Zagreb (Croatia)

Charmingly dilapidated and unkempt looking Zagreb invites you in and grows on you quick. Each quart, like a mini city, has its own charms and must visit cafes and bakeries. Zaprudje for example has a lovely little sweets shop called Ivica & Marica (Hansel & Gretel). They make their cakes and sweets with all natural ingredients, so a slightly different take on the old favorites is much healthier and just as tasty.
This side of the river, along with the airport, you will find a fairly new attraction, the Avenue Mall. The place, while not a usual sight in Croatia is awesome as far as malls go and will not disappoint.
Zagreb also features, an even newer, larger, shopping "city" called Westgate. Now this mall is a beast.
While shopping centers are interesting there is of course plenty else to see...like the actual city!
I suggest everyone walk down the British Square and the Ban Jelacic Square.
Visit the Cathedral and check out the copious amounts of vendors and shops nearby. If you get hungry be sure to check out a lovely Pizzeria/Spaghetteria Capuciner. They make the best pizza.
Walking around the city center, in general, is amazing. Zagreb just starts to bloom with charm.

One stop we made that I wanted to mention is the Hole in One restaurant.
After hearing, for years, from my mother and younger brother about this absolutely great pizza place in Zagreb I asked my mom to take me there. The pizzeria is in the center, a few minutes walk away from the Cathedral. It isn’t too conspicuous from the outside, certainly not amongst all of the other markets, cafes, pizzerias and other shops.

Once I stumbled in from the rain I was a bit taken aback by how tiny the place was. Coming from the spaced out, all large USA this felt tight to me. Nonetheless I was welcomed in by the warmth and pleasant aroma coming from the stone bread oven.
The lone waiter was sternly pleasant but not friendly to us. He gave us extensive pizza menus ( this was on top of a pretty thick menu book filled with other foods, I didn't look at it though). As I relaxed a bit I took the place in. It was tiny buy it seemed to please the customers who looked as if they were at home.

I later learned that Hole in One is also a proper pub with a separate entrance to the pub.
My mother noted that the owner seems to have changed. My husband ordered a calzone, only type available (from what we saw), while my mother and I got cheese, ham and mushroom pizzas each. When the food came out I thought “Whoa that calzone is huge! It could feed all three of us”, but that is where the amazement ends. While huge the calzone crust was not only dry but floured as well. It’s not appetizing to eat a plate of dry crusty bread. Not only that, it was drenched in runny tomato sauce.

Our pizzas were less than store bought thin. The crust also overly dry, floured and burnt. For me it was good, compared to typical fast food pepperoni. My mother was not pleased in the least. She expected a pizza she had here with the old owner. One with fluffy crust topped full of cheese, ham and other toppings so that you have no choice but to use fork and knife. She was quite disappointed.
We each had a Coke with our pizza. And although I love the drink bottled, lets face it, it is minuscule. The whole shebang came out to 127.00 Kuna (or 22.00 bucks), not bad for 3 people.

I’m sorry the place doesn’t compare to what it use to be before the owner change, I can’t judge there. The Hole in One is a cozy little place where they would remember a regulars name. Average prices to match the average food, and its great if you need rain shelter!