Ice cream. What's not to love? Imagine an cold creamy sweet liquor sliding down your throat, cooling that internal inferno caused by our sweltering and humid environment. Ahh. We do have pretty decent ice cream in Singapore, but Croatian ice cream? They blew me away with their intensity in flavor, the smoothness in texture and generosity in their servings. Is it better than Italian Gelato? I'll leave it to you to find out. Travel to Croatia, try them and then let me know. ;) Here is my Best of Croatian Ice Cream list! Definitely amongst the Best Ice Cream in Europe.

Zagreb- Slastičarnica Zagreb

Masarykova 4, Zagreb Upper Town, Croatia

8am-11pm

This was a stumbled upon but it turned out to be a well known slado establishment in Zagreb. Long time favorite place for pancakes and other sweet temptations, Slastičarna Zagreb was refurbished in 2011 and is now one of the swankier city-centre spots for a little (or not so little) desserts indulgence.

Huge servings of Croatian ice cream (slado). Slastičarnica Zagreb does these interesting sundae creations that we couldn't get enough of. Individual scoops are merely priced at 7KN (1Euro or S$1.40).

Zadar- Slastičarna Donat Review

Trg. Sv Stosije 4,  Zadar 23000, Croatia

Located just around the corner of the St. Donat lies this famous slado parlor, reputed to have the best ice cream in Zadar. People know them from all around ice cream crazy Dalmatia due to their creative flavors and funny (sarcastic is my funny) scoopers. We had 2 scoops each per day when we were here. Go figure.

What else is there to do in Zagreb other than the Segway City Tour (read about it here)? Well, most of the sights are pretty much covered in the tour so here's the next best thing to do. Coffee-People-Watching. 

You can do that pretty much anywhere in Zagreb but the best place to do it is along the cobbled stones of Tkalčićeva Street. This is where everyone hangs out in during the lunch hour, late afternoons/evenings. 

The area is full of restaurants, cafés and boutiques. Just walk around and pick a caffe bar that suits you whenever you are tired. I think for the Croatians, it was watching this Asian couple walk up and down the street. The main bulk of tourists are Europeans and there are very few Asians touring the place. At some towns we were the only Chinese around. It was oddly comfortable being an obvious stranger in a foreign land though. I guess that's because Croatians are extremely friendly. 

Anyway, the cafes and restaurants remain open till the late hours of the night. Perfect excuse to just lounge around the whole day. :)) But in my opinion, the cafe that cannot be missed when you are in Zagreb is Eli's Caffe. This is the best coffee that i've tried in Zagreb. SO SO GOOD. 

I love how smooth and fragrant the drinks are. It all boils down to the preparation- from the roasting to the brewing. Eli's Cafe is the first specialty coffee roastery in the whole of Croatia. The beans are then prepared and brewed by 3 times Croatian Barista Champion Nick Orosi. Gosh i love this dude. He's really funny in the sarcastic way and of course really good at his coffee. He reminds me Nick Miller in New Girl! They even look alike. -Major girl crush- 

According to him, his is the only job that makes people happy everyday, all day, all year round. I couldn't agree more. Yes i'm a caffeine addict. :P According to S, the other job would be selling ice cream, but it only works in a tropical climate like ours. Well S eats ice cream even in winter time! Such the dessert monster.    

So yea, i told S that i'd marry someone who can make me perfect coffee every morning when i wake. I think the way i gushed over Nick may prompt S to take up a barista course in the near future. :P But honestly, wouldn't you wanna wake up to the aroma of coffee beans every morning? Anyway, do head over to Eli's cafe if you are in the area. I guarantee you a great caffeine experience. :))  

Eli’s Caffé 

Ilica 63, HR - 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Tel: +385 (0)91 4555 608

Weekdays: 8am - 7pm

Sat: 8am - 4pm

Sun: 9am - 2pm

What is the number 1 thing to do in Zagreb, Croatia? Is it visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art or The Cathedral of the Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary? Could it be checking out the sculptures at the Mirogoj cemetery? Or perhaps having a picnic in Maksimir Park? Well well.. You could do all of that and end up rushing from one end of the city to the other on public transport and foot and end up killing yourself at the end of the day.

I'm an easily bored traveler with ADHD. Churches, old buildings and museums kinda look the same after a while (I call this the European traveler fatigue). The only things that get me going through them is 1. the entrance fee and 2. the effort it took me to get there. Of course there are certain attractions that i MUST SEE but i'd rather spend the time chilling out and exploring back alleys than running around taking pictures just to show that i've been to a particular city/country. That kinda takes the joy away from traveling don't you think? 

So here is my recommendation! Number 1 thing to do in Zagreb is..... (drumroll...)

Segway City Tour! 

I used to think that it's super uncool to ride on a Segway and it's meant for old foggies but this is SO FUN. This is probably the fastest and breeziest way to visit most of the attractions in the city. It's not boring because you only spend a couple of minutes at each site and there is a local guide to transfer bite size bits of history (the more interesting parts). Absolutely effortless. I highly recommend this if you visit Zagreb. Heck. I'd do this at every city i visit. 

