Slovenia and Croatia Solo Road Trip

Day 12 – How Much Renovation Do You Need for Mushrooms?

I departed Opatija and drove east to Zagreb. My hotel was 4 City Windows in the city center. Once again, I stashed the car in the hotel parking the whole time I was in the city. I walked over to the main plaza, which was bustling and full of history, but my first order of business was to look for a little-known attraction, the Mushroom Museum. Hailing from near the mushroom capital of the world, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, I was curious to see how another claim to mushroom fame stacked up. I successfully located the "secret" entrance next to a bank and went up the stairs, only to find it closed for renovations. However, I had better luck with the 80’s Museum, a retro apartment with artifacts from a typical home in the former Yugoslavia. I finished my day with dinner of Shepherd's Stew at Stari Fiyaker.

Day 13 – The Toaster of Vindication

The morning consisted of a lengthy walk around the center of Zagreb looking for street art. My research indicated there was a lot to see, but I was only partly successful. The train station mural wall was easy to find and impressive. But it proved too difficult to find Pimp My Pump or animal sculptures. After lunch at Restaurant Nyummy, I visited the Museum of Broken Relationships. It was most amusing, reading the stories behind somebody’s dreadlocks, a toaster, and a little rubber piggy. For dinner I went to Agava, enjoying some pasticada as accordion and violin played from below, and did not envy the waiters carrying their trays up and down a staircase all night.

Day 14 - Okidoki

I departed Zagreb and headed north toward the Slovenian border. I stopped in the town of Samobor, a pleasant medieval town with a stream running through it and little shops with names like Okidoki. Next, I needed to cross the border into Slovenia, which was more complicated than the other way around. Only certain crossings were open, and each had different restrictions on who could use them. Despite having put in my research, I ended up at a crossing for EU passports only and was turned away. So I needed to navigate to a different crossing that accepted all passports.

I proceeded to Ljubljana, having chosen to stay slightly outside the city center this time at B&B Vila Teslova. While it was nice to experience a different, more residential side of the city, it took longer to walk to the center. I checked out the Open Kitchen street food event, held every Friday. The streets were jam-packed and the lines were long, so I opted instead to have dinner at Spazja. After dark there was the familiar bustle on the streets, with all the outdoor tables filled, and a street performer singing “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” in a foreign tongue.

Day 15 – Gummi Pimms

Back to my favorite, Moji Štruklji, for breakfast, this time white chocolate coconut and lemon. Being my last full day, I had left my schedule open, with various options for day trips. Spontaneity can be good, but sometimes it’s better to have a plan, and this was a case of the latter. I settled on driving to Bohinj via Bled. I had intentionally omitted this very popular region from my plans, knowing I would have to fight the traffic and crowds of tourists, and let's just say I should have trusted my instinct. Back in Ljubljana, I went to Atelje for dinner, and yet another tasting menu. These plates were varied and creative, including zucchini flower, veal sweetbread, and blackberries in star anise granite, ending with a gummi bear made out of Pimms.

I departed for home early the next morning, again via Adria Air to Vienna, then United to Newark. Overall, there were successes and disappointments, but that is travel for you. Perhaps we are all Jumpy the Sheep. Some days you are jumping around, taking yet another leap; and some days it's your brain cooked inside a donut. Hvala!