Croatia 7 - Zagreb 1

February 03, 2026

Croatia 7 - Zagreb 1

Day 7 started with the hotel's generous breakfast. It was the morning we were going to check-out. I was going to miss the fresh fruit plate. I couldn't decide which cooked-to-order dish I would like to try. At the end I chose strawberry cake, one of "the cakes of the day." What our server brought me was a strawberry cheesecake. It was not what I expected but tasted nice. J looked at me strangely while I was eating my breakfast choice. Actually I don't remember what he ordered. There was no photo either.

Anyway, we said a good-bye to Sibenik, heading to Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia. It was about 3 and a half hour drive. After an hour or so, a mountain range came into view ahead. We were going to the other side of the vast rocky wall.

We went through a tunnel at some point and got to the other side of the mountain range. Suddenly the temperature dropped from over 10 to 0 °C. The deep fog covered the blue sky. The roads were surrounded by frosty fields. Such dramatic changes surprised us!

The most of the rest of driving was in deep fog. We couldn't enjoy the scenery of the Croatia inland but probably there were just rocky fields. I guess we didn't miss anything amazing. Eventually we arrived in Zagreb. Thank you J for the long drive!

It was very cold and slightly foggy in the town. Not only the weather but also the atmosphere was quite different from those of Adriatic seaside towns. Until then, we hadn’t seen so many people or so many stores (even they were open!) in Croatia. We started walking around the city center to get to know the place and find a lunch option.

The city's Christmas markets were being held at multiple locations. We stopped by one at Zrinjevac Park, a lovely tree-lined park. The park was packed with people who were watching and listing to the music and performances on the music pavilion in the middle of the park, which I believe was one of the city's Christmas events.

We made our way through the crowds to see what food stalls were available there and bought some Croatian traditional cabbage rolls from one of the stalls. Well, the cabbage part tasted nice but when I found that the meat filling looked undercooked, I had to stop eating it. Very sad... On the other hand, J thought his was ok and he finished it. He was fine after all.

While we were walking in the city, we spotted a life-size (or larger) sculpture here and there. Just like this one.

We visited another Christmas market, located at the eastern side of Ban Jelačić Square is the city's central square. The place was also very crowded!

J picked up a cup of mulled wine and a sausage in a bun, a.k.a hot dog. I believe he enjoyed the combo.

He also kindly got fritule for me. Fritule are small deep-fried dough balls, which are a staple of Advent celebrations, particularly in Zagreb and along the Dalmatian coast. There were many Christmas market stalls selling fritule. Fritule could be served with powdered sugar, melted chocolate, or fruit jams. For our first experience of the Croatian Christmas tradition, we chose a vanilla sauce topping. Somehow white sesame also came together. Our fritule was still very hot. It was so light, not oily and tasted very nice! The basic dough of Fritule are typically made from flour, yeast or baking powder, milk or yogurt, and eggs. Then, it is usually flavored with aromatic ingredients such as grated lemon or orange zest, rum-soaked raisins, and liquor like a local brandy. I don't know what ingredients our fritule were flavored with, but I liked them very much. The toppings were pretty good, too.

Our lunch was completed. We continued exploring the city center...

It was getting dark and more foggy. When we were getting close to the Cathedral of Zagreb, I couldn't tell where the top of the towers were, which were covered in scaffoldings, with my naked eye because the fog was so thick. Later I got the answer from the photos I took. My camera has a better eye! By the way, the Cathedral was still closed during our trip due to extensive repairs from the 2020 earthquake.