I’m still in Zagreb of course. Hung around in the hostel instead of doing anything more taxing for the evening. There seems to be a much better class of backpacker the further east you go, so had a chat with all the people, made barely edible food and ate it. Had to move beds in the evening to escape a snorer nearby and went up to bed a bit later to find that some German guy had decided to use my bed and put his sheets over mine. As he wasn’t there slept in my bed and had to get up to take his sheets off again when he got back.
But I should stop complaining. This place is amazing. I’ve spent the last two days walking around the centre. Today I was meant to go and see some museums but they were closed so I just walked around again, which was great again. I seem to be the only tourist in town yet the whole place is buzzing with life. The cathedral is more ornate than anything I’ve ever seen and everyone inside is praying. Felt a little odd to be intruding on that so didn’t stick around long. Religion does seem quite important here – there are lots of other makeshift shrines around town with candles for sale and people praying. I remember Ivana saying that it was an issue to be Jewish here and I can see how it would be.
There are immense baroque Austro-Hungarian era cafes everywhere too and no end of preserved but deserted buildings that would be tourist attractions even in Prague. If I hadn’t been given a free ticket to Budapest I’d be tempted to go on exploring the Balkans for a couple of weeks. maybe another time. Tonight is Halloween – I hope some other people are up for dressing up and going out.