Maribor - Zagreb - Plitvice

Now it's time to continue south towards Croatia, where we ultimately want to relax in Istria for a full week after our ordeal. But there is still a lot to see along the way, and we are tackling this 'Bucket List' with today's stage.

But first, we needed a means of transportation and set off to Maribor Airport after a delicious breakfast on the rooftop terrace of our hotel, overlooking the city and the Drava River. On that day, the airport had exactly two flights to handle. Shortly after, we were already sitting in our Skoda Fabia and heading to our first destination, the oldest city in Slovenia, Ptuj.

It is a very charming medieval city with picturesque streets and a beautiful castle, which offers a lovely view of the city and its surroundings. Small but beautiful, we set off towards Zagreb around noon. After so many stays in Croatia, we finally wanted to visit the capital.

Unfortunately, the Slovenian-Croatian border control once again hindered our progress. Both countries are part of the EU but still have separate border checks due to being outside the Schengen Area. It's one thing that after over 4 years of membership, they still haven't managed to conduct both border controls in the same building. But it's another thing to create a traffic jam for pulling out the toll card about 400m after the Croatian border, when it could be done right at the border (since you have to continue on the highway anyway). So instead of waiting once, we ended up waiting three times in traffic.

Thus, we arrived in Zagreb a bit later, but it didn't diminish our enthusiasm for this impressive and generously laid-out metropolis. The weather was almost flawless, except that it was quite hot for a city stroll. Zagreb consists of a more modern 'Lower Town' with a very long and elegant shopping street, the main square of Ban Jelacic, and many imposing and beautiful buildings, such as the opera and the monumental cathedral. The architecture strongly reminded us of Trieste. In between, you can find numerous tranquil and spacious parks. In the center lies the medieval 'Upper Town'. Perched on a hill, it offers a serene contrast to the modern center with its lower houses, quiet streets, and squares. Currently, the city is hosting an art festival, which presents totally original displays and installations with food and drink stalls in numerous public parks - very cool!

Impressed by the urban flair and with the intention of spending 1-2 days here at some point, we didn't mind the parking tickets we received, although it is still a mystery to us where we could have paid.

After a short traffic jam at the toll station outside Zagreb, we continued with grateful glances at the opposite lane, as traffic towards the city was backed up for about 15km! From Karlovac, we took the main road towards Plitvice Lakes, the next highlight of our route, and finally arrived at around 6 PM. More about that in the next report.