I arrived in Zagreb yesterday afternoon off a lovely flight from Athens, and immediately put into practice what my Bosnian guide Alem had warned last year – “Where are you most likely to get robbed? The taxi” (I paid 35 Euro for the 15 minute ride into town, which was a hilariously large sum). That being said, Zagreb is incredibly beautiful and I’m so glad I was able to visit. On the ride in from the airport, it’s clear that Zagreb used to be part of Yugoslavia – there are crumbling factories, block houses, etc. Unlike Dubrovnik, my previous exposure to Croatia, this feels more like what I would expect a large former Yugoslavian city to look like, given my other time spent in the Balkans.

Since I arrived around dinner time, I headed for the hotel and then proceeded to dinner at Restoran Mime’s, which is part of Zagreb’s “trendy bistro” scene (apparently a relatively new phenomena that’s revitalized the city’s food culture; Mime’s has a variety of styles of trendy restaurant throughout the city, including a more formal restaurant and a pizza joint). The food was delicious – I had the traditional Istrian pasta, pljukanci, which was served with a melted cheese sauce, grilled beef, and sundried tomatoes.

After dinner, I headed back to the hotel to block out my upcoming day exploring the city. I started off this morning bright and early and headed immediately to grab coffee at a trendy little coffee shop set in the courtyard of a nondescript apartment complex, Figa Garden by Henrik. It didn’t disappoint.

After coffee, I did a bit of exploration of the southwestern part of the city before taking the tram a couple stops north to the city center, before I walked up (quite literally) to the “Old Town” area. After almost getting run over multiple times (the rules for crossing the street, even when there is a crosswalk sign, appear to include “just don’t get in the way of a car”). I passed by the National Theater and paid a stop to the Ethnographic Museum.

Sadly, the ground floor exhibit was closed, but the permanent exhibition was available. It included a fascinating window into Croatian individual’s lives as told in their own voices (using translation for English, of course), with artifacts collected from a variety of rural areas. There were also examples of many historic cultural forms of dress, all of which were incredibly ornate and beautiful. Many of these garments include rich red coloring; however, the photo on the far right displays the transition to blue once a woman had children (custom in this particular province).

Then, I headed for more of the sights in the center of the city and the “Old Town” area. The trams in Zagreb are fantastic, and the main area of the city is small enough that almost everything is within one to two stops away, with trams running incredibly frequently and with clear signage.

It turns out, most of the Old Town sights are up the hill, so I began the trek.

I inadvertently stumbled upon my first sight, which was the Zakmardijeve stube, aka the footpath up the hill. There was a nice little viewing area at the top.

As soon as I scaled the top, I had the unfortunate realization that I’d somehow missed the funicular up the hill – not an especially pleasant realization considering it was almost 85 degrees at 10am.

I did however find the concentration of activities at the hop of the hill, including the Lotrščak Tower (we were warned we’d hear gunshots at noon, as they fire the cannon daily); the Greek Catholic Co-cathedral of St. Cyril and Methodius; the City Assembly Of The City Of Zagreb; and the Palača Igerčić.

Much of the area around the city assembly was blocked off as the President of the European Parliament was in assembly here today, but I still managed to meander around getting a good look. The highlight of this area before lunch, however, was the Museum of Broken Relationships.

Frankly, I was expecting something a little “cuter” and less thought-provoking and poignant, but it was truly an incredible museum. Created by a couple during their separation, the museum is intended to help catalog and process all of the emotions that go along with “broken” relationships – and this is defined writ large, whether a breakup between a couple, separation from parents, death of a loved one, death of a child, “breakup” with a favorite food, etc. The artifacts have all been submitted from individuals from across the world, with incredibly touching, heart-breaking, funny, and clever notes from the submitters.

