Last night, as you may recall, I was not impressed with the approach to Zagreb as the soviet type high rise apartment blocks dotted the suburbs.
However, when we quitted the station, we were again in the midst of Hapsburg faded grandeur - beautiful buildings in a reasonable condition interspersed with many parks.
The hotel stood in all its grandeur - a 2 minute walk from the station. It has recently been refurbished and has all the luxury that a traveller on the Orient Express would expect - well appointed suites with cotton sheets bearing an enormous thread count and Occitaine toiletries. The atmosphere was utter luxury in contrast to the city outside its door.
The corridors exhibited photograph after photograph of famous travellers on the Orient Express, including a photograph of the young, Elizabeth II of Britain.
I was tempted to remain in the hotel, have dinner and have an early night but the thought of dressing for dinner pushed us into the street or possibly it was the intrepid traveller in us - dear readers, I will leave you to decide.
We set off for Zagreb cathedral, passing numerous shops - some designer but the majority selling poor quality clothes. The poor quality of people' s clothes is very noticeable. We traversed Jelacica Square en route to the cathredal. The square was full of shoppers supporting stalls selling a wide variety of fresh vegetables, foods and juices. Beer and food were also available to imbibe and consume at one or two stalls.
Further on, we reached Zagreb cathredal in all its Gothic magnificence. Mass was on and as we loitered at the back of the church, a number of nuns dressed in their religious habits together with a number of postulants arrived for Mass. It is noticeable that since we arrived in Italy the religious wear their habits unlike at home where they are generally not worn nor do you see any Irish postulants - all young religious in Ireland now come from abroad.
Having savoured old Zagreb, and having had a pavo (beer) in the Square,
On entering the basement restaurant, we realised that were the only guests but I suppose that was hardly surprising for a Monday night.
John had the misfortune to ask if Dubrovnik was in Croatia, which triggered a treatise on the fact that though it was not part of Croatia in the 15th century, it had been a part of Croatia more or less ever since- I soon lost the gist of the treatise. The said waiter volunteered that he did not like Dubrovnik as it had too many tourists, yet he explained that Hungry made €6 million from tourism around Lake Balafon alone last year while the whole of Croatia only made €4 million ! I suggest his figures may be open to correction.
He complained about corruption in Croatia and explained that though Croatia was a member of the EU, it had to get the economy in order and strengthen the Kuna before it would be accepted into the Euro currency. He added that he hoped Croatia would never adopt the Euro as any country that adopted the Euro had seen prices rise by 30%.
Eventually, to our relief, our food arrived and having giving us some information on Croatian wine, he recommended a merlot as suitable for fillet of pork stuffed with ham and cheese and a turkey breast cooked in a Gorgonzola sauce together with a seasonal salad and home cooked chips. We finished with expressos and he gave us both a complimentary drink - a wild blueberries with little alcohol, he assured me, for moi and his Jameson liqueur for John. The meal was delicious.
With my ever expanding waistline, as a consequence of consuming excessive bowls of pasta in Italy, I had hoped that the fare as we crossed into Eastern Europe would be less enticing but to date my hopes have been dashed. However, I will have to continue to sample the fare - for research purposes only - you understand
He informed us that he really liked Jameson and had designed some cocktails with Jameson as the basic liquor. Last Friday, he had used 11/2 bottles of Jameson, making cocktails for a Norwegian group. The Norwegians make up the majority of their tourists - little wonder with the price of alcohol in Norway!
We left the restaurant and returned to the hotel. We went to the cocktail bar, where the women were dressed in their cocktail dresses. I was completely underdressed in jeans and tee - shirt but we were served...
This morning we took advantage of a lie in as our train to Belgrade did not depart until 11.10. It was en route from Zurich and had been delayed on the Croatian side, one of our fellow passengers informed us. The Croatian people are extremely polite, friendly and helpful. They all appear to speak English perfectly. The track numbering system is peculiar - our track was numbered 2- 3. When we enquired if we were on the right part of the track, a lady suggested we follow a young girl in her company, who was also travelling to Belgrade. She joked that if we sat on the wrong end of the train, we might see more of Croatia!!
