Destination Unknown Part 3

Si and Au in Zagreb!

We were happy to finally arrive in Zagreb Croatia. Our butler had filled the Enter Croatia form so we entered the country without hassle. We took the bus from the airport and walked to our new home for the next few days.

We stayed in our apartment in Zagreb for three nights. It was a really nice apartment with a small kitchenette. The only downside was that the apartment had a single bed. Mjau, we had to share the bed with our butler so it got a bit crowded.

Apartments Lucky Place in Zagreb.

It's wonderful to have our own kitchen!

It was a breath of fresh air to be in Croatia. The restrictions regarding covid-19 are not as strict here. You still have to wear a facemask inside. Otherwise things are as usual. 

Shopping in Zagreb!

We mostly walked around town and did some Christmas shopping. We also visited the Museum of Broken Relationships. It is a very interesting and unique museum. People from all over the world donate items related to a broken relationship. Attached was also the story behind the break up and how the item is related to it. Really interesting, funny and touching. Mjau, our favourite was perhaps the pizza box and the love letter to pizza from a person recently diagnosed with celiac disease. Simultaneously funny and heartbreaking. 

Si and Au in Split.

After Zagreb we took the Flixbus to Split. The bus ride was long but wonderful. The journey took around five hours. The scenery of the mountains was breathtaking. It was a bit rainy when we arrived in Split. Mjau, our poor butler actually slipped with the suitcase due to the rain. Mjauhihi how embarrassing! Thankfully the streets were empty due to covid-19 and the weather. It is another advantage of traveling during the pandemic: less people to witness the embarrassing failures of our butler.

Enjoying a stroll in Split.

We were happy to finally be by the ocean again and to be surrounded by palm trees. Split was so much warmer than Zagreb and Poland. Such a nice change. We enjoyed basking in the sun on the beach and our butler even went swimming. Mjauhihi the water was cold and salty. Poor butler had just shaved their legs and was complaining that the salt water was stinging. We were also able to play with our flamingo floatie in the sea.

Enjoying a warm afternoon at the beach.

We finally got to play with our flamingo floatie.

We really enjoyed walking around Split, especially the old town. Our first impression was that it looked like we just stepped off the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and into Tortuga. Very lovely to walk by the water during the evening.

Si walking around the old town.

For the first five days we stayed at House of Cyril. We liked Split so much that we booked an apartment and stayed for almost a month longer than planned. It was really nice staying in a real apartment. We had a kitchen even a terrace where we could enjoy coffee in the afternoon sun.

House of Cyril.

Our living room at Apartment Doturi.

Our very own garden.

Our apartment was also very close to the Marjan Forest Park so we would walk around every day for our exercise. Such a wonderful view from the hill.

Going on our daily trip around Marjan Forest Park.

Interesting buildings in the park.

What a wonderful view from the park.

Split at dusk.

We visited the Mall of Split as we had heard they have a Lego store. There is supposed to be a free shuttle from the city centre to the mall. We waited for the shuttle but it never arrived, mjau. Fortunately we have a butler that could carry us all the way to the mall and back. One way only takes about 45 minutes to walk. It was nice to finally be able to go shopping again. The Lego store was small but positively amazing. So many Disney Legos. We wanted to get the Disney Castle or maybe Steamboat Willie. Mjau, according to our stingy butler the Legos were to expensive and it is more important that we save money for accommodation. We do not understand why we can not have it both ways. The only way to have the cake is to eat the cake. Otherwise the cake will go bad and the cake will still be lost. Mjau, in the worst case scenario we can just live in the Lego box under a bridge.

Grandpa and Bu are doing some shopping.

There was also another smaller mall close to Mall of Split that we visited. They had nice clothing stores with Disney Christmas sweaters. Mjau, our butler really liked them. Our suitcase was already filled with our christmas presents and we wanted to leave some free space in case we find more gifts. So we told our butler they could not buy any new clothes.

Such a festive christmas display.

Due to the Corona virus several events at the Advent in Split festival was cancelled. They had however a nice water projection show.  They still had Christmas decorations, however we hoped for a bit more.

Santa left his sleigh unsupervised. We wonder where he is hiding...

Sleigh sill here but no Santa in sight.

Modest decorations all over town.

After spending around a month in Split we took the Flixbus back to Zagreb. Mjau, Zagreb is absolutely magical with all the Christmas decorations. We wish they would have hung Christmas decorations sooner so we could have enjoyed them during our first visit to Zagreb. We stayed in Zagreb for two days. We did our final Christmas shopping and just walked around admiring the Christmas decorations.

