Croatia 2021
June 20, Day 2: Zagreb has some quirky museums. Yes, the Museum of Hangovers really exists! The tiny shop highlights entertaining stories and artifacts from poor decisions around the world
Is the Hangover Museum itself a poor decision? Yes, probably, but not worse than the “TORTUREUM” the Museum of Torture, just up the hill. It supposedly features over 70 full-scale instruments of torture. We elected not to go; my head was bad enough after Zagreb Saturday Night.
We did try to go to the Museum of Mushrooms, with the world’s record for the most freeze-dried fungi. Unfortunately (?), it was closed on Sunday and Monday, so we could not see more than the few specimens in their windows. The museum is right next to the Dolak Farmers’ Market. One wonders if the collection grew due to unsold produce.
Other strange collections in Zagreb include the Museum of Illusion, the Museum of the ’80s, and the Museum of Naïve Art. We learned that this last, while it sounds amusing, is a recognized artistic style, with bold-colored paintings reminiscent in style to American Georgia O’Keefe.
Totally! Only sounds odd
Our favorite, and the only one we actually visited: the Museum of Broken Relationships. Some exhibits were weird, some depressing, some touching stories. It started with two artists who broke off their relationship, didn’t want their communal stuff anymore, and put the collection on display. Others began to share items and stories from their broken relationships – abandoned bicycles, an old 78 record, a wedding dress. As we left, Jean and I held hands and decided to keep sticking together.
Enough quirky museums, we needed a good Zagreb ice cream cone to cheer us up!