Continued from the Museum of Broken Relationships, we climbed the Lotrscak tower and learned that everyday at noon a cannon blasts from the tower to represent the generosity of a Hugarian king Bela. It gave us a new view of Zagreb from new heights. I love climbing towers to see a birds eye view of cities. At the base of the tower, Strossmayera Promenade was a collection of bars that lined the streets with beautiful flowers surrounding the hill top street. One plus was the city wide Zagreb wifi which we used to FaceTime Kellen for his birthday. He was so excited and it was really cute. Technology really is an amazing thing. The central square of Zagreb is like shopping central and of course, I had to look into a few stores to see the fashion of the city. I found a coral scoop cotton dress, black/white linen shorts, and brown skinny jeans for 219 kuna ~ 38 dollars. That's a steal. I do like a deal and I love shopping when traveling because when I wear that item and people ask where its from I can say Zagreb Croatia. It brings me back to this moment and trip to get myself excited all over again. We had done a bunch of walking around so an afternoon drink with people watching was next on our agenda. People watching is some of the best entertainment. Its interesting when coming to Europe because they just let you sit in peace to enjoy without bothering you to get up or ask for another drink. They wouldn't care if you sat all day. A difference from the states where everything is a constant rush against time. I love sitting, relaxing, having a drink while being entertained by the strangers hustling and bustling around me (pictured above). We continued to walk around the city on the outlined tour on a map that was given to us seeing the Croatia National Theatre, government buildings, botanical gardens and the national library (with owl statues on top pictured above). The next gem was a tip given to us by our taxi driver on the first day an underground shopping mall I suppose. It was humungous and had everything you could ever want from clothes, shoes, formal ware, sunglasses, food. It had so many stores it was unbelievable and all underground. A shoppers heaven. Earlier in the day, we came across a restaurant called Korcula (which is an island off the coast of Croatia) and after a nice waiter insisted that we try the house wine either coastal or continental (coastal won!), we made reservations for a delicious seafood dinner. As we returned to the restaurant, the same waiter (pictured above) brought us mistletoe grappa (strong strong drink - tasted a bit like Christmas once you got through the strong burning feeling down your esophagus). He was very friendly, entertaining and helped teach us more Croatian. For example, cheers (Živjeli) which we proceeded to use all night as we were drinking our delicious Croatian house coastal white wine which he proceeded to bring more and more of. Needless to say, we were great friends with the waiter and multiple other restaurant patrons at the end of our time there. I had a seafood spaghetti that had the best tomato seafood flavor with the freshest seafood (mussels, white fish, squid, and prawns). Later on, he brought us two desserts because we couldn't decide between the two. I have never laughed so much during a dinner before then I did with my mom and that waiter tonight. He was hilarious; we apparently were really hilarious and laughter does the body good. Once our bill came, we were pleasantly surprised at how much food was on the house and therefore, our meal was much cheaper than anticipated. The table was in the middle of the street outside which added to the whole experience. I feel foolish not getting the name of our wonderful server. He really treated us like royalty. I hope he realizes how much we appreciated the friendly and wonderful Croatian dining experience we received this evening. It was a wonderful day exploring Zagreb and I am thankful for many things (two days worth), my mom and the most amazing person and travel companion, safe airline travel, outdoor bars, people watching, midday drinks, St. Marks Church, broken relationships, Korcula, our amazing Croatian waiter who gave us such a great ending to our first couple of days in Zagreb as our adventures in Croatia are just beginning.
