May 29 travelling from Budapest to Zagreb

May 29

Today we travelled from our lovely lakeside hotel in Balatonfured to Zagreb. We had to almost circumnavigate the lake to get to the motorway which would take us across the border into Croatia.

We passed through a mostly flat rural landscape. I was fascinated with spotting the country of origin of the trucks as we passed, Romania, Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia and of course Hungary. Interestingly, I did not see any from Croatia.

The border crossing was an interesting experience, as is often the case, but we were not held up for too long. Our passports were checked by the Hungarian authorities, stamped and returned to us. Then a Croatian officer came on the bus and checked or passports. Neither country is in the Eurozone yet, so certainly not part of the Shengan group where borders have been abolished.

Before arriving in Zagreb we spent time in the historic town of Varazdin a former capital of Croatia. A very attractive town with loads of history imparted to us by a very knowledgeable guide. Sadly, we went into information overload and the tour went far too long.

Castle in Varazdin

Blacksmith 'minting' coins for the tourists

Town Hall in the main square dating from 1523

The usual form of transport in town

Croatian National Theatre

Room in the castle museum dedicated to the Guilds of the town

The town has a beautiful cemetery which is more like a park

Cemetery

We arrived in Zagreb late in the afternoon. After settling in, Our tour director took us out on a quick orientation of the city which is very compact and easy to get about. Some steps and hills proved a challenge for some which may prove difficult as we progress on our tour. We shall see.

View over a sunny Zagreb

It was lovely to be able to sit outside and eat.