If you were to think of Slovenia as the 40 years behind mirror country to Austria, then Zagreb, Capital City of Croatia, would be the Northern gateway to the Balkans, that compelling and fascinating hodgepodge of countries and cultures.

Zagreb is not big. Not sprawling over square miles like Paris or Budapest. But it has flavors of both of those cities. And since most visitors to Croatia only visit the fabulous cities on the Adriatic coast .. like Split and Dubrovnik, the city is comparatively unknown.

There is a small tourist area/restaurant/bar district around the old city center. But even here the central produce market just off the cathedral square tells me that this is still a simple, “real” city, not relying on tourists.

Today downtown Zagreb is under restoration everywhere. Beyond the normal Eastern European recovery from decades of Communist neglect there was a sharp earthquake about two years ago that damaged many of the old downtown buildings. It was bad. One of the towers of the thousand year old Cathedral came down.

The downtown has plenty of fine old buildings. Some now beautifully restored. Many still partially crumbling.

And there are a number of nice parks and lavish city squares.

Endless cafes. And restaurants, with world class food and wine offerings.

And being Europe , lots of fine to excellent groceries, delicatessens, bakeries, sweet shops, wine stores …

Overall this is a fine city. Still too much graffiti and grit, but with great potential for the future. And there are many things to appreciate for the traveler, such as: There is an amazing, modern public transport system, cars and trolleys stop for you when you are in a crosswalk, everyone speaks English and there is no dog poop. None.

So, as you can see from these pictures I did not “do” a lot this week. Get over jet lag, eat and sleep too much. Poke aroung town. Last time I was here I was more energetic and so if you want to know some more about Zagreb you might open this previous post:

Zagreb. Last stop on the Fall Balkan tour.

I am leaving here soon to travel south into a country I have never visited, Bosnia. And I intend to scout both the Slavic north and the Muslim south. Perhaps you will check out my report.