Arrived Mid-Afternoon on Saturday.....

.....and despite the relatively short trip was bushed. After checking into the hotel, I showered then took an hour and a half walk around the old town. The hotel is a nice one--located right at the edge of the old city--and within walking distance of many of the historical sites.

Old Zagreb is a unique collection of Baroque buildings--many in deteriorating condition--but also many that have been beautifully restored. In fact, restoration

is kind of a problem getting good pictures because scaffolding is everywhere--on the cathedral and behind many of the statues in the numerous squares.


There is statuary everywhere--much of it seems to involved mounted horsemen but there are also a lot of relatively new statues of religious figures and, of course, the old Communist leaders.


I always found the old Yugoslavia to be a fascinating country--one of the most successful in fighting and harassing the Nazi occupiers--then a real thorn in the side for the Soviet Union. Yugoslavia was always a maverick Communist state--living just on the edge but avoiding a Soviet invasion like those in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. Yugoslavia was very close to NATO--even sharing military exercises to the chagrin of the Soviets. I was a political science major in 1970 and I think that was one of the reasons I wanted to visit here on my honeymoon.



I really don't remember much from that trip. I walked down by the railroad station but it was so long ago.....

First I walked up to the main square today and looked around; then I walked up the hill to the Zagreb Cathedral which was under construction in the front--but they way a true cathedral is never finished. From there I walked around some of the old cobble stoned, winding streets in the old town then down past the public squares with fountains and statues to the railroad station then back to the hotel. I was really tired from the trip and was feeling it by this time so I went to my room, ordered a room-service sandwich and soup--and tried to get some sleep.

Tomorrow I think I'll join an organized walking tour and try to learn some facts about some of the stuff I saw today. At least today, I got my bearings somewhat.....