They Have Texas Weather in Croatia.....and I Should Be Flying Out Tomorrow Morning.....

.....What a difference a day makes--yesterday was warm and sunny and this morning it was cold, rainy, overcast and strong winds. I mean cold like where people were wearing scarves and gloves today.

I finished up at noon today and got back to the hotel early so I walked around a while and decided to take a trolley to the Technical Museum. Its not something I would usually visit but I was killing time and it turned out I really enjoyed myself. Like all museums here, the admission is ridiculously cheap but the museum was fantastic and I ended up spending almost all afternoon there.

They had exhibits on old fire equipment--the photo above is a 1925 Chevrolet fire truck used by the Zagreb fire department. There were also exhibits on grist milling history, oil wells, old cars, airplanes, streetcars and all types of transportation. They even had a small submarine. I had good timing today and got to go into a coal mine and even though the guide didn't speak English, I enjoyed it too.

I checked with Croatia Airlines this afternoon and they said my flight tomorrow morning is scheduled to leave on time and my connection in Frankfurt should be ok too. We'll see.....

This evening I went back up to the Old Town and ate at a restaurant I hadn't been to before--pretty good but a little pricey. After that I took a trolley to the hotel to start packing. This has been a good trip and good job but it looks like I'm outta here.....

I'm Heading Home in a Couple of Days.....Maybe.....

.....I'm getting conflicting reports--the embassy says all flights are still on hold but the travel agency in Texas says my reservations are confirmed so it's day-to-day right now.

The sunny weather has held since last Sunday and it starting to even get a little warm now. Finally!!! Because of the travel problems, I only had one student for today and tomorrow. His name is Vytautas Petravicihs and he drove down from Lithuania--a twenty hour drive. Do you have any idea what his name does to my spell checker?

Anyway, with just one person we got finished early and with the beautiful weather I decided to go back to Maksimir Park when we got back to the hotel. I had gone there briefly Saturday morning but wanted to do some walking around in a new area so I took the trolleys (I'm getting very comfortable making trolley transfers without even checking the maps now) out to the park.

It's a beautiful old park--built in 1862 and named after Emperor Maximilian--and shows its age but is still a real pleasure to walk around in. There are literally miles and miles of trails with occasional pavilions, obelisks and monuments. This obelisk commemorates the establishment of the park and was dedicated in 1863.

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Another monument of a large falcon is the Mogila--created in 1925 to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of the founding the the first Croatian Kingdom.

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Modern Croatia dates back only to 1995 and independence from Yugoslavia but the Croatian nation has survived the Ottoman Turks, World War I (which started in the Balkans), Nazi Occupation, and Communist rule. Croatian nationalism is resilient and very obvious around Zagreb today. I also stumbled across an old chapel on one of the trails--build in the late 1800s. Croatia is abut 85% Catholic and they don't hesitate to mix the church with the state here.

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I walked around for probably two hours admiring the trees, lakes and scenery. One thing I seem to remember from my early travels is that Europeans know how to design parks. Or maybe its just that they know how to use them. Although it was a mid-week afternoon, there were people everywhere--young couples, older retires, families with children, joggers and bicyclists. What I didn't see were drug dealers, graffiti, hookers, panhandlers or homeless sleeping on the benches. It was really refreshing just seeing a park being enjoyed by everybody.


I caught a trolley back to the main square and walked up into the Old City and ate at an outdoor restaurant called Leonardo's. It's build on a steep cobblestone alley and the seating looks a lot like a cable car. I had a table about half-way up with a nice view of the cathedral spires as the sun was going down. Had a Greek salad and a small pizza. Life is good......
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Absolutely Beautiful Day Saturday But Sunday Was Back to Grey Overcast Skies.....

.....as you can see in the pictures of my previous post. Last night was really nice too, turned cool but still a nice day all in all.

This morning, however, the sun was completely hidden and has yet to come out. When its gloomy here, it is downright depressing. I'm not sure if the volcano is causing this or just lousy weather. I'm keeping an eye on the volcano news--I'm scheduled to fly out next Friday but right now the airports here, in Frankfurt, and all over Europe are closed.

I did to to the soccer game Saturday night and enjoyed myself thoroughly. They take their soccer seriously over here and it was a different experience. I know most people who read this blog aren't into soccer, but I posted a more in-depth description of it--including a couple of videos and a lot of photos--in another blog where I communicate mostly with Devin. If you want to check it out, here's the address:

http://dynamotraveler.blogspot.com/

I visited an antique flea market today (Sunday) but didn't find anything I can't live without--lots of old Nazi and Russian military stuff but I can't tell the difference between authentic and replicas and nothing I'm particularly interested in anyway. It started raining so I caught a trolley back to the hotel and spent most of the afternoon just taking it easy in the room and getting my materials ready for Monday.

Monday morning was nicer weather and the Croatian airport is open today. I'm doing two short refresher courses this week and today I had students from Bosnia, Macedonia and Hungary. The student from Belgium was the only volcano ash casualty. It's really nice working with these guys because they speak excellent English--in fact they use a lot of slang terms.

We wrapped up the first refresher program this afternoon (Tuesday) and they were a really good group. As usual, I got back to the hotel, changed clothes and put on my running shoes, and hit the streets for a little over two hours walking. I've done really well with my exercising while I've been here and it dawned on me this evening that by know I know the Old City well enough to be a tour guide. I know all the narrow, cobble stone alleys between the ancient buildings, all the park areas, and all the neat views of the lower city. I also know a lot of good restaurants around town. I'm kind of going to miss this place when I leave. If the volcano blows again, maybe I can spend a few more days here.....

