Summer and smokes in Croatia’s capital city

Canned heat for sale? It’s to be expected that Croatian summers are more broiling that those in Scotland, but the mild Glaswegian spring had me completely unprepared for the sweltering 38°C temperatures beyond the Alps–that’s over 100°F for you Americans out there. Hot, hot, hot! Without the ample supply of cold Croatian beer and Mitteleuropean hospitality this trip would have been brutal. I flew to Croatia’s capital to meet Karen, a good friend who had travelled from the States to attend a museum conference. While she and her colleagues learned about medicinal folk remedies and how to avoid being cursed by werewolves, I was left to myself to discover what Zagreb had to offer. Thankfully, the capital is known as a city of museums–much of them air conditioned–and abounds with generous cafes and shady tree-lined esplanades for when things heat up.

I began my trip by exploring the Gornji Grad, the twinned upper towns of Gradec and Kaptol that make up Zagreb’s historic nucleous. Connected by a spit of land known as the Bloody Bridge, these neighbors (and former rivals) contain the best preserved medieval buildings in the city, including the famous St Mark’s Church and ancient Lotrščak Tower. I made a point to stop at the Stone Gate, the only entrance to survive from the city’s 13th-century fortifications. It contains a popular shrine to the Virgin Mary who is said to have appeared in a vision at this spot in the 1760s. (I almost had some heat-induced visions myself.) After a well-deserved apertif at a cafe on Tkalčićeva Street, I bought fruit and a spicy smoked sausage called kulen at the Dolac Market, a large open-air bazaar near the cathedral and Trg bana Jelačić, the main square. Brilliant oranges, juicy melons, and jars of Dalmatian honey spilled out over the cobbled sidewalk.

Many of Zagreb’s museums are situated in the Donji Grad, or lower town, which was planned in the late-nineteenth century on the Viennese model and is centered on a “green horseshoe” of public parks and promenades. This series of squares and parks would be difficult to traverse even in optimal weather conditions, but over several days, while visiting some of the museums and galleries enroute, it’s a great guide to understanding what Zagreb is all about. Broad boulevards are lined with impressive pastel-colored Habsburg buildings. Quirky shops and innumerable restaurants and cafes fill this area of the city. Since Croatia is where the necktie was invented, I made a point to stop and buy one at Croata Cravata, the famous boutique.

Farther from the town centre are two green oases, Maksimir Park and Mirogoj Cemetery. As luck would have it, the youth hostel where I was staying was located in the Ravnice neighboorhood close to the Kraš chocolate factory and Maksimirska, the largest public park in Zagreb. Designed in the 19th century, the park contains the city zoo, numerous pleasure pavillions, and several lakes. Its secluded winding paths are ideal for shaded, lesiurely walks, and when a rest is in order the hilltop cafe is the perfect place for flâneurs to sip cappucino and watch strollers on the promenade below.

Designed in Neo-Renaissance style by Austrian architect Hermann Bollé in 1876, Mirogoj is said to be one of the most beautiful cemetery parks in Europe. Charming cupolas, arcades, and ivy-covered walls lend the place a romantic atmosphere, and, although it’s situated some distance from the city centre, the cemetery is well worth the extra effort to explore.