My entire vacation and trip was a walk down the memory lane. I was in Rijeka and Gorski kotar 3 times during 2007. but they were short stays – twice when my cousins got married and once when my uncle died. Since 2003. this was my first 2 weeks long stay. Once again I had the opportunity to remind myself on the happiest days of my youth.
My first stay was in Zagreb. As some of you know, Zagreb is a capital of Croatia. This is probably the only city from former Yugoslavia that remind me on Belgrade, the place where I live (actually, I live in Zemun, but two cities are connected and make, say, "metropoliten area" π ) I have visited some of the biggest cities in Balkan but Belgrade and Zagreb has the same "scent". People think and behave in similar way – I could recognize that in everyday life, while sitting in a tram, walking on the street, buying things in shop. It is just the same.
click to see bigger photo
My cousin and his wife were kind enough to let me stay a week in one room in their appartment. Since they are both employed, I had the most of the day for myself to do what I want and go where I want. In past, I have never stayed in Zagreb longer than 3 days – it was just an occassional stop on my way to Rijeka or Mrkopalj, a village in Gorski kotar where my grandma and uncle leaved.
So I organized my time the best I could. My cousins live about 15 minutes from centre by tram and start for almost all of my sightseeing tours was from Trg Bana JelaΔiΔa – the very centre of Zagreb.
Zagreb Cathedral
Kaptol, as oldest part of Zagreb was a first plce to start from. First time mentioned in 1094. when Hungarian king Ladislaus made a settlement on east slope of the hill, Kaptol soon became the seat of the Roman Catholic archbishop of Zagreb. It got its name after Latin word "capitulum" which means "canon" – back then there was a body consisted of 32 canons who ruled a settlement. Fortified settlement Gradec was built in a nearby hill. In 1242. both settlements came under attack of Tatars when they were damaged but rejected them.
Lotrscak Tower, Gradec
As a gratitude for offering him a safe place from Tatars, Hungarian and Croatian King Bela IV gave Gradec autonomy and its own judicial system. Also, after the legend, he left there a cannon under one condition: to fire every day in a noon so that it did not rust. From 1877. a cannon is fired from the Lotrscak Tower on Gradec to mark midday. And I discovered that this condition is still followed. I forgot about it, it was almost 20 years since I heard it last time – I was all :eyes: when it fired…
St. Mark's Church
A beautiful St. Mark's Church is located on the center of Gradec which is today a political and government center of Croatia. Church is recognizable by its roof with two coat of arms: of City of Zagreb on a right and of Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia, and Dalmatia on the left side.
Zagreb Funicular
Located on the left from Lotrscak tower, there is another symbol of a city – electric funicular. Made in 1890. it was operational since 1893. and, at the beginning, it was powered by steam engine but in 1934. it was replaced by electrical one. Funicular connects upper and down town of Zagreb. It consists of two cars for 28 passengers each. Height difference is 30.5 meters (100 feet) and it needs 55 seconds to cross that distance.
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more photos here
gdare 
Thank you! It was a wonderful tour! π I liked the story about electric funicular most! :)Glad you had such a great time! :happy:
so nice of you to share Darko! Stellar pictures! and it felt like I was there too! :yes:
This is so cool, Darko. Thank you for sharing your vacation with us, and showing us these wonderful sights of such a beautiful city.:happy::up:
Once again, a wonderful picture story of your vacation Darko. Loved the photos, especially the Cathedral. It is beautiful!I am curious about the funicular. Why not just stairs? I see steps on the left side but I am wondering why the funicular was built.
Wonderful post, Dare. I love the pictures. The cathedrals are beautiful, and I enjoy the difference in architecture between there and here so much. Completely different. Looks like a very old city. Reminds me that the U.S. is young and brash compared to the Old World.
Beautiful pictures and story. I like St. Mark's Church π
So much history! Amazing. I saw that funicular and I said to myself, "FUNICULAR!" It's just like the one in Quebec city. π
Ana, funicular was probably the first thing I ever visited in old part of Zagreb, about 20+ years ago :DAngeliki, thanks π Next part will be a bit different, less history and more my personal thoughts about Zagreb I remember from my youth :yes:Star, Zagreb is smaller than Belgrade, and has almost twice less citizens. Public transport is very well organized so I could reach different parts of city without much trouble. I am proud I didn`t need to have city map, tried to orient myself from what I remembered :happy:Pam, Cathedral is visible from almost every part of Zagreb. It is bad that they haven`t finished reconstruction of that tower but it look much better now than it was 20 years ago.Linda, Zagreb is less than 1000 years old but in a nearby town there are remains of settlement from Roman times. Just in comparison, Belgrade and Zemun are much older; Belgrade, known as Singidunum existed in Roman times, first settled by Celtic tribe in 3rd century B.C. Also, few kilometers to the east, there was a settlement from 6000 B.C. On the other side, Andautonia, Roman settlement near Zagreb was founded in 1st century B.C.About that funicular you mentioned, in San Francisco – I thought it is a tram line that is famous but I may be wrong :left:Mit, I think that roof became the most signifficant symbol of Zagreb. Thanks :)San, thanks. It is not a secret that I like history, especially a history of places I visit π I didn`t know about that funicular in Quebec city. Will have to google about it π
I believe there is one in San Francisco, Ca, also.
