WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2011. We’ve only been in Pula for one day and have to leave to go to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. We love our maps now; haven’t been able to find a GPS with Croatia on it. But we’re not looking forward to another road trip only one day after finally getting here. Steve has an orientation (along with the other Fulbright Scholars) at the US Embassy in Zagreb that he is required to attend, along with a reception in the evening at the Ambassador’s house. I get to stay at the hotel or find some way to entertain myself. That won’t be hard in a big city like Zagreb!
But first, we need to get there. Always a challenge when highway signs are in a language other than the one you know. The conditions on the highway are getting bad and we’re wishing we had our 4-wheel drive vehicle now: black ice, snow, bora winds – not much fun now. Only a few other vehicles are on the road with us. Where did everyone go? After arriving in Zagreb, we learned the highway we were traveling on was closed!!! But we couldn’t read the sign so we didn’t know. Fortunately, we made it safely to Zagreb, even on a closed highway. All those years of driving in the snow and ice in New York, Michigan, and Maryland finally paid off!
Our first stop in Zagreb was the US Embassy. We were looking forward to picking up my lost suitcase and the 4 boxes of academic materials the State Dept. allowed Steve to ship here. Unfortunately, I would still have no clean clothes to wear or mousse to fix my hair. Someone at the Embassy sent my suitcase to Pula, even though they knew we were on our way to Zagreb to pick it up. I had been a “good sport” so far about my suitcase, but this was getting ridiculous. Well, there was absolutely nothing I could do to change things, so, time to accept things as they are and carry on and get used to wearing wrinkled clothes.
THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2011. Steve survived the orientation and the reception without me and I survived on the cold streets of Zagreb. It really was too cold to go very far but I did venture out to look at the historic buildings nearby and to try to buy some lunch. No luck with the lunch. Every place I stopped did not accept credit cards and only took kuna (Croatian money) and all I had with me was Euros (and US dollars). I wasn’t really hungry anyway. The hotel had a very complete and delicious breakfast buffet and you could also add to the buffet by ordering from the menu for eggs, French toast, etc. too. I didn’t get hungry till dinner time!
We had dinner at Le Bistro in the Regent Hotel Esplanade. This is the hotel the Embassy “made” us stay at and is the same hotel that people used to stay in on their journey with the Orient Express. When the Orient Express came through Zagreb, people would get off at this hotel to be pampered for awhile before getting back on the train. And what a luxurious hotel it is! The room was almost the size of our apt.! And the towels and robes and slippers and heat…oh my, I’m getting spoiled. Back to the food – again, I’m getting spoiled. Everything was so good and presented so artistically. I may never want to cook again!
FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2011. Time to say good-bye to luxury and return to real life. The drive back to Pula was not as eventful as the drive to Zagreb. No closed roads and no getting lost. Now, I ask you: Where’s the fun in that? Although, when we arrived once again in Pula, we did have some trouble finding our apt. But not as much as the night we first arrived.
Our first stop in Pula was actually the grocery store and then the University to pick up my suitcase from Steve’s office. I can’t believe I finally have my suitcase. Yippee!!! Can’t wait to get back to the apt. and get unpacked and finally completely settle in.
And the bora wind is gone so it doesn’t feel so cold, especially with the sun shining. How good it feels.
Oh no! Steve was unpacking his boxes of academic materials as I unpacked my suitcase and discovered his dongle was missing!!! Dongle – Look it up!!! One of the boxes had kind of fallen apart and the dongle must have fallen out somewhere along the journey.
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