Among the incredible items on display, a couple artifacts and stories stood out to me:

• A godzilla statue, which was apparently given to this individual by an ex, and was used post-breakup to collect items from the next several girlfriends
• A parachuting backpack, with a lovely description of how the couple met during a skydiving event and continued to skydive together until one partner tragically passed away during a dive
• A collection of rainbow colored cranes, made by a Japanese parent after the stillbirth of their second child; their marriage did not survive the loss and they repatriated to Japan from Europe
• A wedding dress that was used to take wedding portraits before the wedding; the groom was tragically killed in a terror attack shortly before the wedding
• A misshapen, hand-knitted sweater that was “hate-made” during the breakup and which (amusingly) represented the relationship (he would ask for certain features, then change his mind, the back is falling apart while the visible front is intact)
• A replica of a partner’s penis, with the description “what do I need a vibrating replica of his dick for?”
• A box of pasta, with a description of how the individual in question realized they were gluten free

Overall, an incredibly touching museum. I then wanted to duck out of the heat and headed for a local restaurant with rave reviews: Konoba Didov San. Sadly, they didn’t open for another 30 minutes, so I headed to the pub next door for a quick beer while I waited. Once I was able to sit for lunch, I was incredibly impressed. The restaurant specializes in Croatian fare, so I tried a couple specialties: soparnik (picture if spanakopita made with a pastry dough and a scallion pancake had a baby and smothered it in fried garlic oil and sour cream); pasticada s njokima (essentially beef goulash with fresh gnocchi); a side salad with sunflower oil, and the quince liqueur and a very rich white wine.

Then, I wandered over to the City Museum of Zagreb, which was blessedly air-conditioned, as the only breeze I’d enjoyed in the near 90 degree heat throughout the day was from infrequently passing cars.

The City Museum has an interesting collection, chronicling Zagreb’s history from ancient to modern times. The collection is sparsely commented in English and some of the curation is slightly chaotic, but overall it was worth the stop.

Then, I started wandering down to my next stop for an afternoon rest, a cute little bar called A’E Craft Bar. Fascinatingly, the bar is just the terrace of the property the family has owned for the past 60 years. It had a lovely vibe and a great view above Zagreb.

On the way back to the catch the tram, I hit my final museum of the day, which was the Zagreb ’80s Museum. I passed the Kamenita vrata, or the “stone gate” on the way (located in the white building pictured at the top right below).

The ’80s Museum was awesome; similar to the bar, it was literally just set inside an apartment building. They have essentially decorated the apartment in ’80s decor, from a kitchen to a living room to a small arcade and allow you to “gently” interact with all of the objects. I had a ton of fun going through the different pantry items and seeing the aging liquors and other memorabilia, much of which still says “Made in Yugoslavia” or “Made in the USSR”.

After that, I headed back to the hotel to cool off before dinner, passing the Croatian Association of Fine Artists building.

For dinner, I treated myself to Noel, Zagreb’s only Michelin-starred restaurant. Dinner was the “spring” thematic / conceptual menu and included approximately 40 bites (inclusive of drink pairings). The entire experience was “art” themed, going as far as to showcase the artist in residence (they welcome painters each month, and then host a semiannual art show), and at one point to plunge the restaurant into darkness for a combination violin-lightshow performance. It was excellent and quite unexpected, indeed. Unlike many Michelin-star restaurants I’ve been to that focus so much on the experience that the food disappoints, every bit was delicious and very thoughtfully paired; they offer a “drink” pairing (what I opted for, it’s a a mix of alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks, including cocktails, wine, beer, sake, cold-brewed tea, and kombucha), a wine pairing and a cold-brewed tea pairing. The bites were incredible (tried to get a pic of each course, but some photo better than others!).

The entire menu focuses on vegetables, with caviar as a pairing where needed. A couple highlights:

• The carrot course was incredible; carrots three ways, including with an olive brine pairing
• Tomato soup with trout roe and a honey-herb rim was delightful
• The Croatian milk bread with honey and poppyseeds was incredible
• I loved the “raindrop” cocktail and the LEGO “childhood memory”, super whimsical and playful
• The artichoke pairing with sake was a revelation I wasn’t ready for
• All of the cocktails were fabulous, but I especially loved the one that mixed mezcal and sherry
• The “art” plate where we “painted” our meal fell slightly flat for me, but I do love the creativity and return to simple, playful, not impressive ideals

Overall, a fantastic first day and a half in Zagreb! Cannot wait to continue exploring tomorrow.