Croatia – Zagreb

If you’re sad to be nearing the end of our Croatia trip, know that when our final day had arrived I was pretty sad, too. It’s almost always the worst part of any travel for me – the end. My hubby on the other hand is almost always very much looking forward to home and his own bed. So if you’ve enjoyed this, and are also ready to be done, then you’re in his camp – which is great, too!

Hotel Dubrovnik (4/5)

Another great recommendation from my Croatian friend in the US landed us at Hotel Dubrovnik, right in the city center of Zagreb. We had instructions on where and how to park from their email, which we learned were very specific and important to follow! Once we arrived, it was just before dark, and it was a little difficult communicating from the parking lot to get help with our bags via the speaker they had instructed us to use. No big deal – we just ended up walking (about 2 blocks).

Check in was easy and we were pleased to be given a very large room with a view of the square. The location of this hotel was definitely perfect! Unfortunately, the room also smelled a little like smoke. But we were tired, and we needed to do our COVID video test for our entry back to the US (we navigated it successfully – both confirmed negative and went on with our evening).

The hotel included a breakfast buffet in the restaurant, which we really enjoyed. They had GF bread and the most delicious fresh made jams that I could have had way more of. Just be aware that they take the food away the MOMENT breakfast hours are over!

Also included in our stay was a voucher for 2 free drinks at the café/bar in the square. We used those mid-day the next day for a refresher while we people watched and I wrote a postcard home to my nephews.

Overall, our stay was really pleasant. I’d recommend it, especially because of how convenient it was – nearby almost everything you’d want to see in Zagreb’s city center.

Monday, September 6

After a good nights’ sleep and breakfast at the hotel, we ventured out to explore the town.

Zagreb Cathedral

Our walk up the hill across from Hotel Dubrovnik quickly took us to the Zagreb Cathedral. A stunning building! The only bummer is that it was under construction.

We knew it was closed inside, so we wandered around to the back, where a gentleman informed us the area was closed to due dangerous conditions. He was really kind and told us all about the 5.3 magnitude earthquake that hit the city on March 22, 2020 (another terrible misfortune to hit the town of Zagreb right at the beginning of COVID, just 3 days after the government banned all public gatherings). He shared about the impact on the city and the cathedral, and showed us the areas of the building that were removed for restoration and talked about he intricacies involved in the work. Turns out he was a professor of some sort, and we were fortunate to have learned from him!

Dolac Market (3/5)

Another spot on our list was the Dolac Market. We were on the hunt for a very specific little bakery suggested by my friend, and before we found it, we grabbed a few yummy treats from the market, which was much smaller than we expected (I think we were early), but nice to explore a bit.

Halfway down the stairs, we found our spot, simply assigned the signage of “BUREK.” This dish is one of the most famous in Croatia and a favorite of many! We tried both the meat burek and the cheese burek. Wow! So incredibly delicious! Definitely worth the effort to locate (our burek shop was a solid 4.5/5).

Full and happy, we walked back to the hotel to drop off some goodies from the market and decide what was next!

Thai Center Thalea (4.5/5)

We felt like relaxing a bit after so much walking the last couple days, and we didn’t want to just sleep. Before our trip I had looked up spas in the area and while I didn’t find what I was looking for, I had saved a high-rated massage & wellness center called Thalea. While exploring my saves for how we could kick back a bit, I came across Thalea again. We called them and found out that while they were originally fully booked for the day, they had just had a no-show and they could offer us a couple’s massage if we could come now. Yay!

A short walk and a couple flights of stairs brought us to their location, beautifully decorated inside. We were provided an option of tea or water, and waited on their couch for our masseuses to bring us back.

The couples massage room was large and inviting and our masseuses were friendly and also nice and strong! We prefer deep tissue over Swedish style massages, but we also didn’t opt for the full Thai massage as sometimes that’s a little painful for our old joints.

This was a perfect mid-day break at a pretty affordable rate before we ventured out again.

Millennium (4/5)

We had passed several cafés on our way to Thalea, and we were ready to enjoy a little something. We landed at Millennium, which is a dessert and coffee place serving the tables in the alleyway. We ordered a cheesecake-style dessert and another Krempita (good, but not as quite a jiggly as the first one we had) with a couple cappuccinos.

The service was just okay, and there were quite a few smokers at the nearby tables, but nothing we could do about that. The desserts and coffee along with the ambience of a cobblestone street table were delightful. Definitely worth an afternoon or evening stop!

Upper Town (3/5)

We felt like we needed to walk off the dessert, so we headed up the hill to explore Tunnel Gric. We walked through a park below the west entrance (Art Park?) that I’d probably avoid if possible (this could be tourist naivety on our part, but we felt a little less safe with the loiterers in the park).

We walked the tunnel for good measure, then ended up heading over to Tkalciceva Street to survey the food and drinks for a potential dinner later. We also took a nice break on a park bench in Park Opatovina and people-watched a little, resting our feet before heading back to the hotel to enjoy our free drink at the hotel café and send my nephews their postcard.

Dinner at Masklin i Lata (4/5)

Around the corner from our hotel, we found the cutest little basement restaurant. Delightfully decorated and quite empty on a Monday night, the restaurant was a great find. (Many restaurants were not open at all – we were fortunate to find this one.)

With a little help from photos online and a little help from the server, we ended up enjoying:

Octopus salad
Fish soup
Mussels
Pasta with seafood

The pasta was absolutely incredible and the octopus salad and fish soup were also really good! We could have done without the mussels, though.

We enjoyed a lovely glass of wine, and because one of our ordered menu items was not available due to the light service for the evening, he surprised us with another glass on the house. Very kind!

We opted to not eat dessert here as I had found a gluten free bakery I wanted to try.

Vincek/Vis a Vis by Vincek (4/5)

About a 10 minute walk from dinner, we found Vis a Vis by Vincek, which is a gluten free bakery (they also have lactose free, vegan, etc.). I grabbed a cream puff for “now” and some cookies for “later,” and then we walked around the corner to the original Vincek for some regular gelato for the hubby. We indulged as we took our final walk through the town on our final night in Croatia.

Tuesday, September 7

Zagreb to LAX

The next morning we made our trek to the Zagreb airport and flew back to the US where we were reunited with our big baby Beau. He had a great time with his big brother Rocky and was in such good hands with his foster dad and Rocky’s mama.

On the plane we met our across-the-aisle-seat-mates who ended being a friend of a friend. They had a little one with them and passed these out to their neighbors. How cute. Also, what a small world!

Welp, that’s the end of our trip, and certainly one of our favorite of all time! A perfect balance of…

relaxation and adventure: