Zagreb, the Centre of the Universe

So for the first couple days, we were exploring around the city of Zagreb. "We" consisted of Olga (my fellow MC member from Russia, who arrived the same day as I did), Cata (last year's MCP of Croatia), and Cata's friend Marta who was visiting from Portugal. Our current MCP is also in town, but has been out of commission for the past couple days due to illness. Cata kindly gave us a nice tour of the city centre, showing us the different town squares, historical buildings and monuments. We also climbed a short tower, that gave us a beautiful panoramic view of the cityscape, seen below.

One set of sights that has caught my interest in Zagreb is a scaled model of our universe. They have the 6-ft diameter golden Sun near the centre of the city with the subsequent planets sized and distanced proportionally from the Sun. I have only seen the planet Mars in my tour of the city, but the search for the planets will definitely be one of my adventures this year... once I get a bike.


Zagreb as a city is quite a bit more spacious than I had expected. It has both an area and population similar to that of Edmonton. But a noticeable difference is the quality of public transportation found in the city. Here we have trams, busses, and trains that help us navigate through the city, which makes it very convenient to get around. I live a bit far from the city centre, but can take a train for 8 minutes and be there. Another positive aspect, being able to drink out in the open, a pleasure I haven't experienced since Freiberg.

Two nights ago, I went to an open air concert where they were playing "gypsy" music. Now I don't know about you, but I've always thought that "gypsy" was more of a taboo word, much like saying it was "jew" music or something, but it's perfectly acceptable around here. Before going to the concert, despite being explained numerous times what the music was like, I could not stop imagining a group of people dressed like Esmerelda from the Hunchback of Notre Dame dancing around playing their tambourines. The actual concert was sweet and was very instrumental with trumpets and all. Hard to explain exactly what it sounded like, but I will somehow find some gypsy music to let you all listen in the future. Overall, a great first few days in Zagreb, and I'm sure I will grow to love the city even more in the year to come.

Arrival!

After a long 24-hour trek, I've finally arrived at my new home in Zagreb Croatia. Getting here was quite troublesome, as initially I wasn't able to board the plane because my return flight was scheduled more than three months from now, indicating that I required a temporary stay permit. This was a problem since I was actually coming to Croatia to pick that up and all of this was arranged verbally, so I had no documentation indicating that this was indeed the case. As a result, I had to rebook my return flight before they would let me on the plane. Luckily, I was able to complete this with 3 minutes still remaining before my boarding time! Thanks Jeff for coming to see me off, despite me not having a second to say a word to you due to this rushed incident.

My flight took me first to Vancouver airport for a quick stop. Then I had an 8-hour stopover in Frankfurt. Let me tell you...longest 8 hours of my life! What do you do for 8-hours in an airport?! I read a bit of a Brave New World, tried to catch a bit of shut-eye, and went to eat at the Mcdonald's below.

I have a great fondness of going to eat at Mcdonald's in different countries. Despite it's status as maker's of "100% All Beef" patties with Supersizing effects, it is nonetheless a strong image of each countries cultural identity. At this specific Mcdonald's, I enjoyed some sort of Senf (mustard) burger, and if you've ever been to Germany, you know they love their senf. That was about the only highlight in that airport though... and with that, I was off to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.

When I arrived at the airport, I was a bit worried that I'd be stopped at customs with another inquiry about my permit. As such, I rushed hurriedly to get through there as soon as I could, so much so that I'd passed by the baggage claim area without even noticing. Now Zagreb airport is a different setup from the Edmonton one, where people who are picking you up can get to the baggage claim area. Here, there were one way doors that separated the two areas, and I recognized that seconds after I had passed through those doors without my baggage. I was able to quickly track down an airport staff to help me get back in, and then I took the bus to the city centre, where I was picked up by the amazing EB from Zagreb, who then drove me to our MC flat.