I rate Zagreb.  It is, without doubt,  one of the cleanest cities I have ever visited.   There is a friendliness to the people that is almost universal.  Plus Croatian words are so ridiculously difficult to pronounce that you don’t feel obliged to even attempt learning anything more than the most basic terms (The word for Square is ‘trg’  I only come close to getting it right if I have a mouthful of food and try to make bird noises)

As a city/culture there are a few obvious gaps. There is no such thing as a breakfast menu – that meal is almost always eaten at home by Croats. Supermarkets don’t exist (a good thing)  but it is difficult to buy bits and pieces (glue for example) . People are encouraged to smoke near any Australian they see, and they do.  (Smoking is the national past time –  even the Three Wise Men at the nativity play outside the cathedral were having a quick smoke before they took their gifts into the stable. I guess you need a smoke after following that star all the way to Croatia. Particularly if they flew in with Air Serbia )  Coffee shops don’t sell any food at all,  just coffee. The coffee however has been fantastic.

We have been each morning to Eli’s. The owner has won a number of international barista competitions and he is a perfectionist. This morning one of his customers was pouring champagne or pear brandy for everyone and handing out pieces of cheese. Because you can.

The food markets are probably even better than the IGA in Rosewood,  which obviously gives you an idea of the quality!  Even if breakfast is a non-event, we have certainly eaten well in the latter part of the day.   We spent the day today getting the ingredients for Christmas lunch – pork fillets with an orange sauce,  baked vegetables and a pear dessert to follow.

Anyway time to cook dinner – a stew made with pjrzcij ,  csztnija,  dbrvnkija,  and vino.   Should be good.

  Hey Nat and Mitch,

Schrödinger walks into a bar and asks, ‘Has anyone seen my cat?’
The bartender says,  ‘I had a look. It’s dead.’

(Just imagine kids,  if you became disciples this fine humour would appear as if by magic every time I post a blog.   How good would that be?l

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