Words and photographs by Jolin Ma

Travelling to Croatia has been the best experience I had thus far in 2012. Not only was I immersed in delightful hospitality of the locals, I got to indulge in the most amazing culture and food Croatia has to offer. Here are some snippets from my trip to the first city, Zagreb!

Zagreb-Dolac market is Zagreb’s main market and it sit above the main square. From what I know, farmers from villages would sell their local produce and handmade goodies.

The fruits, nuts, vegetables and other hand-made foodstuff like honey were beyond attractive!

To the left of the main square lies the well-known Tkalciceva Street. It is aesthetically lined with cafés and bars of all genres.

At the start of the street, you can find the Cookie Factory, a coffee house with quaint mural painting on the window. They sell gorgeous looking desserts and fragrant rich coffee. This cafés and bar street gets really crowded at night. In the day, it would be a perfect spot to bask in the sun and just laze the day away over a cuppa.

“Ivica i Marica” that means Hansel and Gretal is a MUST-GO! They serve the best homemade ice cream. I was told to try their famous homemade cakes but was utterly disappointed by the chocolate fudge cake. Probably I should have tried their famous pineapple cake instead. However, the Raspberry ice cream and Hazelnut ice cream were mind blowing. The goodies were cheap!

Another good place to go is Didov san (Grandfather’s dream) konoba The food is good, not fantastic but the ambience is what I fell in love with. They serve Croatian food, which plays with a lot of meat like veal and lamb.

The last meal I had in Zagreb was at Pivnica Medvedgrad. They have the best homemade beers and they serve very humble Croatian dishes.

Zagreb is the capital of Croatia. Besides the lovely dining places, it has tons of architecture and museums worth the visit. It is also the best city to travel to the famous Plitvice Lake from. Google Zagreb, Croatia now!