DC and Si christmas shopping in Zagreb.

We stayed at the B&B Cool Centre Zagreb Hostel Rooms. We were pleasantly surprised by how wonderful our room was. Our room was right in the centre of Zagreb close to the Choco Café. Our room was more fitting a luxury hotel than a hostel. We even had a shared kitchen. It was very convenient with a shared kitchen, our butler was able to cook us meals. Although there was not much cooking to be done. We found some delicious Asian soups that were perfect for the cold weather. We also bought some delicious Baklava that we could enjoy throughout the day.

Our room in Zagreb.

On our last day in Zagreb we took the airport shuttle to the airport. Mjau, the airport was almost empty. We will be celebrating Christmas in England this year due to not being able to travel to any of the Disney parks. We had a layover at the Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. Mjau, we had a long layover so we had to sleep at the airport. Fortunately we were able to find a cozy little corner to sleep in. Mjau, we also saw a couple of mice during the night. They seemed to be in a hurry. Maybe they were late for a flight? In the morning we were able to do some shopping prior to our flight and we found a nice bottle of Stroopwafel Liqueur as a Christmas gift for our butlers.

Zagreb is wonderfully decorated for Christmas.

Destination Unknown: Part 2

At the Wawel Royal Castle!

As the restrictions regarding travel got more strict in The Czech Republic we decided to leave for Poland instead. Mjau, we took the train from Ostrava to Krakow. 

Our lovely bedroom at Ventus Rosa.

We really like the small kitchenette.

We stayed at the Ventus Rosa Boutique Aparthotel. We were pleasantly surprised by how amazing our room was. So spacious and elegant interior design. We had a small kitchenette so our butler could make us some tortilla pizza for dinner. The bed was big and comfortable and we even had a TV in the bedroom. We were able to watch YouTube on the TV and could enjoy Disney background music while sleeping.

The hotel is really nice and clean. We really enjoy the free E. Wedel chocolates by the elevator and the free cookies in the lobby. Mjau, our butler could not resist the cookies. We made our butler take several walks throughout the day so she could walk by the lobby and grab some snacks for us. It is always nice to enjoy something sweet with our afternoon coffee.

Enjoying some cereal with almond milk and coffee for breakfast.

Delicious muffins and coffee for brunch.

Free cookies from the lobby!

Yummy, delicious cake!

Krakow is a really beautiful city. We enjoyed taking long walks by the Vistula River. Right by the river you have Wawel Royal Castle. Outside the castle there is a fire breathing dragon. Mjau, the dragon was not as impressive as the dragon resting underneath the castle in Disneyland Paris. They also have small carts with orphan dragons looking for families. We really enjoy walking around the old town. Very nice buildings and interesting shops.

Si and yet another dragon.

Si and Au at the Krakow Mount.

We spent the most time around the old town and the area around our hotel. One day we crossed the river and walked up to the Krakus Mound. It was a bit foggy but still a really nice view from the mound. We also took a day trip to Zakrzówek. It is definitely worth a visit. The autumn colours were absolutely wonderful against the clear water of the lake.

Bu at Zakrzówek.

Zakrzówek from another angle.

Poland has similar restrictions as the Czech Republic. You can only get take away from restaurants and cafés. Due to this we were unable to visit and sit down at all the cozy cafés around Krakow. Fortunately we had our lovely hotel and were able to enjoy our delicious cakes and pastries there.

On the bus on our way to Zakopane!

Our view of the mountains from our balcony.

We wanted a change of scenery so we booked a bus to Zakopane. The bus ride takes a little over two hours. Zakopane is a really cozy and nice small town. We imagine it will be absolutely extraordinary during the Christmas season. 

Si in Zakopane.

Our lovely room at Hyrny.

We stayed at Hyrny and had a balcony with a nice view of the mountains. The room was a bit on the smaller side. However the balcony made up for it. 

We really enjoyed strolling along the main Street visiting all the shops. They had several toy stores and chocolate shops. We really liked the cakes at Cukiernia Samanta. You got to decide the size of the slice and pay by the pound. It was a little embarrassing for our butler as the shopkeeper did not speak English. Mjau, thankfully another friendly customer acted as our translator so we still got our cake. Mjauhihi, it would not surprise us if our butler would just run out of the shop in embarrassment without our cake.

Aunties enjoying delicious cheesecake from Cukiernia Samanta.

