“Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason”
-Jerry Seinfeld
Go-Date: Day 72, 73, Thursday & Friday. April 4 & 5
As we left the Zagreb airport late this night…… a song was stuck in my head.
On a dark Baltic highway
Cool mountain wind in my hair
Warm smell of Zagorskis
Rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance
I saw a shimmering light
The driver said no words, and dumped us where the lights were dim
We had to search through the night,
For a place we’ve never been
The street was an empty shell
And I was thinking to myself
“This could be Heaven or this could be Hell”
Then the doors opened to the hallway
And a light showed us the way
There were voices down the corridor
I didn’t know what the hell they say
“Welcome to the old Hotel Jaegerhorn
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
In a foreign place
Pricey are the rooms at the old Hotel Jaegerhorn
Any time of year (Any time of year)
If they can take you here
The streets are curved and winding
They got blue trolleys, and many bends
It’s got a lot of pretty, pretty shops,
And things without ends
The clerks wave from the windows,
Please check out our best
Some sell electronics,
Some sell choc-o-late,
So, I called up the bell man
“Please show me a sign”
I’d like to find a nice café, so that we can dine
And still those directions he gave are so unclear
They’ll send you wrong on the streets in the middle of the night
While you hear them say
“Living it up in the old Hotel Jaegerhorn
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
In a foreign space
Moving on out of the rooms in the old Hotel Jaegerhorn
To low rates found here (Any time of year)
They serve very good beer
Bistros on the boulevard
Sodas without ice
And I’m told: “We are happy to have you here”
If you have the price
And in the old town center
They are gathered for the feast
They party, eat, and drink with friends
But they just can’t fill the streets
Last thing I remember, I was
Looking for a bar
We wanted to find the restaurants with 4-star
With a price we could afford
“Relax,” said the night man
“You’ll find the prices to please
You can check them out any time you like
And you may choose to never leave!”
“Out of the old Hotel Jaegerhorn
We found a lovely place (With over twice the space)
In a foreign place
Staying down the road from the old Hotel Jaegerhorn
Its very comfy here (And the weather’s clear)
We kind of like it here
-Appologies to the Eagles
To say there are significant differences between Egypt and Croatia is such an understatement as saying Bruce Springsteen is a little different than Boy George.
This visit is to be a low-impact, decompression tour of the sights of this country. This will be a “hunker down” local. This means we’ll be more stationary than we were in Egypt and spend more time doing nothing, getting to know the locals, doing more of the arts, and enjoying the wonderful food of Zagreb and the country. This doesn’t mean we won’t be traveling throughout the country, just that we’ll spend longer spells at each venue. We arrived on April 2 and will be in Zagreb until April 16. The weather is nice (temps in the mid 20s or upper 70s F) though we expect cooler weather and a little rain to move in later in the week.
As I’ve said before, all travel can be a bit of an adventure. We arrived late, around 11 PM. Going through customs and catching a cab were easy. The ride into the city center was uneventful. We were going to stay at the Hotel Jaegerhorn, right in town center. Without a word, only a smile the driver dropped us off. I’m not sure if he didn’t know exactly where the hotel was or thought we did, but he took off and there we were, after midnight, loaded with luggage, and no clue where the hotel was.
We wandered around for a few minutes until finally a set of medieval doors slowly opened like the entrance into Castle Dracula. Seriously, I felt like we were on the set of a B-grade vampire movie, and we were both tired enough from a day of travel that we didn’t care. A nice promenade welcomed us and we finally came upon the front desk. It seems the hotel is in a pedestrian area only, and the driver was not allowed in. The night clerk watches the sidewalk outside as I’m sure we weren’t the first ones to be placed in this situation. The room was great, though very, very small. The hotel wonderful with a free breakfast each morning. It was a really nice way to begin our stay in Coatia.
Now, we’ll kick back and have another of those Ahhhhhh-Moments.
Sounds like Egypt was a little exhausting and you needed some “laid back” days to recuperate. Here’s to more chill out time for you.