WHERE ARE WE ANNE?: BELGRADE, SERBIA TO ZAGREB AND PREMANATURA, CROATIA

ZAGREB, WHERE SANTA GOES FOR SUMMER

LATE SEPTEMBER SOMETIME

Belgrade to Zagreb by train was Anne's idea. There'd be no fear of flying and a nice relaxed romantic way to see the country side. We saw a lot of it, mostly at 40 kilometers an hour and most of it corn crops, at least until the Serbian border. All carriages were non smoking, well, they were all marked non smoking. It meant the smokers would go to one end of the carriage to smoke which must have fulfilled some obligation to at least try not to smoke in the carriage. Things sped up a bit once over the Croatian border as the new engine hooked on at the border made an effort to make up time. Once in Croatia, farming was on a much broader scale, more mechanised and things looked much better off, relatively speaking at least. You talk to any Croatian for any length of time and the despair will soon find a voice.

We eventually rolled in to Zagreb and were met by our host of the Airbnb room Anne had arranged on line. A cosy joint close to everything. Zagreb was very agreeable. Next day we met Jenny and Steve at the airport, hired a car and drove south to the Istrian Coast for some camping.