Zagreb, Croatia

5:30 in the morning in Zagreb Croatia. In my line of work, I only see this time when I have been up all night programming light cues. Well I guess I am holding to that ideal. I left Venice yesterday evening at 21h27 and got into Zagreb at 4h18, with a few stops at the Slovenian and Croatian boarders for passport inspection. The train was headed to Budapest, with Zagreb just being one of the few stops on the way. Now I am sitting outside my hostel, which was a little more difficult to find than anticipated, but it has a terrific location right on the main square of the city. I can see the huge spires of the cathedral over the roof tops across the way. It is starting to get a little cold in the evenings, so I am glad for my warmer cloths. The walk from the train station to the square wasn't bad at all, but from the square trying to figure out what a "yard" means to a Croatian was interesting. (The directions to the hostel said go to the second yard on my left.) But luckily in my hunt a baker across the street noticed me walking aimlessly with my backpack and a list of directions. He pointed me in the right direction, and now I wait to watch the sunrise, drop my bags off and start exploring.

Well, what does one say about Venice. If you are familiar at all with the musical "Urinetown," Venice is in fact a city in which you have to pay to pee. I don't think the Venetians have ever heard of the concept of a free public toilet. Each time you see a sign for a W.C. expect to pay 1 euro for that porcelain throne. Even in the train station there was a fee to use the toilet. Let me tell you, to make things "simpler" they but the turnstiles on the outside of the separation between men and women, so everyone pays at the same place, but once through the pearly white gates there is never a clear determination made as to which direction each gender should go. This is all really nonsensical, but in case you have had loads of espresso in the morning in Venice, are caught walking around the canals when all of the sudden nature calls, make sure you have a 1 euro coin handy so you aren't squatting off the side of a bridge. (There is not a single bush in Venice to hide behind.)

There is a crazy separation between the generations when it comes to their opinions of Venice. Every person I talked to over the age of 35 to 40 thought that Venice was one of the greatest cities of all time. The opposite could be said about those in their 20's to early 30's. I was in the middle somewhere. I though Venice had some amazing qualities, but there are only so many times I can walk by a "Murano Glass" store and see the exact same little figurines looking back at me. I think that is one of the main reasons it is so easy to get lost in Venice. Not because the streets are poorly labeled and most of them randomly dead end, but because it is impossible to set regular bread crumb landmarks because every shop looks exactly the same. I was most disappointed with the beautiful and stunning Rialto Bridge, which from a far was simply breathtaking, but when you walked over it, you see that the inside of the bridge, the part they don't show you onpostcards, is covered in tacky souvenir shops. No Bueno Venice!

Once you get off the tourist lined paths of the grand canal, you start to see a little bit more of the city for what it is and possibly once was. I think the thing that most got to me about the city was the lack of pride and respect that the locals had for it. They were using the canals like a personal trash can, and simply ignoring all of the chaos surrounding them. New York is filled with tourists and craptacular souvenir shops, but its residents have a pride and awe about their city that gives it the spirit and character that make it what it is. Venice along the way has lost that.

Well as I step off of my soap box, I would like to tell all of the readers out there (yes, I am talking to you, and thanks for hanging in there with me) that today was the first day I had a random run in with a repeat traveler. An Australian guy I shared a room with on my last night in Cinque Terra, sat next to me on the train to Zagreb. The strangest part was not the run in, but the fact that we shared a room and then on the train we were literally seated in seats right next to each other. Just thought I would drop that little useless tidbit of news in there. Use it as you will.