Zagreb and I never quite clicked. Yesterday, after I arrived and cooled off, I walked around but save for a very pretty park, never found the charming heart of the city I was hoping for (perhaps it does not exist). For dinner, the salad I was craving came out a bit over dressed shall we say.
And then there was my hostel, for which I can only blame myself. It was a Lonely Planet backpacker dive of the worst kind. Long story short, I ended up spending the night in a stuffy and hot room listening to a guy with a wet, hacking cough. By 3:00 AM I was up and before 4:00 AM was on the road out of town. There were the usual late night revelers on the streets, but the air was cool and the buildings and monuments were quiet and softly beautiful.
Getting out of town, needless to say, was a lot easier than getting into town yesterday. I rode through the dark past the city limits and into the countryside, passing farms and fields as the sun came up.
It felt like a confirmation of sorts. Outside of Zagreb and off of the main highways, the Croatian countryside is a gorgeous patchwork of small farming towns and green hillsides connected by great little roads that rise and fall with the landscape. Apple and pear trees lined many if the roads and I helped myself to the tart and sweet fruit.
Despite the beauty, there is certainly evidence of the war, now 20 years past.
Throughout the day I rode by old burned out buildings like this one. It was hard to tell if these were the remains of war or simply the passage of time, both of which I suppose lead to the same outcome, just at different speeds. 
I also saw a number of women, whom I presume were widows, dressed in black and with faces suggesting an inner sorrow, walking and cycling to church. 
Starting off at 4:00 am meant that by 8:00 am when the bakeries opened I was ravenous. Croatian bakeries have a great assortment of sweet and savory pastries and I made the smart choice and got one of each (spinach and feta/poppyseed)!
By early afternoon, the early start, heat and hills had taken their toll and I was delighted to roll into Slunj, a pretty hill town at a confluence of two rivers and with a picturesque waterfall.
Even better was the friendly and clean place I checked myself into just as an afternoon thunder shower started to come down. I seem to have timed my escape from Zagreb perfectly!
smallchainringbigworld 
Hey Gabe, that line about the remains of war and the passage of time is wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and pictures. How have you found the dog situation in the countryside? I saw that one chained up and barking in the background of one of your pictures-
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Thanks Benj! No real problems with dogs so far. This morning as I was riding in the near dark, one came at me and scared me a bit, so I kind of growled/yelled at it and he ran off, glancing over his shoulder a few times like “what the hell was that?” I must have a pretty mean growl! 🙂
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great photo of the bike on the morning horizon. I think it was smart getting out of town before dawn. I was in Zagreb for a month and would have been happy to peel out under cover of darkness. Ok, bakery boy, since you are spending so much time eating bread, you should be aware that the Serbian word for bread is hleb (sounds like cleb) and the Croatian word for bread is kruh. you don’t want to ask for hleb in a Croatian bakery or vice versa. I wonder if you used the Serbian word for “salad” last night.
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I can’t wait to hear more about your time in this part of the world when I get back. My only image is of you getting training runs in along a highway in Zagreb! Still not sure about that salad… 🙂
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I forgot to send this along, Gabe, but I wrote it upon reading your post a couple days ago when the guy offered the first line. You have some long hours in the saddle to complete this poem but I have given you a start:
One must travel slowly for the mind to be free
One must travel gently for birds to remain still
One must travel sparely for eyes to yet see
One must travel fondly for the man to have will.
Compose away.
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A ha! This is good and gives me almost a year until the Bard reading! There may be hope for me after all. Thanks buddy.
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Gabe, your amazing. Up at 3…making lemonade always, you are, Mr. Grant. And as for the salad and Zagreb…there are ups and downs, dogs and dog days, gifts and flats. Choosing when to bark, bite or slip out the back comes with experience I’m observing. But just knowing the other will come when one is at hand…that seems to be the real trick. And if uncertain, get up and get pedaling, I guess!
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Gabe, you’re amazing. Up at 3…making lemonade always, you are, Mr. Grant. And as for the salad and Zagreb…there are ups and downs, dogs and dog days, gifts and flats. Choosing when to bark, bite or slip out the back comes with experience I’m observing. But just knowing the other will come when one is at hand…that seems to be the real trick. And if uncertain, get up and get pedaling, I guess!
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I was thrilled to get out of that joint!
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