Off the beaten path, Friday, 9/13/19

Into each overseas trip we take, a day off from the "maddening crowd" seems to be required for Jimmy and me.  Today was our day to ourselves.  Jimmy was feeling a bit less than up-to-par, and an all-day bus trip with the group to the north didn't sound like his cuppa tea, either.  So, we told our guide to count us out, we'd go off on our own.  He thanked us and hoped we'd have a good time, regardless.  Mario is one of the good guys.

It's a mere hop/skip/jump from our hotel to the Lenuci Horseshoe -- the U-shaped system of city squares with parks in Zagreb's Lower Town.  It's a marvelous chain of greenspace parks, with statues and fountains and benches, walking paths, and ornate buildings like the Art Pavilion, below, as seen from King Tomislav Square.  We didn't make it inside the Art Pavilion, but someday I think it would be a treat to spend a few hours looking at the treasures it holds. 

Out and About on a beautiful morning -- at King Tomislav Square Fountain.

Zagreb has a plethora of statues, including big, stately ones like this bronze statue of King Tomislav (the first Croatian king) in front of the Railway Station.  Jimmy is dwarfed by the king!

Behind the king's statue is Zagreb's Main Station, the largest in Croatia and the main hub of the Croatian Railways network.  This building was constructed in 1892 ... and they don't make 'em like this any more!  We walked through it and the interior is as old-worldly as you might imagine, and very welcoming.  At the exit platforms where you would catch a train, we tried to count the tracks, but got to a certain point and gave up.  Lots.

On the way from the Main Station to the gardens,

Jimmy spotted this cute li'l truck.

This is the huge Croatian National Railways building, responsible for organizing and regulating train traffic ... it has to be at least a block long.  The architecture is classic 1903.  I'd love to see the inside.

This was our morning's destination -- Zagreb's famous botanical garden.

No admission to enjoy the 11+ acres of beauty.

Not positive what the plant is; regardless,

it's the biggest one of these I've seen!

Woohoo! What a trumpet flower!

We'd hope to enter the Exhibition Pavilion, but the door was locked.

So, we sat for a few minutes, instead.

Several small pools in the park contain water lilies, and other marsh plants, and at least one pond harbors lotus which had the big brown seed pods that my sister and I used to collect for our nut wreathes.  We saw a number of tiny frogs, plus the big guy, above.

And plenty of turtles below the bridge.

You see the giant lotus leaves and seed pods around the fountain, upper right.

We walked and walked,

so taking a seat in a gazebo is kind on the feet.

Upper left -- the glasshouses were blocked off, no entry, perhaps for renovation.  Beyond that is the huge Croatian State Archives Building (with owls as guardians on each corner).  Who thinks of doing this kind of decoration?  Lower left is the marvelous Japanese Pagoda tree, it's limbs helter-skelter, sort of how my joints feel some mornings!

Walking through the gardens was so relaxing, peaceful even, as we made our way from garden to garden, viewing some of the over 10,000 plant species.

This eyeful is the Croatian National Theater, from 1895.  Many of the buildings in old Zagreb were influenced by the former Austro-Hungarian empire architecture.  Guards at the entrance (like college guys) wouldn't let us in, darn it.  I tried to imagine how many rooms this grand ol' dame might house.

At the theater entrance is this wall fountain called The Source of Life (Zdenac života), designed by Croatian artist and sculptor Ivan Meštrović in 1905.  Jimmy admired it, but I thought it was kind of weird.

Connected at the far end to the National Theater is the Opera House, obviously related by color if nothing else.  We stood and gawked for a while, amazed at the structure itself.

Here's the flip side of the coin -- the tapering, 95 foot needle sculpture in front of the Academy of Music.  We couldn't find out a thing about the adjacent orange sphere.  Art, I guess.  Look at the two buildings together -- old school vs modern, yin/yang, as dissimilar as can be.  The contrast makes the city more interesting!

On this laid-back day, we wandered from Lower Town, and up the steps (rather than the funicular) to Upper Town where we scarfed down a pizza for lunch, and strolled around some more, and then made our way back down to the Palace Hotel.  We napped and when we awoke, our OAT group had returned.  Evening meant a lively trip with Bernice and Ibby to the Burger Festival again across the avenue ... and probably a stop at the ice cream vendor!

While it sez "laid-back" day, we still manage to put miles on the shoes!  Every day we put in over five miles, and today was no exception.  Guess it must be good for us!

Tomorrow will be extra special.  Oh boy!

Zagreb! Thursday, 9/12/19

I'm not sure if I knew that Zagreb was in Croatia; I'm not sure that either of us had ever really heard of Zagreb.  Located in north-central Croatia, the city was a surprise to us, a pleasant one!  It's big, home to more than 800,000 people, and it's laid out well.  User-friendly, sort of.  We were out with the group at 9ish for an Out and About tour of "Lower Town," followed by a look-see at Upper Town.  Getting around is easy.  Street cars (or trolleys) ply the main avenues, buses, too.  Zagreb is an attractive city was our initial impression.  Our group is staying at the Palace Hotel, directly across from one of Zagreb's parks -- it's a great location.

