Zagreb is a city that just keeps giving. A 20-minute cable car ride to a mountain peak and ski slope opened up since Colleen and I were here earlier this year. And a robot restaurant has opened as well. Of course I sampled both, and then I also took my first Airbnb “Experiences” experience – […]
Read More Bots & PotsOn Saturday I rented a car and drove up north of Zagreb to explore a bit. First I visited an excellent and thorough museum about a large Neanderthal find (the largest Neanderthal bone collection in the world), then after a drive through some beautiful autumnal countryside scenery in the mountains, I explored an old hilltop […]
Read More NeanderthalsOne of the aspects of Zagreb I enjoy is that it is so quirky, especially for being in Croatia, known for being a fairly conservative and traditional place. It’s as if most Croatian artists move to Zagreb (they probably do). The following brochure is an example of the kind of surprising things you can find […]
Read More UncommonplaceOn the 1st of January, 2023 (in less than three months as of this writing), Croatia will become the 20th member of the Eurozone, a collection of countries in Europe using the euro currency. A fixed conversion rate was set at 1 € = 7.53450 kuna. Since our previous Croatian visit in April, businesses have […]
Read More Kuna to EuroThis is my fifth arrival into Zagreb, Croatia. I came back again because I love it here. I don’t know exactly why. I met a Californian outside a ruin pub back in Budapest, and his wife had passed, and so he had been traveling solo up from Georgia (the country) and Turkey. He had been […]
Read More Zagreb, Are You Tired of Seeing Me?Budapest is a city worth staying in for more than one week, and I now wish I had sacrificed some Bratislava time for Budapest, but maybe I’ll need to come back one day, hopefully with someone else! What an interesting and different place! I think this is also an indication to me that I need […]
Read More Thermal Baths“Ruin pubs” are a staple of the old Jewish quarter in Budapest, where I’m staying. This area of town, while quite central, remained largely deserted and dilapidated after the Communist takeover. Much of it is still dilapidated, but certainly no longer deserted! This is the prime party area of town (to my surprise), and this […]
Read More Ruin PubsI’m over halfway done with this trip! Wow, some periods have felt slow, while other times have passed quickly. Budapest has been exciting but tiring, given all the many interesting things to see. I’m also frankly having a tough time with the whole workation thing. Work doesn’t seem as desirable when you’re sitting in the […]
Read More Memento ParkOn Friday afternoon I visited the House of Terror Museum – it might sound like a haunted mansion, and maybe it is, because many people died there. But it’s primarily now a museum in the same building that Hungarian representatives of the Nazis and then the Soviets used for coordinating interrogation, torture, and murder. The […]
Read More House of TerrorHungary has had a controversial prime minister, Viktor Orbán, since 2010. His party is the far right Fidesz. From Wikipedia: “His tenure has seen Hungary government shift towards what he has called “illiberal democracy” — citing countries such as China, Russia, India, Singapore, and Turkey as models of governance — while simultaneously promoting Euroscepticism and […]
Read More Illiberal Democracy
Major Meander 