"My Father's Home Town" Zagreb by AussieMadCow

Zagreb Travel Guide: 1,855 reviews and 4,582 photos

This is a work in progress so be patient please

Where are all the spiders? Where are the precision beetles that fly full speed toward you head? And what of the spider webs that catch not only insects but people? This alone is a reason to visit Croatia. Hell it's a good enough reason to pack all you have and move here.

I have never even seen an ant hill in my 10 months here. Ok the bees are a little too sociable but they don't seem to get upset if you shoo them away.

Ok so there as spiders here. Two of them and they live on the coast, but I'm used to waving my hands around in front of me at night like a loony in case there is a huge web in my path. I will be so ill prepared for life back in Brisbane after this year of spider free bliss.

This is my father's home town Zagreb, and I have lived here in my father's house in a suburb of Zagreb since mid November 2002. In that time I have seen a lot of Croatia and still not nearly enough.

In my travelogues I will try to relate a bit of what some of this year's more memorable events and travels have been like through my eyes. As you may find, I have a certain way of writing and offense is not intended. Some of the stories I will tell will be adapted from emails sent to family and friends throughout the year starting a few days after my arrival. My opinions and observations are what I thought and felt at the time.

I have encountered some rude and abrupt people working in goverment offices and large supermarkets in my year here, and I have to admit I was taken a little aback at first but I've learnt to accept it and after hearing many opinions and explanations on the subject I understand their points of view. Yes, I know there are rude people in any country.

More importantly, I have met many very nice people here who are extremely friendly and genuinely interested to know all about me. Nearly everyone that hears I'm from Australia will grab me by the arm and tell me that they have a cousin or an uncle or some other relative living there and they tell me their surname and look at me with a look of hope in their eyes, hope that I will know exactly who they are talking about.

One thing I could not help but notice here was the way parents treat their young children here. I have never seen such love and affection, attention and patience. I have not in my time here seen a parent yelling in public at their child or ignoring it's repetative questions. On the contrary, mums and dads seem to be eager to talk and joke and play with their kids even if they are having coffee and conversation with friends.

Last visit to Zagreb: Nov 2002
Intro Updated Oct 6, 2003
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angiebabe Jul 11, 2007 at 2:51 PM

One of my best friends in Sydney flew over here and visited and then flew off to seek out her Slovenian roots as well so we drove from Paris and picked her up from Porec for our first visit to Slovenia - great adventure!
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Redang Jul 9, 2005 at 1:00 PM

Is your father from Zagreb? I'm visiting the city/country in Aug!
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benazer Apr 30, 2005 at 3:58 PM

I too like Zagreb been there few times,people I never met before invited me to stay at their home. Hope to see more pictures soon.
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ronaldbarr Apr 9, 2005 at 2:58 AM

Interesting name? Greetings to Zagreb from Ireland. ronaldbarr
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diocletianvs Oct 22, 2003 at 11:21 AM

So you miss spiders? That's why you were waving your hands all the time - hahaha :-)) Nice intro - looking forward for more.
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genispp Sep 8, 2003 at 7:22 AM

Beautiful photo
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Vintom Sep 7, 2003 at 9:07 AM

Hey i like the new picture.