The train arrived and we boarded - the young girl was keeping a watchful eye on us to ensure we boarded the correct carriage and another gentleman nodded in approval when I took my seat -as I already mentioned, they are kind and gentle people.
We had reserved seats but unlike Slovenia, there was no reservation cards on our allocated seats. The train is only about 50% occupied so there shouldn't be a problem although I saw one doughty woman evict one of her fellow countrymen, who was sitting in her reserved seat .
The train is poor in comparison to yesterday's model. It has no compartments only seats and while one wouldn't say the train was dirty , it is quite rundown and in need of some TLC. The toilets are reminiscent of old CIE days.
Dear reader, you are unfortunate today as
I must sit on this train till c.17.00 this evening, when the train eventually reaches Belgrade. I have little to occupy my time but inflict on you my observations of Croatia.
We were under the impression that there would be no restaurant car on the train so we stocked up provisions in the station bakery. Their breads are excellent as are their salads. On boarding the train, we discovered that there was a restaurant car.
We have just returned from the dining car to be met by either Croatian emigration officials? There was stamping of passports but when she looked at ours, she took a double take - obviously they don't see an Irish passport too often. She flashed through all the pages with our multitudinous visas and handed them back to us without a stamp - probably thought we had had enough!
In the restaurant car - the chef arrived at our table with a benign smile on his face asking if we needed help? There were a handful of words I recognised - omlette, vodka, coca cola and fanta. He informed us that he could provide an omlette
of choice or veal or pork any style in addition to salads and potatoes.
I ordered a ham and cheese omlette and John had Veal a la Parisienne together with two salads. The salad of cucumber, tomatoes and lettuce topped with grated mozzarella was excellent.
I asked about wine - in the interests of research only, you understand? I asked if it were Croatian wine , when my tall, blonde, handsome chef pulled himself up to his full 6 feet plus height and informed me that it was Serbian - Herzegovina or was it Serbian Montenegran wine? That put me on my place! He produced a 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, which should have been decanted but I was not going there - just careful with the pouring.
I have now been interrupted by the Serbian border control policeman, who did stamp our passports. They are quite a dour lot - one would never believe the Wall came down 25 years ago!
To get back to lunch, if was excellent and we were the only diners. We asked for two expressos to finish but were informed that they served Tufkish coffee only! The faux pas are mounting! Did we require sugar no but it came anyway!
The waiter proceeded to add up the bill in whatever Serbian currency ( we'll learn what it is his evening (homework not having been sufficiently diligent prior to departure)) then in Euros. He added, cross checked and eventually presented us with a bill for €30, I suspect he doesnt get a similar order very often. The only other occupants of the restaurant car had a beer and a cup of coffee respectively; everyone else brought their own provisions. We tipped the waiter and he looked at us in disbelief. The vhef came to the table it thank us for our custom.
We have now had our tickets checked by the Serbians. It appeared that I have not filled in my pass correctly but he was very gracious unlike his immigration counterparts.
As we passed through the Serbian countryside, we were amazed at the poverty. The rural houses were unkempt and there was a general sir of neglect.
Even the railway stations bore no resemblance to their immaculately kept Slovakian counterparts.
We approached. Belgrade and were astonished at the approach block after block of the most appalling high rise apartments. It reminded me of Moscow in the 1980s. Even three young English students were visibly shocked at the squalor.
We have three hours to spend here before we take the overnight train to Sofia. We left the station -the whole place is depressing so we returned to the station to a restaurant that is acceptable. More tomorrow...
Mary, me thinks you should consider a change in career. You write with such an entertaining and at the same time such an informative style! I am laughing and enjoying your journey with you and John.
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