Photo: self and Igor.
Word: controversy. No, conTROVersy. The British way to say it.
I'm well settled in the UK now and have gone into Town a few times, but I've been very busy on this project so I haven't gotten that much sightseeing done in a while.
However, I just flew to Zagreb, Croatia for a weekend - the farthest I've ever been from home. Zagreb is a city of about 1 million residents, and I must say it was kind of nice to be in a place with a more human scale, not overrun with tourists. The buildings aren't so tall or the streets so narrow as some places I've been, and I enjoyed that about it.
The reason I visited is, I have a friend there - Igor Novak, who went to my high school in California for a year. He showed me all around his native city. Igor runs his own business and told me he might be late picking me up at the airport, and he was, so when I arrived Friday I bought a Coke and sat down to read my book for a while. Igor greeted me with "Carolyn - you look exactly the same!" and he displayed all the European male habits - he carried my bag, and held almost every door for me, and that one Coke is all I was permitted to pay for, all weekend. Very lovely manners, and he is an excellent host.
Igor drove us in through Novi Zagreb (yes, that's New Zagreb), the outer, residential part of the city built in the last few decades. Mostly it is high-rise anthill apartment blocks, several of which are of the crappy Soviet variety. Igor grew up there, and recalled when the trams started crossing the river Sava to take Novi Zagreb residents downtown - as a student, it made it much easier for him to go to the library, etc. Igor showed me the building they lived in, which was huge, and his elementary school.
We drove on across the river into Lower Town (Donji Grad) and parked underground near the train station. On our way up we stopped to buy me an iced tea in a small supermarket (there is an underground shopping mall there) and Igor showed me a few products that his company, Emporion, imports (like batteries - they had a sticker on the back that he showed me, from his company). And we strolled up into the sunny afternoon.
We saw a show of paintings in the Art Pavilion, walked past the shops and the main square, and up to Gornji Grad - Upper Town. This is the historic center of Zagreb, where the town was founded on two hills. There was basically the sacred hill, where the archdiocese was founded (which put the city on the map, 900 years ago), and the secular hill where the merchants were. Nowadays, the sacred hill is home to the St.Stephens Cathedral, which has twin spires you can see all over town, and the secular hill is home to government buildings and some other nice sights, like museums and St.Mark's Church.
In between the two was a small river, which is now underground, and where it was there is now a street of small cafes which fill up quickly on sunny days, and the city's biggest outdoor market. The cafes and market were closed up for the day by the time we ambled through, but we went to the Museum of Naive Art, which was small and very enjoyable, and took in some views of the city. On our way back down from the hills, we passed a line of people getting ice cream, and Igor suggested we go inside for a snack - a typical Central European sundae of chestnut puree and whipped cream that he's particularly fond of. Well, sure! So that was very nice, although the place was crowded, and we caught a tram back to the car.
On the tram, Igor said that when he's traveled and he comes back, he often thinks that the people in Zagreb seem sort of dark and dull to him. I looked around and I said well, everyone wears black, but that's the same all over - in fact the people are pretty stylish. I pointed out some fluffy down coats and I said those are the latest thing, everyone has them all around Europe. He said, Really? I said Yup. I hate 'em, but they are stylish.
Back at the car, I mentioned that I had left my camera in the car all this time (like a doofus) and Igor said well, we can just do it all again. Igor toured me around some more, showing me some of his company's offices and holdings, and we had dinner with his parents. I remember a letter from him, years ago, where he mentioned that they had all moved closer in to downtown (out of Novi Zagreb), and this was the place, an apartment close in to the lower town area. His folks were very sweet, and dinner was like a giant committee meeting about whether I had eaten enough of the roast turkey and vegetables, held in Croatian and English, and at one point his mom almost put more on my plate for me but Igor interceded, saying I could manage my own food, so she just dragged the serving dish right up to my plate so I could start planning my second helping.
Then his parents started interviewing me about my cooking skills, which was probably just in case I was planning to marry Igor, and they also invited me out to the family beach house, which is 30 feet from the water on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. I would really like to do that - the family goes out there for July and August. Also, they hinted, I could maybe cook something for them while I was there. After all my solitary travels of late, I was delighted to be so fussed over.
