Exploring Zagreb

Our first full day in Zagreb involved a fair bit of walking as we explored the city. The first item on the agenda was breakfast. Our search was limited by our lack of research into dining options for a Sunday morning. Most of the places we passed were either closed or serving only croissant and coffee. We were in the mood for something more substantial.  Ultimately, and somewhat ironically, we settled on the buffet at the Hotel Dubrovnik.  Once we joined the REI group, this was to be our accommodation for the night. After enjoying our breakfast we retraced our steps to check out of our Air BnB apartment then boomeranged back to HD to check in there. Luckily, our room was ready so we dropped our bags and hit the streets once more on our way to Maksimir Park. We could hear drum beats from our window and peered out to see a regement of horses and men in costume from the late 18th century, complete with swords at their sides, marching across Ban Jelacic square.  We zipped downstairs in time to get a couple photos of the very stern captain on his handsome steed.
All the excitement had made us thirsty so we headed around the corner to the aptly named Corner Bar for a beverage.  Mike ordered a smoothie while I ordered what I thought was hot chocolate.  When it arrived, my "drink" was in a cup but more like warm chocolate pudding than a liquid. I was not disappointed, just a little surprised.  Amused and refreshed, we began our journey to the park in earnest.  We headed up some interesting looking stairs and ended up taking a detour around the Zagreb sports club. This "shortcut" took us uphill beside many clay tennis courts and a large swimming complex then back down through a nice neighborhood to the park. 
Maksimir was established as a park in the 1794. It is an amazing green space in the city where many of the local citizens and their canine companions were enjoying the afternoon sun. Fortunately,  we took a photo of the map of the park on the way in. We had to reference it multiple times as the trails were extensive and the woods were rather dense. Walking through the old forest, it seemed like we might find Robin Hood and his band of merry men just around the next corner.
We left the park and headed back to HD to meet our new best friends for the week.  Our guides Robbie and Goran introduced themselves as well as the 10 others in our group. We chatted and then headed out for one last look around the city before turning infor the night. We decided to visit St Markov (St Mark's) cathedral. It sits on a hill overlooking the city and is easily recognized by its elaborate roof design.  We were unsure how much of the pattern would be visible at night.  However,  we were pleasantly surprised by the lighting and detail in our photos. Extending our loop through the narrow streets, we returned to our hotel excited to start the official adventure the following day.