I woke up this morning a little early to go buy train tickets to Croatia with Nicole. She and her friend, Cameron, happened to be travelling to Croatia on the same day, so we decided to travel together (there is only the one train to Croatia each day). I forgot how chilly it can be at 8:00 in the morning. I was not a fan. However, we did get our tickets booked for later in the day. After a little nap and packing up, all three of us went to a Thai restaurant. The chicken curry was good.
Next it was time for the long and awful train to Croatia. The train was a little old and had few amenities, but that wasn’t the issue. It was barely moving the entire time. People could probably run faster than this train at some points. Then at the border we were thoroughly inspected by customs officials. Luckily, the train stopped at the first city in Croatia and everybody had to change to a different train to Zagreb. The next train was normal train speed and much more comfortable. Comparatively, it was great! Of the 7 hour travel time, 4 were spent on the short journey from Budapest to the border, 1 at the border and 2 from the border all the way to Zagreb. It was very apparent that Eastern Europe had been severed from other parts of the world not too long ago.
We arrived in Zagreb and walked around town for a bit with our bags. I was staying at a different hostel than Nicole and Cameron because of availability during booking. Luckily, we accidentally walked by my hostel and I got to drop off my bags. Then all three of us went to dinner at a square down the street. The sandwiches at this shop were great and the menu for other times of the day looked even better. Our waiter was a younger guy and gave us all sorts of great suggestions to check out in Zagreb. The placemats at the restaurant were all different themed maps of Zagreb, so he just circled them for us to take. Next we went to drop off check in Cameron and Nicole. They were staying in a hostel a little bit farther in the suburbs, but it was really nice. The owner (Igor) is a great guy. Cameron was feeling a bit sick still, so Nicole and I left him to recover while we went out for a drink on our waiter’s recommendation. The pub was a small place with a large outdoor seating area and great prices. Next we went to check out the bar at my hostel, but unfortunately it was just after closing time. At that point, it was time for some sleep because the travel had done in everybody.
