Europe Trip 2.0: The King Has Landed

Croatia

Had a brief stopover at London upon my arrival from Iceland. Tubing my way via Piccadilly Line to Heathrow Airport, I took the earliest British Airways flight to Zagreb. After three hours of flight, I safely landed at the capital of Croatia on the 19th. The local time was one hour ahead of England, means seven hours behind of Malaysia's. Exchanged for small changes at the airport, I used the shuttle bus to the city for 30 kuna which operated for every 30 minutes. I dropped my luggage at the storage centre at the bus station, I spent the day exploring the city. Zagreb was a rather small city which could be easily covered on foot in half a day. The furthest point of interest, Museum of Broken Relationships, was just thirty minutes away. I exchanged the rest of my euro in town  before walking to my first stop, the cathedral. As the night fell at 4pm, at every corner of the city started to be illuminated by Christmas light decoration. Christmas market in Zagreb apparently was voted among the best ones in Europe.

Cathedral of Zagreb

Ban Jelacic Square

A quick fix for my sweet tooth at Princess Confectionaries

St Mark Church

Accessible with 40 Kuna, this visit was an interesting one as it featured the items of the ex-lovers

One of the exhibits at the museum. The label reads "He gave me his mobile phone so I couldn't call him anymore."

One of the christmas markets

View of the cathedral from the hilltop

One of the main streets in Zagreb, in Christmas decoration

My bus to Dubrovnik departed almost on time at 10.30pm.  Something interesting here is, you will need to pay additional 7 kuna to the bus driver for luggage service fee. It was 10 hours journey and I slept throughout the ride, except for the immigration check point crossing Bosnia border. I spent around two days in Dubrovnik which was more than sufficient to cover the old city. Since it was the low season, the island was not accessible during this point of time. The crowd was much lesser than usual. For instance, I went to the City Wall (entrance fee was 150 kuna, inclusive for free visit to Fort Lovrijenac within 3 days) around noon, despite of the online feedback advising visit early in the morning, I hardly spot anyone on the wall and I can enjoy the view with peace in an hour. Some of these places may seem familiar to the fans of HBO series, Game of Thrones. Dubrovnik Old City is used as the setting for King's Landing. Back in the hostel refreshing myself, I found myself yearning for dinner. Found a spot based on online reviews, I headed to Azur for a surprise treat which served fusion of Asian and local dish. 

Entrance to the old city (Pile Gate)

Dubrovnik West Harbour

Stradun, the main street of old city

The Rector Palace and Church of Saint Blaise

Old Port

Jesuit Stairs, or more famously known for walk of shame of Cersei Lannister

Saint Ignatius, on top of Jesuit Stairs

View from the City Wall

Fort Lovrijenac view from City Wall

Stradun illuminated in Christmas lights

This dish is called laksa by the chef. The brother is married to an Indonesian

Did I mention most of the eateries were closed during this time of the year and will only resume in quarter two of the following year? Apparently during the winter/low season, lots of the business owners would take a break to the major cities. Azur, the place that I had my first dinner, the owner decided to stay back for that holiday (and I was all by myself the entire time I was there).  I met up with my friends on the following day and we took the cable car (return fee for 150 kuna) to the top of the hill and had an overview of whole old city. 

One of my favourite seafood - fresh oysters (food savouring delicious dish emoji)

Teriyaki Tuna Steak

View of Old City from Fort Lovrijenac

View of mountain range beyond the hill

Top view of Dubrovnik old city

It was the warmest day in Europe throughout this trip

Dolce Vita to fix my ice cream craving to  conclude the evening

My last dinner in Dubrovnik - Pan Seared Shade-Fish Fillet

I detoured to Zagreb by bus and spent my third day in Croatia travelling, admiring the view of the journey. One of the major highlights for the current pitstop was the visit to Plitvice Lakes National Park. Two hours away from Zagreb, I took an early bus to the park. Some sections of the parks are closed in winter and the entrance was only 50 kuna (normal fee was 100 kuna) for one day ticket.  There were few routes available to enjoy the park but there wasn't much choice in winter. Considering only few check points were only available to visit, I spend around three hours there and I would say I was in love with the scenery there. When I thought I have enough of "foss" during my time in Iceland, I found myself was unable to resist the temptation of capturing the views.

Grand Waterfall of Plitvice 

The green lakes were mesmerizing

Duckies... duckies...

Two different paths but it still led to the same destination. Pretty much how life works too, eh?

Me closer to the grand waterfall

The famous wooden plank walk in the park

The cute little snowman. His right arm was off before I found him

Emoji with two heart eyes

Initially I bought return bus ticket to Plitvice without knowing that I can buy the bus ticket on the spot, basically on any bus that going towards Zagreb. Since I ended my visit early, I burned my ticket to get on earlier bus returning to the city. Had my very last stroll at the city for last minute souvenirs shopping, last glimpse of Christmas markets and last dinner before packing my belongings for my trip home.

Strukli, traditional dish of Croatia. It tasted like lasagna, without the meat, purely dough and cheese

Ban Jelacic Square at night

The quietest international airport I have been to so far during my overseas travel

I met up with my friends at Gatwick International Airport before boarding our flight back home to Malaysia. After away from home country for more than two weeks, I returned to Kuala Lumpur on the night of Christmas Day and back in office on the very next day. It was definitely a trip of nostalgia and out-of-the-world experience as there were so many firsts in this journey. Now I already have list of countries for my Europe Trip 3.0.

Till then, see you in next excursion!