I’ve returned from Bosnia for my final week in Croatia. It’s been pretty wet here and I have a ton of work to do. But when the sun snuck out for a short time this afternoon, I couldn’t resist a stroll.
I love the way the light was hitting this church. You can see a fancier church behind it.
There are a couple things I like about this shot. First, you can see that Croatians have a tendency to stick vineyards anywhere they can. I’ve been told it’s how you show off here. Instead of a fancy car, you have a vineyard and homemade wine. This vineyard is right in the middle of Croatia’s biggest city.
You can also see some history here, if you know what to look for. In medieval times, Zagreb was two towns–Gradec and Kaptol–each atop a hill, with a river between them. They often squabbled. Eventually they were united and the river, which was polluted, was covered by a street. The house on the left was once at the edge of Gradec. The house on the right is on Tkalciceva, the street that covered the river.
Today there were firemen on Tkalciceva. I don’t know what they were doing–something on the back of that roof. But quite a few of us stopped to watch and snap photos. Sunday afternoons are sleepy times in Zagreb, and good for small entertainments like this.
This is my building at the bottom of Tkalciceva. Yes, it’s really curved. Makes for an interesting shaped apartment. Notice that I can buy shoes without even leaving the building (there are 2 more shoe stores around the corner, also in my building).
But these were at the shoe store across the street. They’re in men’s sizes. Do you know any men who would wear sparkly teddy bear sneakers (in gold or silver)? I kind of like the ones with the wings, though.
My building also houses something called The World of Fungi. I have not visited it.
People here love food stands and will grab any opportunity to have them. Christmas has provided them with an ample opportunity, even if it’s over a month away. There are booths all over the center of the city, including these colorful ones near the funicular. One of the booths was selling “American style hot dogs.” That tower to the right of the funicular top is called Thieves Tower. It was part of the city wall of Gradec. Nowdays, there’s a cannon at the top, which is fired at noon every day.