36 Hours In Zagreb, Croatia

Image by Suradnik13 via Wikipedia

I have only been to Zagreb, Croatia once, and that was way back in 1975—or was it 1976? It was so long ago that today I have trouble remembering exactly when. Anyway, at the time, I and a friend were two-thirds of the way through hitchhiking our way from London to Athens, and found ourselves in Zagreb for the night.

We were befriended by a couple of locals who invited us out to a club for the evening, with the promise of free accommodation in a recently built hotel that was still in the process of being fitted out.

I know, I know. The warning bells were ringing then as well, but to our relief our hosts were as good as their words, and we passed the night without incident before continuing on our way towards Greece.

I’m sure—in fact I am positive—that Zagreb has gone through countless changes since that brief 24-hour visit, not the least being those changes that were brought about by the brutal conflict that tore apart the country once known as Yugoslavia (as it was called when my friend and I passed through back in the 1970s). 

For a number of years, the New York Times has been producing a series of short videos for their 36 Hours In… series of articles. Reading the article, and watching the video, brought back dim and distant memories of that hitchhiking trip, and that overnight stop in the city, and that seemed like as good a reason as any to recall that trip and make the 36 Hours In Zagreb video the focus of today’s post.

Make sure you read the online article that goes along with the video.