Life Outside Quincy: 2012 in Zagreb

It should come as no surprise that we ended 2011 in our newly discovered favorite part of Europe- the East! While we have been to Croatia twice before, we had never ventured to its capital city - Zagreb - and decided that it would be a good destination the celebrate the New Year.

It was a relatively easy place to travel and only required a four hour drive through most of Slovenia. We have not yet explored Eastern Slovenia, so the ride was picturesque- a nice mix of rural land and some mountains with traditional Slovenian homes all along the road.

I'd heard some not so great things about Zagreb in my travels and noticed that it does not get much attention in guide books. I also discussed the trip with a co-worker who was surprised that this was our New Year's destination since it was the location of his deployment with the Army back in the 1990s.

Zagreb was a pleasant surprise. Like much of Eastern Europe, it's recovering from a tumultuous past, but it has wonderful sites, kind people and cheap prices.

Ringing in the New Year in Zagreb

We met up with some friends (from here in Italy who traveled there for New Years too) for dinner at an Asian restaurant. Not sure what kind of Asian cuisine it was, but I was happy to be celebrating like an American! The restaurant even gave us free calendars.

I haven't seen one of these since I was little!

After dinner, we headed to Ban Jelacic Square, the main site in town. There were a variety of tents and booths set up serving food and drinks and live bands alternated on the stage. Interestingly, a lot of the music they sang was in English and we particularly enjoyed their rendition of Sinatra's "New York, New York." They occasionally changed the words to Zagreb, Zagreb. The drink of choice was also new to me. While hot red wine is very common in Europe during the winter, this was the first time I was treated to hot white wine. It was a nice compliment to the chilly evening.

Ban Jelacic Square- it got very crowded by midnight

At midnight, we were treated to a fireworks display and somehow found our way into an invite only party at a new nightclub....where they played...you guessed it- more American music about New York! When "Empire State of Mind" came on, the Croatians sang along to the chorus, but none of them could keep up with the rapping.

On New Year's Day (after the second best buffet breakfast we've had in Europe), it was time to explore the city. While it's low on major sites, Zagreb does offer some lovely churches