Week 2, Part 1: Settling into Zagreb + Croatian car rental story
Will: I’ll be honest, I didn’t necessarily know what to expect from Croatia. When I asked some American friends about the place before departing all I really heard were “Split and Dubrovnik and beautiful!” and “It’s so cheap there!”.
Fully knowing at the time that we had zero intention of visiting either of those places, I would smile and nod through the remainder of the conversation. The fact was that we would be based in Zagreb, the capital and largest city. Nobody mentioned it before, so my expectations were due to be discovered.
After having been here for a few days I can now confidently say it is one of my favorite cities in Europe. Where Caro and I are living is a quiet, tranquil, functional neighborhood. We’re a 2 minutes walk from a major tram junction that can get us anywhere in the city in just a few stops. We’ve already claimed our local bread spot — Dubrovika (which is a chain, but still) — and have even learned how to successfully point and nod to direct the workers which loaf we want (Carolina: I swear the workers have no idea that we don't speak Croatian and think that we're just dumb). We’ve located a sensational cocktail bar — Mr Fogg — just a 10-minute walk away. Caro and I even have a grocery store loop:
- The Asian grocery store for some specialty items.
- The bio&bio which sells tofu by the kilo and has plenty of vegan protein options.
- The Spar for our regular and everyday grocery items.
- An open-air farmers market that operates every day. We go here for Eggs and Apples (some of the best I’ve ever had).
Yet, only 10 minutes away by tram is the bustling old town which rivals in beauty some of Europe’s most famous.
Knowing all this begs the question: Is Zagreb one of the best-kept secrets in Europe?
By the way, yes, Zagreb is cheap. However, if you ask the locals where they like to vacation in Croatia (and they all say they prefer to vacation in Croatia instead of going elsewhere), they’ll tell you they avoid Split and Dubrovnik like the plague.
“Coffee costs like €10 there,” one local told me.
Ironic.
Carolina: I'll confess that it took me longer than Will to fall in love with Zagreb. In one of our first walks around our neighborhood here, Will turned to me and said "Isn't this place beautiful?" We were surrounded by grey buildings that seemed half-done. The façades were concrete with no finishes or paint over it (Will: Just think “communism”). Most were covered in cracks or chipping. "hmmmm yeah…" is the best I could offer at the time.
As the week passed we explored and experienced the city, it enchanted me.
Our Airbnb is absolutely lovely. Its walls are covered in art and there are travel artifacts scattered throughout. The light-colored wood from the living room furniture and kitchen counters and shelves warms up the apartment. There's a huge window in the living room and, on the other side of the apartment, a door that leads to a patio from our room. When they are open, a refreshing draft fills the apartment. But the kitchen is where the magic truly happens. Will and I both love cooking quality healthy meals together. Here, we not only have all the space we need but also all of the materials one could dream of — yes, even a food processor.
We have also explored a couple of workout spots around town and elected our favorite: Svetice Rekreacijski Centar (Svetice Recreation Center) — a sports complex in front of the Maksimir Stadium with a huge calisthenics gym, track… It even has an incredible aquatic center — which we haven't taken advantage of. I definitely felt a bit of gymtimidation the first time we went there since I was (and always am) the only girl and there was (and always is) a group of guys working out there as well. But having Will by me made the world of a difference, and that gym is too good to not take advantage of it because of a little gymtimidation.
For our very first weekend in Croatia, we decided to rent a car and explore the Plitvice Lakes National Park.
Will: I’ll interject with a funny story. I promise it’s worth it.
Some quick background: Plitvice Lakes National Park (Google it) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in central rural Croatia. It’s reachable by bus from Zagreb, but the scheduling wasn’t conducive to our objective of spending the entire day hiking. Since we were only doing a day trip on Saturday, we needed some extended flexibility, so we opted for a rental car.
Upon researching we found a very reasonably priced car for the day. With all fees, insurance, precautions, and taxes, it came out to around €45 per person. We’ll take that.
But against my better judgment (and the advice of my father. Dad, if you’re reading this, I love you, and you can tell me ‘I told you so’ when I see you) I booked from this company called Green Motion. To be fair, they are popular in Europe, but certainly not a global brand.
Anyway, the plan was straightforward: I would get up early on Saturday morning, take the bus (free) to the Airport (20 minutes), pick up the car, then drive back to the Airbnb, pick up Caro, and off we go!
