This weekly wrap-up covers our journey from June 16 to 22. We arrived in Lisbon last Saturday, and we planned to spend a few days in the city and surrounding areas before somehow hopping to the Eastern Europe, but we didn’t know how that would happen. On Tuesday evening, we booked plane tickets to fly to Zagreb the next morning. It was very exciting. š After a few days in Croatia’s capital city, we took a bus to Zadar (a coastal town formerly ruled by the Italians) on Saturday morning.
Favorite thing we ate: Since arriving in Croatia, Jonathan has enjoyed ÄevapÄiÄi [above left] more than once. š This traditional Balkan meal is like little sausages of minced meat, often served with flatbread and onions. Jonathan’s best friend from college is Bosnian, and his mom used to make them ÄevapÄiÄi when she visited, so not only is it a delicious meal, it also holds some nostalgia for Jonathan.
Megan’s favorite meal was also in Zagreb: Å”trukli [above right]. Described as a “Croatian lasagna,” this baked dish has all the best parts of lasagna (cheese!) without the pesky red sauce and noodles. š We split a truffle Å”trukli, and I seriously debated going back to the restaurant again to try the walnuts and honey Å”trukli. All the options looked so good!
Favorite thing we drank: We both continued to enjoy vinho verde in Portugal, but since arriving in Croatia, it’s been all about the beer (and cider). Most bottles here are a half-liter, though, so we have to be careful with our consumption! Megan also especially enjoyed an iced latte in Zagreb. As much as I love Portugal, their coffee is one thing I don’t love, so it’s nice to be back in a country with coffee I actually want to sip and savor, rather than down at a cafĆ© bar for a shot of caffeine. š
Favorite thing we did: During our free walking tour in Zagreb [pictured above], we learned the tour company also offers a “war tour” to learn more about the 20th-century history of Croatia, especially its Homeland War of the early 1990s. This tour was Jonathan’s favorite activity of the week, and we’re both interested in learning more about the region’s history from different perspectives as we travel through the rest of former Yugoslavia. Megan especially enjoyed revisiting some of our favorite places in Lisbon from our last trip to Portugal in 2013, including the smallest bookshop in the world.
Biggest oops: We’ve been planning this part of our trip only a few days at a time, which is usually fine. Except when you plan to go to Plitvice Lakes as a pit stop on the way from Zagreb to Zadar, and you find out you can only book tickets up to two days in advance and entry to the park is limited. Oops. So, though it would have been more convenient to bus from Zagreb to Plitvice on Saturday, hike all day, then bus to Zadar that night, we ended up going straight from Zagreb to Zadar and will do Plitvice as a day trip later. Not an unfixable oops, but it does mean more hours on a bus for us.
What we’re reading: Jonathan finished Bad Blood on audio. Megan finished The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz ZafĆ³n and is now reading Beloved by Toni Morrison and listening to The Bride Test by Helen Hoang.
Total walking distance: 47.86 miles (including 14.35 miles on our day in Sintra!)
Up next: Continuing down the coast of Croatia before exploring more of the Balkans.
Great pictures and such a mixture of architectural styles!
If you ever in a mood for cevapcici (sorry, keyboard does not have accents) back in Bay Area, there is a small restaurant in Santa Clara (not very far from Mission branch š ) – Euro Grill. The owners also keep a small grocery store next door with a variety of European items, and they sell fresh lepinja/lepinje.
You know all the best food spots in Santa Clara, Marina! I wish I would have asked you for more recommendations when we lived there. š