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Favorite thing: An amazing find, just off the main square. A quiet little arcade, on the corner of Bogoviceva and Preradovicev Try, that is beautifully tiled and lights up like a grotto on a sunny day. The arcade has two corridors that enter and center on a small dome in the middle, which is airy and bright from the soft light that filters through the coloured glass. It has phenomenal accoustics, attested to by the saxophonist whose haunting notes drifted down through the corridors, like Courtney Pine in Angel Heart, drawing me into the center. The saxophonist had obviously picked a great spot, because although the arcade was underdeveloped, and it was a quiet Sunday of closed shops, the echoing soulful notes just drew in unsuspecting music lovers and left them with no alternative to hand over some cash for the amazing performance.

Favorite thing: There's soo many things you can do when you're in Zagreb, you can take a walk from the train station to the centre of town through King Tomislav Square and the Zrinjevac parc. When you're at Ban Jelacic Square, you could go left towards the upper town or go right to the market place and the Cathedral, then have some rest at the beautiful Ribnjak parc right behind the Cathedral. Then you could go for some burek with cheese and a coffee, do some shopping, go back to Ban Jelacic Square and take a tram to the National Theatre, maybe go to the excellent Mimara museum, then take tram No. 17 to Jarun lake and watch the sun go down or - if it's summer - go for a swim. Then try some Cevapi for dinner and if you still have any energy left, go to the Aquarius Club, the finest club in town at Jarun...
but of course there are also many other things to do and ways to spend a day in Zagreb!

Favorite thing: The climate of Zagreb is continental, with four separate seasons. Summers are hot and dry, and winters are cold. The average temperature in winter is 1°C (34°F) and the average temperature in summer is 20°C (68°F). The end of May, particularly, gets very warm, with temperatures rising above 30°C (86°F). Snowfall is common in the winter months, from December to March, and rain and fog are common in autumn (October to December).

Favorite thing: I was amazed how many cafés there are in Zagreb. Especially in the warm season everyone seems to sit outside in the streets to see and to be seen. On Saturday morning it may be difficult to find a seat but funny enough on Sunday afternoon they appear to be practically empty.

Favorite thing: People seem very happy to accept Euros, but don't expect a great exchange rate if you are too lazy to buy yourself some Kuna. I found I could use Euros in the station buying tickets and in the hotels, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were many more places, given the eagerness of people to accept them.

Hotels are expensive, but food and transport is cheap. A very good meal in a nice restaurant will set you back about 70KN, or 10 euros, and you can eat very well for much less. I ate a big pizza, and drank a coffee and mineral water, near to the cathedral, for a surprisingly cheap 42KN, which is less than 7 euros.

Transport is cheap: 20 euros for a ticket to Belgrade, and other internal destinations are similarly cheap. The exception is going north, where the price ramps up dramatically. It costs nearly twice as much to do the two hours to Ljubljana, than it does to take the six hour train to Belgrade. Taxis can be expensive, however, with a 25KN (3.50 euro) flag fall, and 8KN (1 euro) a kilometer after that.

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Favorite thing: One of the most pleasant things you can do in Zagreb is to just wander the streets. There is such a variety of styles and architecture, from the narrow medieval streets of on the hills of Gradec, the more open spaces of Kaptol with its views of the old houses on Gradec's hill, and the wide open and tree lined boulevards of Lower Zagreb, and all its beautiful turn of the century buildings.

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Favorite thing: The parks of Zagreb are one of its finest assets, especially the parks that run from the main train station to the central Ban Jelanica Square. My particular favourite was this little enclosed park just off the main drag in Kaptol. It's so small it doesn't even have a name on most maps. Here you can sit in the silence and shade of the trees looking at the houses as they tumble down from Gradec up above.

Favorite thing: English is suprisingly widely spoken in Zagreb, given that it doesn't get a lot of tourists, relative to cities like Dubrovnik. Kids are learning it at school, and at the movies, and people quickly pick up on the fact that you are english the minute you say "hi" or "hello" and, if they know a few words, immediately try to use them. I had less problems speaking English in Zagreb, even when I went out into the countryside, than I do in Germany.