If you are interested, read on. Here is how you get your tickets. 

Central and Eastern Europe is pretty much misunderstood by the typical Singaporean. When people heard that I was going to Croatia, questions that inevitably popped up were - “Is it safe?” “Do they have proper roads?” “What are you gonna eat? Peasant food?” “Is the water drinkable?” "Don't die there please."

Well... I came back in one piece. In fact, I came back a bigger piece because the food was awesome and I had a ball of a time. 

One of the best meals in my life. That's me mopping up the last bits of my shrimps dish.

S marveled at how this is one of the rare times that i actually finished all of my food without being forced to. 

And seriously people, Croatia is a developed country just without all that huge commercial brands and overly touristy stuff. AND we felt much safer here than in the typical crime ridden European countries like Spain, Paris, Greece and Italy or London. We walked around late at night and had no issues at all.

I suppose that is just the “Paranoid Singaporean” syndrome kicking in. The distrust and wariness we have of all things foreign and strange. I’m not saying it’s not good; we have only our upbringing and artificially safe environment to blame for that. But sometimes you just got to live a little, be a little trusting even when gut reaction tells you to pick up your slippers and run in the opposite direction. 

So anyway, it was 1 awesome trip to Croatia. 11 days. Left footprints in 6 countries. Transited in 2 countries, Qatar (Doha) and Hungary (Budapest), visited 3 countries, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro and threw in a pit stop in Bosnia. 

View from Dubrovnik Old Town.

The stops went like this. Singapore-Doha-Budapest- [Croatia] Zagreb- [Slovenia] Ljubijana (day trip)- [Croatia] Plitvice National Parks- Zadar- Sibenik(day trip)- Split- Hvar & Pakleni Island (day trip)- [Bosnia] (beach stop)- Dubrovnik- [Montenegro] Sveti Stefan & Kotor- [Croatia] Lokrum Island- Zagreb- [Singapore]. It seems like a crazy packed to the brim kinda holiday but it wasn't. We had lots of time to chill out at caffe bars, chase waterfalls, sunbathe with a bunch of naturalists, catch sunsets, do nothing at all. 

Chilling out at Buza- Bar on a Cliff in Dubrovnik 

What's cool is that we didn't break the bank for the trip. Well i never break the bank unless there's shopping involved. Here's a breakdown of how much we spent.

Air ticket-approx SGD1.7k (Qatar Airways)

Travel expenses (food, accommodation, car rental, sights)- 1000 Euros each. We had a range of meals from budget to high end but 1 good meal a day is guaranteed (by good i don't mean it has to be expensive). 40-50Euros would get you 2 mains, 2 starters and drinks. 

Accommodation- Mid range apartments and 1 4* Hotel (which wasn't fantastic). 70-100Euros/night

Currency- Croatian Kunas. Bring Euros for currency exchange in Croatia (that's if Euro is still in use then). Current exchange rate 1Euro:1.613SGD. S$1: 4.5KN approx. You do the math.

Our lovely apartment in Zadar. Huge and rustic with Wifi, AC, Satellite TV and Jacuzzi shower.

The best time to visit Croatia is probably early to mid June. Get a golden tan. Swim in the cool sapphire Adriatic sea. Party hard at cross country festivals. Trek under the shade of vast green canopies. Hop on and off ferries with efficient summer schedules. Avoid high season prices and 3am parties at overbooked hotels.

My very own swimming pool in Bosnia.

I'm really glad that we went on this trip before too many Asians and Singaporeans hit the beautiful Adriatic coast and before it's marred by all the cut throat tourism and scams. We were practically the only Asians/Singaporeans in some towns.

Sunset at the top of Dubrovnik at our secret spot

Croatia has got to be one of my favorite countries at the moment (because i will never stop exploring cool places). Travel to Croatia, will you?

Hello folks! I'm off on a trip to a beautiful land with sapphire blue Adriatic sea, magnificent city walls, monasteries, medieval churches, graceful squares and fascinating residential quarters. The entire nation is practically a UNESCO World Heritage site! Croatia is still an undiscovered gem by many Singaporeans but it is Europe's vacation hotspot! Central Europe is really quite cool. Check it out.

Credits: Love-croatia.com

Dubrovnik- UNESCO World Heritage Site with it's unrivaled view of the Adriatic Sea. Surprised to know how this walled city was shelled during the 1990's Homeland War and how fast it has bounced back since.

Credits: WideRange.ord

Plitvice Lakes National Park with the dozens of lakes, waterfalls and luscious spruce, fir and pine trees. Doesn't it make you feel like jumping into the pools of blue right now?

Credits: The Telegraph UK

How about some chilling out at the Diocletian Palace, emperor retirement style, sipping coffee at the Peristil after exploring the inner city maze?

Yes. this is the year of off-the-beaten-path traveling. That's just a preview of what's to come. Will be back some time later, but if i'm not, don't look for me. I really don't wish to come back. :P Will try to post snippets on the roads. Maybe do a visual diary thing instead of writing. Don't miss me too much!

XOXO

C.