will take you to the airport for 17 euros instead of the normal 20-25 if you have them pick you up outside the embassy, which is only a couple of blocks from my apartment.Since this was a last-minute trip I had not studied up on Croatia or Zagreb before leaving, and hadn’t learned a word of Croatian. Upon arriving I was pleasantly surprised. Croatia looked and felt like a Western European country. The roads were good, well-marked and people seemed to actually pay attention to the operational traffic control devices. I took a bus to the main bus station downtown; the driver spoke English and didn’t seem to mind making change when I paid him for the ticket. The hotel was only a few blocks from the bus station so I walked there. As it was 7:30 in the morning I was going to ask them to hold my luggage until check in time but they told me my room was available and I could check in early.
…..More to come….
…. It has been a month since I went to Zagreb, and unfortunately memories fade. Since then I have been to the US and back, spent a couple of working week-ends at a small resort in Kosovo, and as I write this I am sitting on a veranda overlooking the Aegean Sea in North-eastern Greece. I have forgotten some of the details but I will try and summarize Zagreb as best I can.Zagreb was a lovely city. I would like to go back, heck I would like to live there… I spent almost all of my time there in the old part of the city, which is particularly attractive. Zagreb, as the capitol of Croatia, has many parks, museums and green spaces. I’m not sure about this but I think the primary architectural style is “Hapsburg.” Whatever it is it seems that most of the older buildings were built around the turn of the last century, they tend to be about three or four stories and have (what appear to be) ornate stone carvings decorating them. I took a bunch of pictures some of which I will try to post here.
The hotel I stayed was very nice, the advertisements claimed “5-star” and I wouldn’t argue that. It was well situated about a 5-10 minute walk from the center of downtown. Downtown Zagreb has a modern tram, bus and light rail system which make getting around town very easy, but most things you’d want to see as a tourist are situated closely enough together that you can walk pretty much everywhere. Many of the streets were cobblestone and parts of the old city wall are still standing. My only significant complaint about Zagreb was that many of the buildings were heavily painted with graffiti on the first story and there seemed to be no effort to remove it. Other than that it had the look and feel of a Western European city. I would guess their admission to the EU will happen soon.
The food there was without exception very good, though it seemed to be more expensive than Pristina. It is hard to tell because Croatia has its own currency which is worth quite a bit less than a Euro buts still has some value. Food seemed to be significantly influenced by Italy though sausage (which I tend to think of a more northern European) seemed to be popular there. I ate everywhere from a couple of very nice restaurants for dinner to a Pizza place and a stand on the corner selling sausage. Breakfast was included with the hotel room.
I spent most of Saturday exploring the City and going to Museums. I also found a
large market place and spent some time walking around the market, I bought a bottle of the local liquor and some local honey. Easter Sunday was spent basically lying around in the parks reading and generally relaxing. On Monday I took the tram to the end of the line and then caught a bus to the top of the mountain overlooking Zagreb and went hiking at a local ski resort. It was a nice ride and a very pretty hike. Much Gelato was consumed all three days.My flight back to Pristina left about 2300 and the plane landed in Kosovo about 2330 without incident. Thus ended the trip to Zagreb.
Related articles
- Zagreb, Croatia: flights, sights, hotels and restaurants (telegraph.co.uk)
The Fenner Report 
eu gostaria de trabalhar pra zangreb no futebol daqui mesmo na America do sul;o Euardo silva que é sortudo;foi pra croatia ainda novo se naturalisou croata,parabéns por tá em um pais que lhe deu afiliação podendo o chamar essa patria de pai.