Next Country - Croatia (starting in Zagreb)

Croatia has been something of a vacationing hotspot in recent years, but we were going for slightly different reasons, family ones. 

Tom’s parents, John and Carol Puskarich, were joining us on the next leg of our European travels. With them, we would visit Croatia and then Poland to explore family roots.

I have the best in-laws!

When I married Tom, I took on his last name of “Puskarich.” This is Croatian for “son of a gun-maker.” Yep, you read that right. 

So, we went to Croatia in search of family connections and ancestries.

There was not much to go on as the great grandfather, Michael Puškarić, was a man of few words, having immigrated to the US at the tender age of 16. 

The story goes that, in 1902, Michael had just enough money for passage to Ellis Island. He didn’t speak English and was barely literate in his native language. So once he got off the boat in New York City, he wandered around until he heard others speaking something familiar. He found his people and joined them as their traveled to western Pennsylvania to work in the coal mines.

Michael worked for a few years before his elders suggested he get married. The young Puskarich didn’t know any girls except for a gal, Julia, from his old village back in Yugoslavia, who he used to throw apples at. He liked her even though, or possibly because, she always called him, “bad boy!” Well, he wrote home to find out if she was married. She wasn’t, and shockingly even agreed to come all the way to America to join him in matrimony. Thirteen kids later, the Puskarich family was well established. 

Our first stop in Croatia was Zagreb. 

The 13th Century, St. Mark's Church

I found Zagreb to be a bit of a pleasant surprise. I love it when a city is both pretty and has a sense of humor about itself. From the fun statues, the street art, all the color, I found myself smiling a lot.

Zagreb also has a museum culture that is anything but ordinary. 

A quick list of quirky museums: 

- Museum of Broken Relationships, 

- Cravat Museum

- Museum of Lost Tales

- Croatian Museum of “naïve” art

- Museum of hangovers

- Museum of unfinished art

Come on, this is fun! 

We couldn’t do them all, but we did walk past the cravat museum. Did you know that the cravat has it's origins in Croatia? I didn't!

We swung through the Museum of Broken Relationships, which celebrates artifacts from break-ups and other relationships endings. Some are petty, some are funny, and some are just sad. It was certainly different. Ha!

But, our favorite by far was the Museum of Lost Tales. It was part Croatian folk tales, part art gallery, part oral history and a lot of gorgeous (though sometimes creepy) creativity. I LOVED it and could have spent all day here. 

While at the Museum of Lost Tales, we took a break on their terrace to wait for the “Noon Boom.”

The city of Zagreb, not satisfied with a mere church bell to mark the time, fires a cannon every day at noon, aka, “The Noon Boom." It is quite ... surprising, Ha ha!

Our reaction to "The Noon Boom"

Then there was the Tunnel Gric, a WWII public bomb shelter that is now used as a pedestrian tunnel. It apparently also hosted the first rave parties in the 90s. I can see that.

I think one of the most important things to do when exploring a culture is embracing the food. And much of this food was delicious and simple comfort food to the Puskarich family. 

Cabbage rolls, stuffed peppers, sausages, potatoes, pork chops, and much more. So good.

We also took a food tour, but mostly just explored many of the local restaurants.

We walked a lot. We had to with all that heavy eating. Luckily Zagreb had so many random and fun sites to see and discover on every corner.

Zagreb was a very laid-back city. It was easy to navigate. The people were friendly and eager to help. The food was inexpensive. There weren’t as many tourists there, and it was just a pleasant place to be and walk around in.