calling from some city...

Today wasn’t a really exciting day for us because it was a travel day. Nevertheless, it was still a long and busy day. We woke up at 9 once again to catch the free breakfast at the hostel and then finished packing to check out. Sara left us then to head to the train station and to head home to Boston. We were very sad to see her go- I’m so glad we took this trip together. Now I’m stuck with Scott for the last 10 days, boo. (I joke. Kind of. Love you Scotty!). Anyways we said our goodbyes to Sara and then Scott and I headed out for some last sightseeing in Paris. We decided to go back to Sacre Coeur because it was close to the hostel, free, and so I could take pictures because my camera was dead the first time we went. It was overcast and threatening rain, but the sun managed to peak out so I could get some pretty shots of the very pretty church. We climbed up the hill to see the views of the city. After wandering around a bit, we sat down on the steps to listen to a very good harp player (ok fine, I will admit I did not know the name of the instrument until I asked Scott. Whatever) He played some songs that we knew, including ˝My Heart Will Go On˝ from Titanic. We could have sat there all day listening to this guy play. He was quite popular too, in only 20 minutes while we were sitting there, he sold 5 CDs. After, we poked around the tourist shops for a little bit.

While we were sitting on the hill, we got a call from Sara, who said “I might be going to Croatia with you guys after all!” She explained that a mysterious piece of luggage was found the airport, and her entire terminal (there are 3 terminals) was shut down, and no one was allowed in. But literally as we were on the phone with her, they started letting people back in, and she was able to make her flight. 

We decided to head back to the hostel to get lunch from the supermarket and continue organizing pictures from my camera and Sara’s camera until it was time to head to the airport. At the same time, I was reflecting on the overall visit to Paris. Overall, its one of my favorite stops on the trip, and maybe my favorite big city. It was easy to navigate and wasnt so hot, so it was a really pleasant city to be in. I loved all of the sites and museums that we visited, and would go back to nearly all of them on my next visit. There are many other sites I want to someday visit as well. The only downside to Paris is the cost involved- it was by far the most expensive city we visited to eat. You simply could not find really cheap food, so that was annoying. The only other downside is French people themselves, who just aren’t really friendly or hospitable. But thats fine- I would return to Paris in a heartbeat. It will never top Rome (you simply cant beat Italian culture, in my opinion) but Paris was ideal to visit in the summer, whereas you cant go to Rome comfortably in the summer. So while Rome is my favorite big city, Paris is a very close second. It truly is a beautiful place.

Anyways we wanted to the airport early because we had to sort out our tickets at the airport. We bought our tickets through an online booking agency, and thus has to pay the airport taxes before getting our boarding passes. Luckily, this proved very easy to do and we were pleased we each saved over 100 dollars each using this booking agency, rather than paying for the price of the tickets normally. We used EuropeByAir, which basically sells $99 flight vouchers on routes throughout Europe, and then you pay airport taxes. Because the flight from Paris to Zagreb was very expensive, we had expected to save money by going this route, and happily, it did. We paid the taxes and then got our boarding passes.

There was a humorous incident while we were waiting in line. We were next up at the check in counter, when an old woman came over and told us that she could cut the line because she had bought a reserved ticket and paid for the right to cut the line. The German woman at the ticket counter, however, told us we were next in line. The old woman started to argue and say she should go next. The counter attendant asked to see her ticket; when that happened, the woman started stuttering about how it was in “her papers.” The attendant looks at us, and mutters “French people think they’re so entitled” and then took our passports and told the woman to get in line. Scott and I just watched with a smile and a chuckle; we were glad we’re not the only people who felt this way about the French. 

Anyways, we went through security, where we witnessed another funny incident. A French man was going through security and set the alarm off. The worker asked him to take his dress shoes off. The guy started pitching a fit, yelling and gestering in French that he didn’t want to take his shoes off. Finally, he did and threw the shoes through the alarm, instead of placing them on the belt. The worker of course started to yell at him, and the two bickered back and off. Scott and I didn’t really see what the problem with taking one’s shoes off were, but it was funny to watch. 

The flight was no problem. Once again we were sitting in the emergency row, so we had extra leg room. It was an hour and a half flight, and it was a little bumpy but overall no problems. We arrived at 7:30 and then got our bags, and immediately got on the bus to take us to the main station at 8 pm. We arrived and got on the proper tram, and it was only 5 minutes walk to the hostel. We checked in, and met our roommates, two Canadian sisters. 

Two quick pieces of information about Zagreb. First, at the airport, we also stopped at the ATM to get money- we now needed Croatian kune! (kuna is the singular). It’s kind of weird, because 1 US dollar is about 5.5 kune, and 1 euro is about 7.23 kune. So all the prices look very high, until you remember to do the conversion and you actually see it’s very cheap. Second, the most important piece of info we learned right away was that you don’t really need to pay for the tram system in Zagreb. There is a free zone that exists around the city center. Our hostel is technically 2 stops away from this free zone, but the workers at the hostel assured us we did not have to pay for tickets. Since we had already bought one ticket for the ride to the hostel, but couldn’t figure out how to validate it, we’re just going to carry that ticket around with us. Sounds great to us- every little bit saved counts! 

It was past 9 pm at this point, so we went to the town center to get dinner. We quickly found a place to sit down and eat that was so cheap. We couldn’t believe how cheap the food is. Scott got a drink, burger, and friends for only 40 kune- which was about 5.5 euros. I got this huge plate of mixed grilled meat- chicken, hamburger, and steak with 4 large pieces of warm bread with butter for only 50 euros, plus water- in total, under 7 euros for a whole meal. It was delicious and very satisfying.

We decided to walk around Old Town for a bit. I really like Zagreb because the main squares and streets are pedestrian only. So all the restaurants have outdoor seating and everyone was sitting outside, eating and drinking. We walked up to the Upper Town and enjoyed seeing the city below us. We saw a massive, beautiful cathedral I want to visit tomorrow. We came across an outdoor concert, and then looked for the outdoor movie that we were told was in English. It actually was in French, and it was over by the time we got there. We then decided to head back to the hostel to get a full night’s sleep. After conversation with our roommates, we went to sleep. Tomorrow is our only day to explore Zagreb, so we’re excited for that.