Zagreb, Croatia
Cappuccino
This place isn’t messing around. They have a Synesso machine!
Cogito, Varšavska 11
Today was our only full day in Zagreb, which meant that we relied upon the NYT 36 Hours in Zagreb for most of the activities for our day. First, we sought out good coffee at Cogito, which felt like our own neighborhood Ritual or Analog Coffee. Cogito has a strong, straightforward coffee program with no frills. We got really excited about their Tesla Blend, which we wanted to buy, but realistically, when are we going to make our own coffee? 😆
We left pretty satisfied, with a good espresso under our belt and went to get some brunch. With a bit of sleuthing, we decided on Otto & Frank, a fun little restaurant that served up a “Zagreb Breakfast” all day. “Zagreb Breakfast” turned out to be an open-faced sandwich, garnished with horseradish spread, grilled ham, radicchio, and sliced radishes. It was the perfect brunch for the weather, which had climbed to 38 degrees C in just a matter of an hour.
After brunch, we went to the Museum of Broken Relationships, the outcome of one couple’s endeavor to immortalize relationships - both good and bad, through treasures and artefacts. Conceptually, this is a really unique museum, as it makes the appropriate gestures of ceremony that gives derelict items a platform for storytelling and meaning-making. The museum was organized into different sorts of “broken relationships,” like unrequited love, heartbreak, and death. We were moved to see some deeply personal effects, such a suicide note left by a mother to her children, and a short film about a woman who developed a relationship with a POW during WWII and never fell in love with him enough to marry him. It was a really provocative museum, but deeply comforting, as well.
We then wandered through the city, at a pace that would fit the oppressive heat. We visited St. Mark’s Church, taking in its colorfully tiled roof. We visited the Croatian Design Superstore, which was chockful of neat books, homegoods, and furniture that we could only appreciate and not take with us. We also visited Amélie, a cakeshop that specialized in Croatian confections. We also managed to fit in one more museum - the City Museum of Zagreb, which gave us a crashcourse in the city’s history. Though only a few of the descriptions and panels were translated into English, it was clear that Zagreb has a unique and voluminous history. It was a shame that we couldn’t learn more about the city during WWI, WWII and after the Soviet Collapse. We’ll just have to read up on it ourselves. We then escaped the heat by having a few beers at Pod Starim Krovovima, purportedly the oldest tavern in Zagreb. It was full of teenagers smoking cigarettes and playing cards - a nice sleepy activity for the hot afternoon.
Our mission for dinner was to get as much exposure to Croatian cuisine, which is very meat and soup heavy. We first went to Potato House that only serves baked potatoes - HOLLA. We got the best borscht we’ve ever had, along with a pretty memorable baked potato with “chili,” cheese, and salad. We then walked over to Purger, which is famous for its Croatian homecooking. We had sarma, a stuffed cabbage roll, stewed in sauerkraut, pickled beetroot salad, and fresh tomato salad. We tried to explain to our waitress why we ordered so little - since it was our second dinner, but she didn’t seem to care. We left uncomfortably full and completely satisfied that we got a good range of Croatian food.
The worst (and best) part of our travels is recognizing when we haven’t spent enough time in one place. Zagreb is a really wonderful city with sites, restaurants, and history that we’ll have to come visit again.
Ožujsko Beer
Again, Croatia’s Most Popular.
Pod Starim Krovovima, Basaričekova 9
