Trips

Mon., 6/11/18 - Zagreb, Croatia

Breakfast at this hotel had plenty of choices and lots of fresh fruit, but they ran out of brewed coffee. The Balkans use instant Nescafé, cappuccino, or strong espresso.

At 8:45 we walked up to the main square, Ban Jelacic Square, to meet our local guide, Neven. In the square is a statue of the Croatian nationalist who was assassinated at the beginning of the 90’s war and a statue of Josip Jelacic, who fought against Hungarian rule. The statue of Jelacic was removed while Croatia was under Yugoslavian rule.

Street scene	Spires of the Catheral of Zagreb
Street scene	Light post
Statue of Josip Jelacic	Statue of Josip Jelacic
Market	Street scene
Street scene	Street scene
We walked up to the old funicular and rode up to the upper town. The tower near the South Gate to the old city was built in the 1200’s and a man still walks up and shoots off a cannon at 12 noon. There are still more than 230 gas lamps, used as street lights, that are lit every evening. We looked at the outside of St. Mark’s Church with its colorful roof of ceramic tiles. The patterns of Croatia’s and Zagreb’s coats-of-arms are formed with the tiles. The tiles were made in Hungary. The parliament and PM’s offices are also on St. Mark’s Square. There is also a Greek Catholic Church, which is Roman Catholic. It is the Church of SS Cyril and Methodius, the two men who devised Cyrillic script to write out Slavic languages.
Funicular	Funicular
Funicular	Old building
Interesting museum sign
	Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius - creators of Cyrillic script
Gas lamp	Plaque honoring Nikola Tesla at the Tesla museum
St. Mark’s Church - with wonderful tile roof	St. Mark’s Church entrance
St. Mark’s Church	Corner of a buildiong
We walked out of the old town through the eastern, or Stone, gate. A fire in the 1700’s burned the gate to the ground but a painting of Mary and Jesus was found unharmed in the ashes. It was a “miracle” and people come to this gate with the picture as a shrine. They pray for life and to pass their exams!
Stone Gate	Shrine at the Stone Gate
A 1355 pharmacy that still operates as a modern pharmacy
Roof-top ornament	Statue of St. George and the dragon
Croatian soldiers went to fight in France wearing a neck scarf from their wives. The story is that the soldiers were called Croats or Cravats and this was the origin of men’s neckties. This store dates from the 1600s.	Manhole cover
Naive art	Naive art
We briefly looked at the local flower and food markets and toured St. Mary’s Church, that has an onion dome.
Local flower market	Statue of Petrica Kerempuh
Statue of Petrica Kerempuh	St. Mary’s Church
Market	Market

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