We met our local guide, Neven, beneath the horse statue in Ban Jelačić Square.  Nowadays, most people meet under the clock tower, or so we heard, but it was probably less crowded at the horse statue, the one with big cojones (all us ladies peeked)!  Then we were off to check out Zagreb.

We'd take the world's shortest funicular, which has been connecting Upper and Lower Towns since 1890.  You see it in the background.  Ibby, me, Bernice, and Jimmy:  ready to ride!

Lots of bicycle traffic in this relatively flat city, easy transport.

At the top of the funicular, overlooking Lower Town.

Our first stop was at St Mark's Church, which dates in part from the 13th century.  Look at that roof!  During renovation work, the church installed glazed roof tiles, which included two coats of arms, as you see above -- the one on the left represents the Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia, and the one on the right represents the City of Zagreb.  We couldn't go inside, but I sure would've liked to.  It's such a beautiful work of art.  The church is surrounded by attractive governmental buildings, but everybody adores the church.

Many of Zagreb's structures have awesome ornamental features.  I could walk all day in the city and just take pictures like those above.  Each unique, and with a yesteryear elegance. 

St George and the Dragon statue,

though some thought the dragon looked more like a porpoise!

Bernice stands at the entrance to one of Zagreb's tunnels.  This one, Gric Tunnel, is open to visitors.  They were originally built as WWII air raid shelters, but were again used as shelters during the 1991-1995 Homeland war.  None of us wanted to stroll through the tunnel.  I do see light at the end ....

The Cathedral of St Stephen is the pièce de résistance.  Its twin spires can be seen in most parts of the city.  It's an ancient church dedicated to the Assumption of Mary.  The music coming from this huge pipe organ (top left) could probably be heard far, far away!  (BTW, you see a snippet of a chandelier above the pipes?  The story is:  In 2001, Gold Coast casino in Las Vegas was redecorating. At the same time, Zagreb Cathedral was struggling with their old lighting system. Enter Stefan Sankić, a Croatian immigrant working in the casino who convinced his bosses in Las Vegas to donate the chandeliers to the Cathedral.  Holy mackerel.)  The cathedral is the tallest building in Zagreb, a landmark, and, truly, it's quite a showpiece.

We were able to go inside, and stood, transfixed at the beauty we saw.  The altar of St Stephen is magnificent.  My photo doesn't begin to do it justice.

Back outside and on the move, our next stop was Dolac -- a colorful outdoor market chock-a-block full of local fruit and veggies -- Zagreb's largest farmer's market.  If you're looking for something, you'll find it here.  We strolled past the booths, but we didn't buy.

Mario asked if any of us wanted to visit the cemetery.  I think everyone signed up for it.  After lunch, we hopped on a bus to Mirogoj, Zagreb's largest cemetery (from 1923).  We were in awe from the first moment we stepped onto the grounds (above).  This cemetery is also an open-air sculpture park, unlike anything we've ever seen.  Surrounded by landscaped greenery, we walked on a network of trails, viewing artwork on graves, stepped along arched ivy-covered galleries, all the while amazed at the magnitude of this place.  Cemeteries are usually "restful" places to visit, but these grounds were also beautiful.

Mario explains ....

Un-oh, this was disquieting!

The Hooded Crow seemed right at home here ....

So many grave sites were artistic productions.

The cemetery was open to people of various faiths ... segregation of graves was strictly forbidden.  The gallery tiles showcased tile art.  Some used colors, as you see above, others were black and white, every one was different.

The five panels above give you an idea of some sculpted artwork on the sepulchers or crypts.  We saw many more.

We spent a long time at this cemetery.

It was worth our time.

Jimmy wanted to have a conversation with Kumica Barica (kumica loosely translates to “outdoor market selling lady”) while at Dolac market.  She's the only kumica who never leaves the market, so they say.

Back at the hotel, and getting on to dinner time, we discovered Zagreb's Burger Festival going on at the park across the street!  Get this -- the street food festival was powered by Tabasco!  Let's go!  It was free, you picked your favorite burger spot, and your favorite brewski and then looked for a place to sit.  Danged if I can remember the name of the burger joint we picked, but our burger was one of the best Jimmy and I'd ever tasted.  A gal and guy were on a raised (as in, 2nd story) stage singing old rock 'n roll tunes, music the four of us knew and could hum or sing along with.  Fun evening.  Most people we've talked to/with speak English, and automatically start speaking it when they see us walk up.  Do we look that American?

After eating, we strolled along to the next park, which featured an outdoor movie for the kids (Ratatouille by Disney/Pixar was playing).  More food could be had here, popcorn, of course, and ice cream, which we bought.  We see lots of young/ish people in this city, adding a vibrancy that we've not seen in our travels so far.  On a week night, kids with parents, young adults, and grammies (like me) were Out and About, filling the festivals.  What a fun town.  And we get to enjoy another day here tomorrow!