My only goal today was to visit the Museum of Modern Art. Unbeknownst to me, Croatia's Catholics decided to hold a national holiday today. All museums, and many shops/restaurants, were closed. Grr. I was traveling to Slovenia, but not til later, and the train ride was only a little over two hours. I had the whole day to kill and not very much to kill it with. What to do?
Cafes. What else is there to do in Zagreb? I fell back to the book I brought with me, but never really started because I kept picking up new books. I ate a long leisurely lunch, full of roasted meat and potatoes. Then I caught up on some e-mail/grad school stuff. By late afternoon, it was just about time to leave. I would be staying with Urban in Slovenia, a friend of Rodrigo's. He was coming back from the Croatia coast himself and wouldn't be back in Slovenia until late.
A quick train ride later, I called Urban from Slovenia. Unfortunately for me, his friend had his ID stolen and they were stuck at the border waiting for his friend's passport to be delivered so they could cross. Once again, I had to kill some time. I asked the tourist information guy where I could grab a bite to eat. He took a careful look at me and said there was a Chinese restaurant across the street. I wasn't going to protest. Upon arrival, I noticed that not only was there a Chinese restaurant across the street, but that it was right next to a shisha bar. Things were looking up.
After dinner, I ordered a shisha and sat in front of the Chinese restaurant, sipping on Chinese tea and smoking shisha. The shisha bar owner was even from Cairo, so we waxed poetically on how busy, crowded, and dirty Cairo is. Urban pulled up a couple of hours later and marveled at my ability to entertain myself.
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