Distance travelled: 240 miles – Time: 0940 – 1430

A section of an embroidered vestment from the Zagreb Cathedral treasury

Crossing from Serbia to Croatia was a simple case of showing passports as we passed through the toll booth followed by a quick but expensive trip to the Croatian postal service booth to purchase a European green card, giving us insurance to travel through the rest of Europe – £200 for 15 days of third party cover. Excruciating but necessary.

The weather was miserable. It had dropped 10 degrees compared to the day before and persistent, dense rain accompanied us all the way from Belgrade to Zagreb.

Not the best quality image, taken at speed in the rain, but we looked askance when we noticed the UK had already been peeled off the European map on the back of this lorry!! The shadow of our former presence was just visible.

We were really looking forward to visiting Zagreb. Some nineteen years ago we had spent 24 hours there as a first anniversary present from my parents – in those days airline tickets were actually issued and hand written, with red carbon copies, by a travel agent and so it was fitting to have one representing ‘paper’ as a first wedding anniversary token! Murray had at the time been serving in Bosnia on a six months tour. His boss had given him 24 hours leave and lent him his driver so that he could be at the airport to meet me. The memory is still vivid, he standing waiting for me to come through the airport, decked in ‘combat 95s’ holding an enormous bunch of red gladioli! I was so excited, I can remember the thrill to this day.

Zagreb Airport, 1998!

Not to be deterred by the rain we dropped our things at the hotel and set out to find the main square and revisit the few places we could remember (including the basement mafia like casino where we had run away having won the equivalent of £200!). In doing so we thought we ought to do something cultural. I had seen a curious sign to the ‘Mushroom Museum’. How could we possibly resist that? After all, it was time to exact my revenge having suffered repeated episodes of train spotting (which when driving I invariable mistook as a signal that we were about to crash, having to look up swiftly from my map). Alas, it took us some time to find this secret museum, tucked away on the second floor of a block just off the main square and by the time we had worked out how to get there it was closed. Murray was dashed, I could tell (!).

In search of the elusive magic mushrooms . . 

We settled on having a gentle mooch, visiting the newly restored cathedral and seeing some exquisite restored 16^th Century tapestries and embroidered vestments. The day concluded with a truly civilised dinner at the chic Italian restaurant, Boban.

Extensive restoration work has been undertaken at the Zagreb Cathedral – the old clock face has been kept and the old and new stonework of one of the towers are shown side by side.