Exploring Old Zagreb

Statue in the center of Zagreb

First an apology, I am sorry for everyone who has been reading my blogs, I am aware that I am not the best writer in the world, but as someone pointed out, my writing is really hard to read. So I will try to write better and be more coherent in the future. 

So where to begin? Today was a really good day in my life, nothing spectacular happened and no life changing events happened, but today's memories will stay with me for a long time. It was just simple put a wonderful day. I do not have classes on Wednesdays, not till half way through the semester. So I woke up late and caught up on some much needed sleep! I have been trying to see everything, be everywhere, and meet everyone that it really wears you out, so sleeping in felt wonderful. After waking up I had a small breakfast of fruit, I normally do not like oranges all that much, but here they are so sweet I cannot help but to eat them. After having a nice and lazy morning I strapped on my camera bag and went out to explore the city.

In front of the main theater, you can see the
 wedding couple in the background

I first stopped in the heart of the city. This is where the above picture was taken, I stupidly forgot to record the name of the statue, but if I had to take a guess it is St. George slaying the dragon? I want to say I am correct, that is the only dragon slaying story that I can recall. Right next to the statue is Croatia's National Theater. It is a HUGE yellow building adorned with tons of ornate carvings and sculptures. As I walked up to the building I saw 2 or 3 other photographers and was about to talk to them, when I realized that they were photographing a wedding! I admit, I did take some photos of the happy couple because they looked right out of a fairy tale. I then walked around and snapped photos of the building at different angles. It is a nice change of pace to actually take photos for myself once again, rather than it being my job. I remembered why I liked photography so much in the first place. On a side note, the sculpture in the photo on the left is from oneIvan Meštrović. He is a famous sculptor from Croatia, he has a very recognizable piece in downtown Chicago of an Indian riding a horse. 

Road sign showing all the things to do within
walking distance

After the theater I walked down the main road. I feel that to really learn a city, you should walk everywhere. You get to notice things that are so wonderful, that in a car or tram they become just a mere blur. Every nook and cranny in Zagreb has some historic story or wonderful piece of art just hiding. I think you could walk for a month and still not see all the public art and everything Zagreb has to offer. I stopped at a road sign trying to figure out where I wanted to go first. There are so many museums and landmarks to see, I knew I will again be out next Wednesday walking around. I decided to not go to any museums today and to save that for next time. I have a friend who lived here for one semester already and she promised to go with me to any museum that I want to go to. I am so excited because They have SO many things to do and see here! Also because of the conversion rate from US dollars to Croatian Kuna it makes things relatively cheap to see and do things here. I really suggest if someone is looking for a place to study abroad try Croatia, it is in the heart of Europe, is cheap compared to other European city's and the people are wonderful!

I decided I would walk to the open air market and start my journey. As I walked down to the market I stopped at the hot dog stand on the side of the road and grabbed a hot dog. I really love the hot dogs here, they are real sausages stuffed inside french bread with french mustard. It only cost like $2.50 in Dollars. You cannot beat that price for so much flavor! As I sat and ate my hot dog I realized I was sitting in front of a statue and a church. There is so much going on here that it is easy to overlook what is right in front of you. I feel like that is common in many peoples lives. Overlooking what is right in front of them, the things that really matter. This again is why walking is my choice of transportation, you get to slow down and see everything. I do need to say, if any of my friends from Croatia are reading this I like walking, I am just not use to doing so much of it. I often say how I am not use to walking to much here, I mean EVERYWHERE we walk and it does get tiring but my legs are doing much better after the first few weeks. 

I made it to the market just as people were closing their stands. The people here work so hard, you can tell just how they set up their market. So far this year it has been very cold and they come here and set up everyday. The carefully stack their fruit in a presentable manner, trying to persuade any passerby into buying something. They stack far more fruit than they know they are going to sell, but I think they do it because they are proud of the product they are selling. They want people to see that they are good farmers and that they produce a good thing. At the end of the day they carefully stack all their fruit, one by one, back into boxes. Some of the vendors threw some of their goods on the ground so the birds had something to eat. They all look worn but with smiles on their faces. As I walked by the stands some were selling other things than fruit. They could tell I was not from Croatia and quickly tried to sell me everything from silk lace to wooden flasks. They gave me businesses cards from every stand I went to, telling me to come back when I was ready to shop.

I am told that as the weather warms up, this place is brimming with people and those red umbrellas. 

The inside of the church.

From the market I walked over to the cathedral again. You cannot help but be filled with a sense of awe when you walk up to the building. It really humbles you for how big it is. I sat for a long time right in the middle of the square just looking at it. I was rewarded with many strange glances but it was just fine with me. I wanted to soak in all the building had to offer. Every corner has some religious meaning, stories I grew up with from church could be found being played out in the intricate carvings. I really am in love with this building. The inside is just as impressive as the outside. I promise I will spend a whole day photographing this church and make a post about it. The church has large paintings on the walls, with golden figurines all around. Candles are burning at all time in this church, and people are always here praying.

Do you see how small the people look at the bottom? 

 As I left the church I headed to the older side of Zagreb, where some of the best views in the city are. As I made my way down the small streets I bumped into this statue of an lady. This is a famous Croatian writer who wrote many stories. Why is she particularly of interest to me? The local brewery names all their beer after characters from her story. All the beer you see that is in mugs come from the micro-brewery here. So  I thought I would give her a small shout out here on my blog. I am going to try and find out more about her and maybe see if I can find some of her books in English to read.

All along the streets are things that I find fascinating. I really like the architecture. All the buildings remind me of the spirit of the people here. They are strong and have lasted the test of time over and over. They buildings are just simply wonderful and have adapted to the times, they have satellites and antennas hanging off of them, yet they still retain their own identify. From the small flower shop with red doors covered in snow, to the 5 star hotel just down the road. The past and present live side by side here.

I like this photo a lot for some reason 

A small flower shop tucked away. 

I will quickly cover the rest of my exploration because I know I tend to get long winded! I went through the old gate, the entrance to the old city. They have candles that people can light. Along the walls are the names of people, I was told it was for a horrible fire that nearly destroyed Zagreb. I am not sure, so I am quite curious as to what the whole story is. The rest of the photos below just show you the different sites of Zagreb. Beneath each photo is a small description. Comment if you have any questions! Oh and I used a special lens I borrowed from Zvanko to make all the buildings look super tiny. I am in LOVE with that lens. It is so much fun!
Benda out!

This is St. Marks Church, it sits right in the middle of the political center of Zagreb. 

This is a view of the city. The blue things are a sky lift, someone told me they are famous
I am not sure why though? 

This is graffiti on a high school door in the old city.

This is another view of the church, I had some better photos but this is the only one where the
church is clear.

A nun was stopped and asked for directions in this ally way, one of the
many ways to get to the old city.

This was just a girl that was wearing the hockey team that Serta coaches hockey for.

This is a girl playing ring of fire by Johnny Cash, She was not half bad, despite a slight
accent.

This is the club we go to every Wednesday, it plays songs from Elvis to Ray Charles and
everyone dances the Lindy, it is a version of swing dance. SO MUCH FUN! This is where I ended my day with my friends. Dancing the night away!