Recreation much needed!

This is a detail of Jarun, sport and recreation center. It was shaped during the 80's and opened for public in 1987. Except for boat track it is also consisted of two large lakes with six small island. Lots of water sports competitions are held here. Before, all this area was a swamp. Here you can find some photos and text (in Croatian) about Jarun.

The world we live in...

Today I took a photo of this graffiti not far away from a building I wrote about yesterday. I find it very interesting – a little schoolgirl with a gas mask and a rat in her hand – suppose it doesn't need much explaining and interpretation. I don't know who the author is, but hope to find out soon.
And just to be clear, I do not approve of just any kind of graffiti, au contraire, I'm really angry and sad because Zagreb has a big problem with devastations of facades with doodles and scrawls. But there is a significant deference between graffiti as art and simple devastation.
And this graffiti on a photo is actually not a graffiti because it is not painted on a wall but a kind of a drawing on a paper just glued on a wall and can be very easily removed.

What a window!

I went to a Croatian Chamber of Economy the other day for a presentation and again saw this beautiful stained glass on the staircase. I just love it! It's a typical Secession (or Art nouveau) motif. The whole building was constructed in 1914. and is decorated in that style. I'm particularly happy that a large part of the original interior design is still preserved.

A room with a view

This beautiful palace is the hotel Palace. Among all currently opened hotels in Zagreb this one is the oldest. It was constructed in the 1891. by the architects Leo Hönigsberg and Julio Deutsch and at first it was named Croatia but shortly changed its name in Palace Hotel Croatia. It is situated very closely to the main Zagreb Train Station and is near the Zagreb main square.

What is a man without a hat?

This is Cahun, one of the oldest millinery (hat makers shop) in Zagreb. The founder milliner Josip Cahun started to produce and sell hats and other millinery in 1935. and his son Zlatko continued his work till today. Now,  Cahun family still produces hand-made hats and caps of all types of materials. If you'll ever come to Zagreb, don't miss a chance to visit this nice little shop that's just around the corner of the main Zagreb square.  I can say that Cahun is a true symbol of Zagreb.

♪♫ Let the music play ♪♫

This music pavilion is placed in the center of a Nikola Šubić Zrinski Square or simply Zrinjevac. It was designed and built in the Czech Republic and given as a gift to the city Zagreb by a very wealthy Zagreb trader Eduard Prister in the 1891. Pavilion was mainly used for public concerts and occasionally concerts are still held there today. On the north part of a Zrinjevac Square is weather bureau and on the south part a bust of Julije Klović, which I showed you in my earlier posts.

The entrance

A detail from an Oktogon passage. I wish you all nice weekend!

Lets flâner!

This stained glass – vitrail – dome is a part of a building and passage in the very center of a city  and it is called Oktogon referring to the octagonal central part. It is very similar to the 19. century galleries like Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan or Galerie Vivienne in Paris. This one was constructed in 1899. by the architect Josip Vancaš. It bondes the Petar Preradović square on the one side and the Ilica street on the other side, just few meters from the Zagreb main square.

♥ Earth

Happy Earth Day everybody! This year we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. So, for this occasion I show you a detail of a J. J. Strossmayer's square and park and another photo of magnolia tree in bloom. My suggestion for healthier and greener planet is to stop using plastic bags, to recycle often and to be rational with water. I hope you will have nice and green Earth Day today!

These seats are free

This photo of two seats was taken inside the tram, one of the most usual public transport vehicle in Zagreb. Zagreb Municipal Transit System or ZET (Zagrebački Električni Tramvaj) was found in 1910., but it's forerunner was Association of horse tram found in 1891. Today Zet produces it's own trams and the photo shows inside part of it. Zagreb's color is blue, so all the public transport is in that color.

A facade vase

I'm out of town today so just one quick post for you this time. A detail from a facade of a building in a center of a city. It is placed on a corner as a decoration. It's a typical 19. century motif with a garland, ram head and meander.

The new dress

The centre of the city Zagreb is consisted of two parts, the Upper and Lower Town. Lower Town was mainly built in the 19th century and this photo presents a typical building of that part of the city. The facade of this one has recently been restored and I wish the same for many others that need it too.

For M.

Come slowly

Come slowly, Eden
Lips unused to thee.
Bashful, sip thy jasmines,
As the fainting bee,
Reaching late his flower,
Round her chamber hums,
Counts his nectars -alights,
And is lost in balms!

Emily Dickinson

Potatoes and eggs!

I just came from an opening of a very interesting art exhibition presented in the new Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb. I say new, because the museum opened it's doors in a new museum building last December. I can't say I'm particularly satisfied with the architecture of a new building, it is very ''retro'' so to say, but the program that the museum does now is very, very good.
So I ask you, potatoes and eggs, is it art?

Toxic mushrooms attack?

You are looking at the entrance of Eurotower building. After lots of controversy around this project it was finally finished in 2008. Currently it is best known as the new headquarters of the Zagreb Stock Exchange. There is a big problem with high buildings and skyscrapers in Zagreb because the city government never dealt with the issue of finding a suitable location/s for such high business towers. If you ask me, the best thing to do would be what Parisiens did, forbid high buildings in the center of the city and move the business quarter to the outer parts of the city.

Croatian Michelangelo of Miniature

I just had to introduce you this man, a great Croatian artist of the Renaissance – Juraj Julije Klović (also know by Italian version of his name Giorgio Giulio Clovio – Croata) popularly known Croatian Michelangelo of Miniature. The nickname is because of his extraordinary work in miniature art, that had a lot of similarities with the paintings and work of Michelangelo. He was born in Croatia, but has studied and worked mainly in Italy. One of his best works Časoslov Farnese (Farnese Hours) is now kept in The Morgan Library and Museum in New York.

The florists square

 

The square where this photo was taken carries the name of  Petar Preradović, a well known Croatian poet but more usually it is called Flower square because many florists have had, and still have boutiques there and sell fresh flowers every day. It is one of the most popular squares in the city and everybody likes to see and be seen there.

King and the magnolia tree

 

This city is really lovely in spring! All the colors and light are divine! Here you can see a photo of the statue of king Tomislav. King Tomislav was a first Croatian king that ruled in the first half of the X. century. I thought it is so poetic that in this photo it seems like his is rising from the magnolia ''cloud''. And the square and the park where this photo was taken have many magnolia trees which I love very much.

What's the weather like today?

It is quite hard to chose only one photo per day/post, but it is even harder to chose very first photo for the blog.

So... for this special moment I have chosen one photo that shows something very dear to me. It is a photo of a weather bureau that dates from year 1884. and was donated to the city by a very generous doctor Adolf Holzer.  It is placed in one of the most beautiful parts of Zagreb, park Zrinjevac. The weather bureau was designed by one of the most important Croatian architects Hermann Bollé who came to Croatia from Vienna but was born in Köln, Germany. He spent almost his whole life in Croatia where he greatly participated in transformations of the city Zagreb.

Few introducing words...

I've decided to start this blog after founding out about Eric Tenin's blog which I've started to read passionately. The only reason wasn't just my great love for Paris but because I find the concept of the blog, by taking only one picture per day, very interesting and challenging.
So, as my first and only true great love is my home town Zagreb, I am starting this blog and hope it will be interesting and fun and last long. 

Kisses,
Helena