Not so fast.
For the parents, allow me to break it down as a series of “lessons learned”. I feel like this will go over better.
Lesson 1: Always check the full route of the public transit you decide to take.
I knew which bus would get me to the airport. The #290 leaves from a junction maybe three minutes from our apartment. All was going swimmingly! I boarded promptly at 7:20 a.m. as planned, took my seat, and completely zoned out as I watched the former Yugoslavian architecture whiz by.
I don’t exactly know why, but I simply didn’t check where the line ended. I assumed that it ended at the airport, so you can imagine my surprise when we stopped at the airport stop, nobody got up to disembark, and before I could understand what had happened, the bus jolted forward, and we were gone!
Before you can ask — I have no idea why I didn’t just get off. In part, I thought I had all the time in the world. The lack of urgency definitely cost me. But before I could reconcile that internally, we had cruised into the deep outskirts of Franjo Tuđman International Airport. Now I’m awake. Time to get off Will.
I mashed the stop request button, and when the bus came to a halt in front of the cargo terminal, I stepped off as if it was where I was going all along. I thought I looked smooth (I did not).
After looking around for a second, still trying to understand what just happened, I found the alternate bus stop conveniently located across the street.
“Oh boy,” I thought, “it could be a while until the other bus comes to take me back,” but wouldn’t you know JUST as I finished that thought, my savior! The bus rounded the corner and crept to a stop. I boarded much to the confusion of the driver as well as the airline catering workers just getting off from their shifts.
No matter, time to check good ‘ole Google to find this rental car office.
Lesson 2: Sometimes the rental car office is located off the premises from the airport.
Now on the bus back from whence I came, I found the office address in the email confirmation and plugged it into Google Maps. Turns out, their office is adjacent to the highway a good 10 minutes drive away from the airport. The good news is that the bus can get me semi-close, but I’ll still have a decent 1.6 km walk ahead of me.
“That can’t be right,” I mutter, “better check Apple Maps.”
I check Apple Maps.
COMPLETELY different location than what Google Maps says.
Lesson 3: Usually, Google Maps is the correct address, especially in Europe.
Google Maps (usually) is more accurate because it pulls data from (you guessed it) Google. Businesses are required to provide their address to appear on Google Search which gets updated instantly, whereas Apple Maps’ data is updated Quarterly.
When greeted with the two different locations of our rental car, I decided to trust Google Maps. By now, the bus was approaching my destination, which was a makeshift bus stop in the middle of an overpass. At this point, I’m 75% sure only 1.6 km separates me and retrieving the car.
One step at a time I locate the sidewalk that runs parallel to the highway. Astoundingly, it’s a straight shot to the office. There are no buildings on the horizon in front of me. Zero.
Suddenly, around 20 minutes later, I came to a crosswalk. After crossing the highway, I could see a gravel parking lot with cars in a perfect row. Over to the left of the cars were two shipping containers with huge words painted on the side.
“GREEN MOTION CAR RENTAL”
I couldn’t believe it.
Final Lesson: Quality service can exist off the beaten path once in a while.
Across the gravel in front of the shipping containers, two men stood enjoying a morning smoke. As I approached them, one of the men started peering in my direction.
“How can I help you?”, he asked.
“Is this Green Motion Car Rental?”, I replied.
“Da”
“I’m here to pick up a car”
“Okay….you come on foot?”
“Yes”
“Okay…why?”
I proceeded to tell him everything you just read, but simplified. He proceeds to tell me that:
- Indeed, I could have gotten off at the original airport stop and they would have come and retrieved me from arrivals.
- They moved locations 3 days ago, hence the shipping containers, and were setting up their new office.
If I had trusted Apple Maps, I would’ve been an hour's walk in the other direction.
“But, you find us, so it’s okay. Let’s get you set up,” says my new friend, whose name is Bogdan.
The team at Green Motion was tremendously helpful. They explained the nuances of getting to the Lakes and answered all of my questions about driving in Croatia. They offered me cookies and water and seemed genuinely so excited that we were experiencing their homeland.
With a clean car that smelled like mint tea leaves and a fresh perspective, I sped out of the gravel parking lot en route to scoop Caro.
All I had told her up to this point was that I missed my original stop and I was walking to the car place. When I arrived back at the apartment I walked through the door and said, “Good thing we have a drive ahead of us, ‘cause I have a great story for you.”
PART 2 coming soon