One day we took the cable car up to the Tatra mountains. Mjau, our poor butler, we do not know if their legs were shaking due to the cold or from fear of heights. It was very cold and there was already snow on the mountain. Going up the mountain we also had icicles falling on top of our roof which scared all the passengers. As we were nearing the top the cable car was completely submerged by fog and clouds. As we reached the top the clouds suddenly cleared and it made for quite a magical reveal. 

Snow on the Tatra mountains.

Thankfully the sun made it warmer and we got some nice pictures. After a while the mountain started to get submerged by clouds again and soon we could barely see in front of us. Our butler was worried we would somehow slip on the ice and roll down the mountain and thus becoming a hungry bears pre-hibernation snack. We decided to take the cable car down the mountain and return to our hotel for some warm noodle soup.

Halloween in Zakopane.

It happened to be Halloween during our stay in Zakopane. We decided to dress up and take some pictures around town. Unfortunately due to the covid-19 we could not go trick-or-treating and ask for chocolates from strangers like beggars. Fortunately our butler had bought some Wawel chocolates from the store. We decided to grab a roll of toilet paper and go out on our balcony and knock on the door. When our butler let us in we demanded we get all the chocolate. Mjau, yet another successful Halloween.

Mjau, we managed to get the chocolates.

Fortunately we remembered to check the calendar for such holidays. We suspected that the stores would be closed so we stocked up on food beforehand. Fortunately we had the foresight to do so as on All Saints' Day the stores were closed. If not for us our butler would have withered away without food.

The next day we took the bus back to Krakow. This time we stayed at the Hostel Europejski for two nights. We really liked our room. The interior design reminds us of staying at a Grandma's house. Very warm colours and vintage decor.

Our lovely hotel room.

Complimentary candy!

Au and Grandpa enjoying delicious cake!

The weather was not the best, and as we had already explored most of Krakow, we decided to just relax in our room. As our hotel was right across from the shopping centre we went there to buy some cake and food. As we mostly stayed holed up in our hotel room we had time to plan the next step in our trip and booked some tickets.

We took the Flixbus to Warsaw. The journey took around five hours. It was actually quite nice to just take a nap in our bag. Our butler also got some reprieve from our demands.

Warsaw Old Town.

Mjau, we were not impressed by Warsaw. It looks nice during the evening. However, during the day it looks like any gloomy big city. The old town was also not as nice as in Krakow. Mjau, we mostly just walked around. Warsaw was supposed to be our shopping town with stores such as Primark and the Lego store. However several stores closed their doors during our stay. Mjau! We do not know if this was a new restriction due to covid-19 or just a weekend abnormality. On Monday they seemed to still be closed so we deducted it was due to covid-19. However it was a bit odd that some shoe stores still were open. Mjau, hardly an essential business. Legos and Christmas presents are essential!

Unsuccessful Christmas Shopping.

Luckily the cafés were still open for takeaway. We found a shop with delicious pastries and bought some for our Christmas movie marathon. The cakes were just positively scrumptious. 

Deliciously beautiful cakes!

Our stingy butler wanted to save some money again so we stayed in the cheapest accommodation with a private bathroom close to the city centre that we could find. Mjau, we were not impressed by the room. We were so horrified we did not even want to take pictures of the room. Mjau, we were worried about bedbugs so we opted to sleep in our Disney Cruise Line Bag instead of the bed. Our butler thought we were being ridiculous, however, the little freeloader we later found in our suitcase says we made the right choice! Fortunately our room was on the fourth floor of an old building with no elevator. Our butler got rightfully punished by hauling our suitcase up the winding rickety staircase. Maybe this will teach our butler to cough up some money for nicer hotels.

The only thing we liked about our room was the skylight windows. We liked the natural light during the day and the starlight at night. We also had a microwave and a refrigerator which was nice. We were able to store our cakes there. The only thing we will say about the bathroom is that every time we opened the door the line "As we scrub a stubborn mildew stain " from the Happy Working Song from Enchanted popped into our heads.

Goodbye Poland!

Our main reason for going to Warsaw was to catch our flight to Zagreb. We were excited to visit a new country again. Our trip to the airport only made our departure from Warsaw that much sweeter. The ticket validation machine on the train was broken so we were unable to validate our ticket. Mjau, as fate would have it, this was the only time a ticket controller showed up on the train. Mjau, they refused to listen to reason and our butler got fined anyway. Mjau, ridiculous! We were positively ecstatic to leave Warsaw.