Quiet, cool, comfortable. Our apartment that is. So we might have had a bit of a sleep in, and a late start. Felt better for it.
Joined the free walking tour of Zagreb this morning. The first question Luka asked was whether there were any French amongst the tour group. No response. ‘Normal’, he said, ‘but we’re getting a lot of Belgians’, he joked. Luka then went on to describe the scene in the square we were standing in, on the day in July when the Croatian Football team returned from the World Cup final against France – disappointed but very proud. There are just under a million people living in Zagreb, and it was estimated that around 500,000 of them came to celebrate in the Main Square when the team returned. Took the team bus 6 hours to get from the airport.
Went for a wander through the two original towns, Kaptol and Gradec, which finally joined together in 1851 to form the origins of what is now Zagreb. Around one quarter of the country now live in Zagreb, so it was the obvious choice as capital in 1991. Usual story. The Habsburgs (Austrians) and the Ottomans fought over it, but the Ottomans were never never strong this far west, so its always been more European. Hence it is a catholic country rather than an orthodox country. The city was almost destroyed in a huge earthquake in 1880, but rebuilt.
After the fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire at the end of WWI, it became autonomous, until it was basically taken over by Tito in the wake of the second world war, and became part of Yugoslavia. The Sava river flows through the city, and flows down to join the Danube in Belgrade, Serbia, which is why Belgrade was the bigger city, and ended up being the capital of Yugoslavia. As we’ve said before, Yugoslavia was communist, but not Soviet.
Croatia’s decision to declare autonomy from Yugoslavia in 1991, which angered Serbia no end, was the trigger for the Yugoslav civil war. There were six states in Yugoslavia – Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Kosovo. Four of these were strong enough to declare independence from Serbia (still known then as the the Yugoslav Republic). However, Serbia under the rule of Slobodan Miloševic, wanted some of each states declared territory, and war broke out all around, with Serbia carrying out bombing raids on many cities including Zagreb. After 4 years of bloodshed, NATO intervention, and the deaths of thousands, Milosevic was deposed and peace was gradually restored.
Peace is now generally found everywhere except in Kosovo, which was never strong enough to enforce their own independence. It’s now one of these quasi-countries where the borders are drawn on maps with dotted lines, and their existence is acknowledged only by some countries.
On our wander we saw the cathedrals and squares, and stood under the tower as the midday cannon was fired. Yep, it was loud. The only job in the world where you get to fire on your own people, and get applauded for your efforts.
After lunch, it was a shopping excursion to find a new power plug adapter that we left behind in Bucharest. Spent a frustrating time wandering around the city, fruitlessly looking. Decided to ask at the tourist information centre, which turned out to be a good idea. Armed with a map we headed off a few blocks to a nominated shop. Wandered in, and answered the owners greeting with a ‘Hello’ – which is code for ‘we are tourists’. We got as far as ‘We’ve been sent ….’, when he promptly turned around, grabbed a power adapter, and slapped it on the counter. After some laughter, we asked him how he knew what we wanted, and he just shrugged his shoulders. “Clairvoyant”, he said.
Tea of gourmet hamburgers in the apartment, before an evening ramble to get gelati for dessert.
Not sure we’ve done Zagreb justice with our short visit. Lots to see and do, and we haven’t really scratched the surface, but what we’ve seen has been enjoyable. A clean, well functioning, and prosperous city. The Big Mac index is AU$7.75
Luka
Grafiti Red Carpet
St Marks Church
Croatian Parliament
Zagreb Market
Zagreb Cathedral
Zagreb Cathedral Square
Zagreb Cathedral
Main Square
Zagreb Apartment