When our time was up in Budapest it meant we had to leave the Schengen zone. For those of you who are from the UK or European Union, you might not know that for the rest of the world we have strict measures in place on how long you can stay in the European Schengen Zone. Well, for Australians we are allowed to stay for 90 days within a 180 day period. That means after we’ve spent 90 days in, we have to leave for 90 days until we can legally enter again. You can’t just jump over the boarder, reset your visa and head on back into Europe like you can in other countries in the world. Of course you can spread your 90 days over the 180 days, making the blow not quite so hard when you have to leave. But I was loving Europe so much that I just used all my days in one hit. I’ve heard of people dodging the system, or doing a boarder run and entering back in illegally. But I’m just not one to take risks like that. The stamps in a passport are permanent so it really means you could get caught months or even years later, resulting in a ban from entering Europe and a nasty fine.
So one afternoon we were googling what European countries aren’t yet in the Schengen area and number one appearing on all of our searches was Croatia! What a coincidence that Croatia boarders with Hungary, our final stop in Europe before we were out of Schengen days. It was working out so perfectly I couldn’t believe it! And we were soooo ready for some sunshine and to finally be reunited with the sea. We looked at the train tickets and they were so affordable and only a six hour journey time. And that was how we decided to go to Croatia. Not much of a plan, no research and no idea what to expect…
And Molly came with us! After spending a week together in Budapest we decided to all go together on a Croatian adventure. Molly had been before with her family and told us the coast was most beautiful. So we decided to head towards the ocean, but firstly we would spend a few nights in the capital Zagreb, to really get a feel for what Croatian life is like.
Zagreb was quite unlike any of the cities I had seen yet. The architecture reminded me of eastern Europe. A little bit Czech mixed with Hungarian, but it also had older stone buildings that reminded me of Rome. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It was much quieter than Budapest and without many tourists.
We were staying at a sweet little hostel just outside of town that was owned by a very kind man and his lovely spotted dog. On our first morning he gave us a map of the city and outlined a nice route for us to walk, circling the botanical gardens, a vegan restaurant that we just had to try and showing us where the street of old town were. So we set out with cameras in hand and spent the day exploring Zagreb.
(Oh my gosh! this was the most delicious vegan banana curry… My mouth is watering in memory 😉 If you’re ever in Zagreb, eat at Nishta !)
With sore feet and happy hearts we made our way home to the hostel. That night will always be one of the fondest of our trip. We sat outside on the communal table and began talking to all the other travellers. Martin and I often opt for private airbnb accommodation, and when you stay in a hostel it’s always hit and miss if you’ll make any friends. But after meeting Beau, a fellow Aussie who was also on his own journey discovering the world, we fell into a familiar easy conversation with someone from home. More Aussies arrived and a few Europeans and soon we had a table full of new friends. It’s crazy just how loud Australians are! (me included haha!). We were all laughing and unintentionally shouting at each other across the table. Late into the night we played cards and told stories of our adventures with deep belly laughs and I truly felt the happiest I’d been in a very long time.
Early morning light on a new day. Molly made her way to Plitvice lakes for a day trip, but I had managed to fall sick with the same dreaded cold from Budapest. A lessons to all of you that rest is the only thing that helps you get better, and I had completely ignored my body… So Martin and I took a quiet day together strolling around a huge park in the centre of Zagreb. We took it slow and I started to feel better. Between big drinks of water and lots of resting on benches, the warm rays of sun doing me a world of good.
We stumbled upon a lake in the middle of a clearing in the park (park is probably not the right word… it was more like a forest!). I thought there were hundreds of small boulders surrounding the waters edge, but on closer inspection they were turtles! Beautiful, happy turtles in all sizes sun bathing and dipping in and out of the water. I don’t think I’d ever seen a turtle in the wild before, let alone hundreds of them together all at once! I was so excited (understatement). We watched them swimming for awhile before slowly approaching two and stroking their shells. Best. Day. Ever.
Day three and we were off again. This time catching a train to Split, a town on the Croatian coast line and the beginning of our journey into an unexpected paradise.
