I think it’s fair to say that between the two of us, I have a much shorter list of countries I must see. New Zealand and Jordan (Petra), were on that list. This time, Croatia is the destination of choice. I confess, I’m not a complicated guy. If you were to peruse my list of must-do countries, you’ll likely notice a theme. They all have been featured in some movie or tv show that made an impression on me. Game of Thrones is what cemented Croatia to my list as its beautiful scenery was featured throughout the series. When we booked this trip we also decided to check out the neighbouring country of Slovenia. In our first few days we have visited the Capital cities of each country and I’m pleased to tell you that both are worth the trip.
We touched down in Zagreb, the Croatian capital and only had a couple of days to tour around the city and see what it had to offer. It had a familiar Eastern European feel to it that reminded me of places like Krakow, Budapest and Bratislava. The city feels like it has evolved through the centuries with each era leaving its mark. There are cathedrals, statues of liberators, graffitied murals and what I can only describe as a Soviet aftertaste.
One of the city’s main attractions is to gather near the base of Lotrščak Tower at noon. Every day at precisely 12 o’clock a cannon is fired from the top floor of the medieval defence tower. You can feel the shockwave when it goes off, and if you aren’t covering your ears, they will definitely be ringing until 12:02.
After visiting the tower, we descended back down to the city centre and happened upon a tunnel that warranted a closer inspection. The entrance was at a dilapidated park that looked like it was transplanted from Chernobyl. We could hear some creepy music coming out of rickety speakers deep inside the tunnel. For some reason both of us were compelled to investigate, though each step we took felt like a mistake.
Once our eyes adjusted to the light we could see something ahead of us, which turned out to be public toilets and a water fountain that had seen better days. Did we turn around? Not a chance…
Eventually we turned a corner and were in the middle of a literal underground art gallery.
We made it out alive and finished off our walking tour before returning to our AirBnB.
The next morning we picked up our rental car (Twiggy), and drove 1.5 hours to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. This city took us by surprise! We spent the entire two days we were there taking photographs of anything and everything. It was the kind of place where you could swing your camera around your head letting it snap away and you’d never get a bad picture.
Nighttime was equally stunning.
Day two had us hiking up to Ljubljana Castle for a bird’s eye view of the Capital. The Castle also has a few attractions like a 4D movie about the Castle’s history, a gallery of medieval weapons, and a puppet museum, which was slightly creepy but ultimately amusing.
That afternoon we walked to an old converted military barracks which is now an Autonomous Cultural Centre. I wasn’t sure what that meant before we went there and I would have never guessed what it actually was. From what we surmised, it was an outdoor venue for nighttime shenanigans. There were posters advertising live music events but we were likely to be in bed long before the fun began.
Both cities were impressive but I have to give Ljubljana the edge for my favourite of the two. We will be seeing more of Slovenia before we head back to Croatia. Stay tuned for Lake Bled and truffle hunting!