I stayed in Igor's new home, which he hasn't moved into yet; I'm the first person to sleep there since he bought it. It is one floor in a 1930's house and he has restored the interior quite a lot - it was very nice. He plans to buy up the rest of the house, but there's no real hurry since he has the whole basement to fix up as well. On Saturday morning we stopped in a pet store that his company runs, which was fun, but totally lacking in anything for ferrets. Considering that the currency (Kuna) is named after the marten, a close cousin to the ferret, and the coins have a leaping marten on the back! A little attention to mustelids, here! I told Igor that if ferrets ever catch on in Zagreb I will give him my expert advice anytime.
We drove up Medvednica (/meh deh NEE tza/, 'bear mountain'), which overlooks Zagreb, and walked around the top where it was snowing. We could see into Austria, but my photos didn't come out too well due to the mist and snow. Igor pointed out some paragliding sites (that's his hobby these days). There are several ski lodges and things up there that remind me of the Mountaineers in Seattle. We headed down and along to Medvedgrad (bear castle), built in the 13th century. It has been restored recently, much to Igor's disgust because parts of it look just built now and don't retain the sense of age that the non-restored, crumbling walls have. I do agree with him on that. Also there is now a memorial there, to those who have died for Croatia's freedom. Soldiers are always around to guard it, and important government guests are brought up to sign things, etc.
Then we had a giant leisurely lunch and chatted about all sorts of things. I highly recommend Croatian food and wine. Our appetizer was some ham with horseradish, and a dish of soft cheese with sour cream on top...mmm! And they seem to eat roast meat and vegetables, fairly simple stuff. (No, Dave and Greg, I didn't have any burek, but I did see it cafe windows.)
As to the converstaion, Igor is often preoccupied with his business (and he's always had a very serious demeanor), but he relaxed and we talked about old times. But when we were walking around, we discussed work and compared notes. Emporion has 200 employees which means more like 800 people relying on that income. Igor and his partners take the responsibility very seriously, and it hurts to have to cut back, which they may need to do unless something happens to loosen up the cash situation in Croatia; currently, their customers have no money to pay them, so they have no liquid money to pay their employees. The success and growth that they have managed in the midst of war and such a difficult economy is really and truly impressive. I wish them a rising tide, to lift all boats.
We walked along the Sava river for a time. Igor pointed out how Zagreb really kind of ignores the river; it just has a greenbelt along the banks. Many people think that Zagreb should develop closer in to the river - an interesting idea, should they have some growth. We also walked through a large city park, and then drove out to a smaller town on the outskirts that used to be a popular weekend destination around before the first World War. I forget the name of the town, but it has a small central square of cafes, and we went in for a custardy dessert, and then called it a night.
Sunday, we walked all around town again, this time with the camera, and you can see the results of all this at http://geocities.datacellar.net/minsq/zagreb.html. We wandered into a few more places, such as the archeological museum, where Igor insisted on getting me a souvenir, and the botanical garden. We realized that we'd better have lunch, only the first few places we tried were closed, so Igor called and got us a table at a place he frequents, and we hurried up there. We knocked back some soup and then a main course of venison - "Well, that was efficient!" Igor said with a smile when we finished - and headed out to the airport.
It was a good visit, though too short. It's kind of difficult not to see someone for 11 years and then just kind of put yourself in their hands for a weekend, but Igor and his family made me feel very welcome. And Zagreb is very different in character from all these famous la-di-dah places where I've been so far in Europe, but to my mind that's a good thing, and I liked it. I'm hoping maybe Igor will visit me somewhere along the way - his mom used to live in London and he's never been here, so maybe we can convince him soon. And I think a week out on the sunny Dalmatian coast, hopefully also spending some time in the National Park on the way, would just be fantastic.
Hope you all are well - dobar dan!
C a r o l y n
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M i n s q
"I call on the resting soul
Of Galileo - King of night vision
King of insight."
- Indigo Girls, "Galileo"
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