Zagreb, Croatia

St. Mark's Church

Zagreb, Croatia

This will be a short post because it's late and this keyboard is not a QWERTY, it's a QWERTZ (the Y and the Z have switched places...among other things. Took me way too long to even figure out how to do the @ sign!) Feel for me every time you see a "y."

With absolutely no idea what to expect, we´ve spent a beautiful spring day exploring Zagreb. With an amazing history, Croatians have suffered much throughout the centuries; they've received their independance after severing ties from the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918 and Yugoslavia in 1991 (remember when there used to be a Yugoslavia?) And that's after Roman rule, 13th century invasions from the Tatars, threats from the Ottoman Turks in 1521 and a long list of other rulers. And, oh yeah, you may remember a horrible little Croatia-Serbian war (it's advised not to bring that up with locals who would rather forget.)

But today Zagreb is a beautiful, modern city incorporating architecture from Neo Gothic, Baroque, and Art Nouveau periods among others. I've taken to calling it the city of the Beautiful Youth. Sure, you can just imagine the things the old folks have seen, but everywhere you'll see fit, handsome young men and long-legged beauties...and TONS of kids. I'll try to upload a video...kids on bikes, kids kicking soccer balls, kids on daddy's shoulders. Kids, kids, kids.  Zagreb is indeed a vibrant new city chock full of parks, beautiful foliage, playgrounds, cycling and sports. 

Today we meandered in the ˝must-see˝ area called Ban Jelačić Square. Tomorrow will be Maksimir Park (mir means peace) which includes a huge zoo.

Well, I did prettz well with the ˝y˝'s....

So here's some pix :

Be sure to visit the zoo in Maksimir Park