Anyway its me risis π
Isn't there some song with that word in it? Funiculee, funicula, lalalala. I know there is. Just found it:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJd-SHzqUC4
Any chance to say the word "Funicular" is great!
Originally posted by sanshan:
π π It is a nice word isn't it?
it's FUN…ic….ular
Wow , wonderful trip !And also the pictures :up:Darko π
Darko, your reports are amazing. Add PainterWoman, Nevin and Pfelelep and you could start a tourism magazine.
en francais, c'est une funiculaire!
Yes, I`ve found it a bit strange, too π
San, it is "uspinjaΔa" in Serbian :DPam, I will check on it when I come home :up:Felix, thanks. I was a bit careful not to turn my posts completely into tourist magazine π but comments always turn in some other direction, so it doesn't matter :DRisis, so your name is Nathalya π
Thank you for yet another interesting history lesson, Darko :happy: . I like the funicular and Lotrskak Tower stories the most. And Zagreb Cathedral is a really beautiful example of architecture.
Originally posted by gdare:
Why not? I think it would be great.
Kimmie, thank you :happy:Felix, my goal is to make story interesting, not just something you could find in magazine. Also to give it a personal touch, if possible π
Originally posted by gdare:
You can have both, you know. A friend of mine is a journalist specializing in tourism, and I enjoy his articles precisely because he writes from personal experience. They don't read like something written for money. Oh, and he takes nice photos, too (but not quite as good as yours; he's a writer at heart).That said, I agree that once you start earning money from something you used to do for pleasure, it feels different. Some people manage to keep their enthusiasm; others fail. I was just expressing my feelings that I'd like more people to enjoy your stories.
Originally posted by claudeb:
And I am expressing my gratitude for your kind words :happy:
Excellent photo series and information, Darko! π I like the flags on the roof of that tower. I would be all :eyes: if a cannon that I wasn't expecting suddenly exploded as well!
:eyes:
And it was right above my head. I stayed there for a few seconds, thinking what might have happened, then I saw a man laughing few meters from me and remembered what it is. Just looked at wrist watch and realised it was noon :doh: Man approached to me and told me that it was cannon, firing paper ball from a tower π
@ PamI was thinking the same thing! :lol:@ LindaYou are right, there is a funnycular thing in San Francisco that is seperate from the trolly. It was featured in the Spillane movie Kiss Me Deadly. @ DarkoA great tour of your native city Darko. The wide BW photo was my favorite. Nice!So has the coat of arms of Croatia changed any with the changing politics? Or do they just keep it the same for historical value?
Hmm, I've just noticed that Opera has changed our names on our comments…
But Pam is still PainterWoman.
I had noticed something Adele, but it hadn't really registered until just now when I scrolled back up and it has my name rather than my user name. Hmmmm. Wonder if it will stay like that? No reason to have user name if they are going to put our real names by our avatars.
One thing about Opera browser and OC we can always depend on—-it is and always will be a work in progress.
Ed, Zagreb is not my native city, just a place I have visited often when I was young. When I was a kid, Zagreb train station was an important stop because I knew I am much closer to the place I loved the most, a village where I will spend the summer :happy:As for Croatian coat of arms, it was changed from what it looked like in communist times and is a bit different from what it looked like during WWII. But the basics remained, chess board-like base with red and white fields and something like a crown on top of it.Adele, and Linda, I think it is another bug that appeared about a week ago. Someone changed it and now the next service pack is expected π π
π
I wanted to make another one last evening but felt too tired. Maybe today…. π
π tour dude. Now.Next slideshow.. :p
Thanks for the nice tour! :DI love that cannon story. Where do they fire it? Do they aim at by-passers? Up in the air? Towards another city?The funicular is cool – looks like the one in Budapest π
Rose, it fires from that white tower up in the air and I think the put a paper ball instead of a real one :DI have been in Budapest 7 times but never got opportunity to see its funicular :left:
So basically, it's a big spit-ball cannon….:p
π π
Is that a lot? π
I don't know. It's a sliding scale, all depending on the situation :p.
I`ve found on some of the forums, that a paper ball from a cannon hit one woman in a head, while walking on the street. She thought she`s gotten a cerebral attack (?). She just sat down there and lit a cigarette :faint:Someone told that it might be a fake story as well :left:
Asch! Then I have to degrade it from loveable to likeable… :p
Originally posted by rose-marie:
It's called grading on a curve here.
:up: late, I know … but wonderful tour, Darko … really a place I like to see and visit … well done :yes:
Dirk, better late than never :yes: Thanks, I enjoyed it a lot. Hope to make a part 2 soon.
π :wait:
Originally posted by L2D2:
Ok. We're taught British English at school so that's more natural to me.
π