Spent Saturday Just Taking in the Sights and Sounds....Took a Trolley out to Maximir Park....Walked Around the Vegetable, Fish and Flower Markets.....

…..I bought an all-day ticket for the trolley system since I will be going out of the “free zone” tonight for the soccer game and used the ticket to do some exploring. I went out to Maximir Park and to the central square to check out all the markets. It was a mixture of live native music, Hare Krishna singers and dancers, and a troupe of medieval knights and maidens. Here are some of the photos without commentary---you’re probably glad to have me shut up at this point anyway…..Tonight I go the the soccer match…..

Remember, you can double-click on the photos to enlarge them…..

Between the Cold Front, Overcast and Rainy Skies, and Icelantic Volcano.....

.....there hasn't been a lot of sunshine this past week. Sometimes I think this winter is never going to end for me but yesterday (Thursday) the sun came out in the afternoon and today was beautiful but still pretty cool temperatures. The airport here is closed because of the volcanic ash and, more importantly, the Frankfurt airport is closed indefinitely--which is where I connect back to Houston. So, at this point, I can't leave but I still have another week of work here.

Rain or shine, and despite cold temperatures, I've been walking two to three hours every evening. It stays light here until about 8:30 pm so it's nice for walking. I'm pretty familiar with the Old City by now but am constantly finding small parks, squares, statues and fountains in unexpected places. The statuary here is absolutely amazing--there are at least three dedicated to St. George after his slaying of the dragon and I found a small statue of a child relieving himself in a pond. I just try to imagine what storms of protest this statue would cause in Houston--I'm sure every religious group in the city would be protesting it--but here nobody seems to really even notice it. Artwork, of all types, is everywhere here.

I walked down by the Central Train Station which, like most European cities, is the central focal point for the city. From here, the streets fan out and up into the older part of the city. The building is very old--and this was the station I arrived at in 1970--but I really just don't remember that trip. Next door is the Regency Esplanade Hotel of Oriental Express fame. The Oriental Express train ran from Paris to Istanbul but since Yugoslavia was one of those twilight areas--Communist yet pro-Western--this hotel was a major stopover on the route and supposedly was, during the Cold War, a haven for spies, smugglers and arms dealers. They must have been pretty wealthy because this place is no economy joint.

I had a good group this past week. I had students from Slovakia, Macedonia, Serbia, Czech Republic and Bosnia. As you probably remember, there have been a lot of fighting and wars between these countries during the last twenty years but everybody got along just fine--in fact I think they pretty much went out as a group most every night to eat. We had a group dinner with some of the embassy staff Thursday night and I tried a "typically" Croatian dish which was basically just a wide selection of grilled meats. It was a good time, though, and the kind of thing I miss being able to do when I'm working in Africa.

I had hoped to take two day trips out of the city this weekend but it's early for tourist season and I don't think there's going to be enough sign ups for the trips to make but I will be able to go out to one of the national parks that is supposed to be really beautiful. Saturday night I plan to go to a Dinamo Zagreb soccer game and see how they play it over here.

Spent Over Six Hours Walking Around Zagreb Sunday.....

.....and got to know the city pretty well. Zagreb has a lot of people--over a million--but is surprisingly compact. There is an Old City and a New City as well as an Upper Town and Lower Town and the four don't mix and match perfectly but together, they make for an interesting blend of history and culture.

I slept in, ate a late breakfast, and left the hotel around 10:00 and walked back up to the Ban Jelacic Square which is the main gathering point in the city. It is a large open area with a huge statue and is surrounded by Baroque facades and sidewalk cafes. It is the favorite gathering spot for students. Walking up to the square--about a ten minute walk--I was really hit by the lack of cars on the streets even though it was Sunday morning. There are trolley tracks on every major street here and trolleys run probably less than a minute apart and are always full of passengers.

After the 1991 Revolution and the Balkan War, the Croatian government basically banned almost all parking downtown and those spots that are available are really expensive. After they banned cars, the government also abolished trolley fees so everybody can ride downtown at no cost and they do it--trolley after trolley. As a result, cars disappeared; road maintenance became a non-issue; the air cleared up; and hardly any cars are seen on the streets now. What do you do with empty city streets? Here they put in sidewalk (or in this case) street cafes. It really seems to work well. I can't imagine it working in Houston but here, it is a success story.

I walked back up by the Cathedral and the walled fortress walls that were constructed to guard against the Ottoman Turks--the old stone gate is now the scene of a religious shrine to the Virgin Mary. The Old City is just that--really old--with winding cobble stone streets and ancient buildings. I walked uphill to the Lotscak Tower and climbed the wooden spiral staircase to the top and watched them fire the noon gun cannon at precisely noon--like they've been doing for about a hundred years now. From there I walked over and visited the St. Mark's Church with its ornate colored tile roof and then visited the Dolac Market--a large open-air farmer's market in the town center.

The large ornate buildings here are just amazing: the yellow building is the National Opera Theater. The Mimara Museum is just down the street from my hotel and the National

Archives and Library are also nearby. There are several major museums in the city and I visited the Croatian National Museum on Sunday (the bottom photo).

Unfortunately, the weather took a turn for the worse late Sunday afternoon.....