Looking for the meaning of Christmas? Holiday spirit? Or you just want to taste the festive goodies, which includes mulled wine and freshly baked sausages? All of this can be found on the officially most beautiful Advent fair in Europe this year and also last year. No, this is not one of the fabulously decorated squares in Austria or Germany, but with this title can boast the capital city of Croatia, Zagreb.
Let us explain why… the city is full of Christmas spirit. There is no square without wooden houses, in which they cook various drinks, bake or fry »mice«, different sausages and at every step you are accompanied with shining lights and other beautiful decorations. You got everything you wanted. Well, a little bit of long-awaited snow would be nice, which would definitely make city even more magical. All of that can be even better with a good company, so don’t forget to take your friends and family with you.
But first things first. Given the bad experience with the train, we rather took a two-hour long journey with a car. The parking will not be a problem here, because the city has a large number of garages – we’re chosen the one underneath the small shopping center, Importanne centar of Zagreb. We truly recommend it, according to google it’s the cheapest (5 kn/h) and you have just a few minutes walk to the main square.
The city is hiding many attractions, so if you want to afford all the goodies from evening stalls without a trace of guilt, take a long walk around the town. You can start at the aforementioned main Ban Jelacic square, which is the largest in the city and very popular with locals. Not far away is the main market Dolac, from where you will already see Zagreb Cathedral with two 108 meters’ tall towers. Over only still-preserved stone gate in which is the altar of St. Mary, you can climb to the upper town, where you will come across the church of St. Mark with its colourful roof. Right next to it is the Croatian Parliament called Sabor.
Believe us… after that tour you will be really starving, so now you just follow your nose. Literally. Fragrances will carry you to the one of the many markets, where you can drink a glass of tea, homemade brandy, eat portion of fried »mice« (20 kn), Austrian germknödel (cooked donut) with vanilla cream and poppy seeds (30 kn) or a simple hot-dog with Kranjska sausage (18 kn). Yes, the offer is really extensive, so you will not be hungry and thirsty for sure.
And keep in mind – do not drink and drive 🙂
S & B
