25th May: Zagreb

Zagreb as a settlement has been around for 1,000 years when the king of Hungary established a town and cathedral. Today most of the old buildings have been rebuilt or restored as a result of earthquakes or fire, or just been restored for the sake of it. Nevertheless, the old centre is full of character and atmosphere.

The cathedral was virtually rebuilt in 1880 following an earthquake and is very elegant, but doesn’t take a nice photo at the moment as it’s covered in scaffolding- because it’s being restored!

So this is St Mark’s church instead. It has a roof featuring the coats of arms of Zagreb and Croatia. These could be mistaken for the local football teams’ crests put there by celebrating fans. It’s in a lovely cobbled square that also contains the Croatian Parliament building.

Opposite the cathedral is a set of statues in gold leaf of the Madonna and four angels. The gold is so bright it looks like the photo’s been touched up. Sculptures are from the mid 1800’s by an Austrian called Fenkhorn. 

The market is a huge affair and deals in the usual range of fresh veg and clothes. Around the market are numerous cafes containing many characters who are much more interesting to photograph than the onions and cabbage. The next photo is of a true Father Christmas face, but the chap behind is worth a look as he seems to be practicing for his next gurning competition.

The Croatian National Theatre is an example of the many splendid buildings dating from the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. It was opened in 1895, and as we walked along the far side we could hear some opera singers practicing. The mustard colour was quite popular in the city but maybe makes it look too much like a concert hall at the end of the pier.

There are many areas of green space, usually with a feature of some sort, perhaps a bandstand, a public building or a sculpture as in the next photo. It’s a modern work, and by the figure’s dimensions is clearly a warning to all against too much junk food.

Being the capital, there are numerous museums, one of which we had never encountered before: the Museum of Broken Relationships. We didn’t go in as time was limited, but I couldn’t help Googling it later to find out what it contained. Apparently anything from garden gnomes to underpants! “This is the vase she threw at Henry before she walked out” type of thing. Notice the sign is in English, so maybe they're targeting the UK divorce rate.

Zagreb feels like a city coming out of a recession (whilst the rest of us are heading into one!). The Homeland War is well behind them and Croatia joins the European Community next year. However, the legacy of the communist regime is still visible in this typical scene of Zagreb’s pretty rooftops from the high town. If you look along the skyline there are masses of utilitarian highrise flats. We passed them on the train into the city. The closer you get, the grimmer they look. But if you’ve nowhere to go, or live in some hovel, then they’d look great, so perhaps we shouldn’t be so quick to pass judgement.

The train journey mentioned above was comfortable and cheap. The station was a 10 minute walk from the campsite, so very convenient and much less stressful than driving the 40 miles to Zagreb. It was a corridor train with compartments, so have a look at the photo and try to recall when you last rode in one of these. Remember the luggage racks you could sleep on?