We drove through Slovenia on our way to Croatia.

Clouds swirled overhead, but the drive through the countryside was pretty.

It was too early to stop for lunch in Slovenia, but we did admire several barbecue restaurants as we drove through the rural hills.

In Croatia, our first stop was Rijeka, where we had rented a small apartment in the Old Town. Our room was on the third floor, with no elevator. And in Europe, the ground floor is zero, so it was three full flights up to our room. Kenton carried our bags up 88 steps. (That is the same as climbing the Key West light house.) We took 88 steps every time we left, and every time we came back. Every. Single. Time.

Old Town Rijeka was delightful and bustling with visitors. Every meal was more fun than the last, from tempting salads to pizza with a fried egg in the middle!

Especially delicious was a dinner at Grad, a local restaurant getting a lot of attention from Michelin reviewers. The staff was delightful and the meal was extraordinary!

When the weather cooperated, we walked the waterfront to check out the boats.

And when the rain started, we ducked into one of the beautiful coffee shops!

The people were wonderful and the Old Town was fun in Rijeka!

Our second stop in Croatia was Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia.

Here, we started our visit with a small group food and history tour with Josef.

We saw Ban Jelacic square, which celebrated Croatian independence. We walked through Tunnel Gric, originally a bomb shelter used during WWII. St Mark’s Church was surprising with its colorful rooftop showing coats of arms for both Zagreb and Croatia.

It was a fun group and an interesting tour!

Our second day in Zagreb we visited the Museum of Broken Relationships. It was an amazing collection of various items, each presented with its real story about the demise of a relationship – with a lover, friend, relative or even with pizza (the writer was allergic to gluten). It was awesome!!!

After, we continued exploring, and really enjoyed cool restaurants and bars in the area.

While maybe not as flashy as other European cities, Rijeka and Zagreb were charming and very welcoming to visitors. We had a great time!