Let's go for a coffee!

Zagreb Ethnographic museum is holding an interesting exhibition these days. It's called Let's go for a coffee! And as you could guess, it tells a story about coffee, from the plant growing, processing to the serving and drinking rituals. Croats are considered for a big coffee drinkers. Lots of people drink coffee several times a day and consider it as an inevitable part of their lives. Our history is strongly connected with the Turks who brought coffee to us as early as the beginning of the 17. century. Also, strong connections with the Italy made us true experts for good coffee. 

Zagreb was always known for its splendid coffee taverns and today it has become an everyday ritual! It is a certain phenomenon of Zagreb, especially during warm and sunny days, people are sitting all over the Zagreb center, drinking coffee and enjoying the weather, good company and good coffee - in other words - enjoying life!

It's raining, man!

It's such a baaad weather in Zagreb! Cold, rainy, gray... I feel sleepy and moody. No really felling for photography. So pardon me for this photo - but it perfectly shows the weather and the mood and feeling of my dear citizens these days. Hope for the sun tomorrow afternoon.
But more importantly, bad weather is across the whole country making tourists go home much earlier! 

Wish you all a nice weekend! Hope you have a better weather than I do!

Petrica Kerempuh - our hero

I bring you a sunny photo today, although the weather is still cloudy in Zagreb. This sculpture presents Petrica Kerempuh -  a character from the famous Ballades of Petrica Kerempuh written by the Croatian writer Miroslav Krleža. Petrica Kerempuh is a folk hero that travels through the country making fun of the human stupidity. Ballads are written in 1936. and become popular because of the willingness of the main character Petrica to fight against the oppression of the common people and their misery. This sculpture is appropriately situated next to the main Zagreb open market Dolac. It was made in  1955. by the Croatian sculptor Vanja Radauš.

Zagreb Jewel - Maksimir

A real Zagreb jewel - park Maksimir! It is situated in the east part of Zagreb, which was in the 18. and part of 19. century an outskirt of the city. Two great men have made it possible, the founder of park Maksimir bishop Maksimilijan Vrhovac and his successor archbishop Juraj Haulik. The park was opened for public in 1794. and was greatly shaped during the 19. century in the English style. Today, it is definitely one of the most beautiful parts of Zagreb!

St. Mary of Dolac

I decided to show you the photo of a church so important to people of Zagreb. It is St. Mary of Dolac - church by the main city open market Dolac just few meters from the main square. It used to be a part of a Cistercian monastery, but it turned into a parish church at the beginning of the 16. century. It's main shape with the recognizable tower was constructed in 18. century. In the inside it holds a very important and interesting fresco paintings from the baroque time. What I like about it is a mystique and secrecy of the inside atmosphere. But for that to see, I invite you to come to Zagreb.

The Academy of Dramatic Art

Here you can see a building of The Academy of Dramatic Art that was founded in 1950. It is consisted of seven departments: Acting, Theatre Directing and Radiophony, Dramaturgy, Film and Television Directing, Cinematography, Editing and Production.
It is situated near The Croatian National Theater which has a practical side also. One thing that not many people know - there is an underground tunnel passing below the street that directly connects the Theatre and the Academy.

Refreshment

It's been cloudy and rainy for two days now. But I don't mind it, because we have had incredibly hot days past several weeks and this refreshment is good. As the Meteorological Service of Croatia says, it will be partly cloudy whole week with the temperatures below 30°C. Maybe not the perfect forecast for the people taking vacation at the seaside, but a good one for us staying in the city.
One more thing - here you can partly see the mountain Madvednica with the peek and the TV tower. I love taking walks in the woods there. Maybe I'll go one day soon to bring you back some photos.

p.s. Sorry about the late post!

Bell tower in sunset

Just one quick post for you today - showing a detail of a Saint Catherine's Church in sunset.

I wish you all a nice weekend!

Folklore dancing

This photo I took during the performance of Bulgarian Folklore Ensemble. Zagreb is hosting 44th International Folklore Festival, from 21 till 25 July. Every year I go to see the shows and every year is better than the last! It is always great to see new things and experience other cultures and their tradition. Diversity is definitely human big advantage!

Changing customs

Through last several years Zagreb has changed a lot. Many of those changes are a result of globalization and many changes were brought to us by tourists. I still remember, just few years ago, seeing first backpackers sitting and resting on the grass in Zagreb parks. And people from Zagreb or Croatia never did that, it was just not our custom. Sitting or walking on the grass is not forbidden but it is not something we do. And after a few years of persistent tourists, today lots of young people from Zagreb does exactly the same thing. And I think it is nice and good. Parks are here to enjoy them! And there are not enough benches anyway.

As you probably guessed, all the youngsters on the photo are from Zagreb!

Wooden erker

One detail from the Upper town Gradec. I've already told you something about this architectural detail - erker - so characteristic for Zagreb. But here it is made of wood which is not so characteristic. And I love it! It gives the special charm to the old building!

Tower Lotrščak

This is a famous Tower Lotrščak that was a part of the fortification of the Upper town Gradec. It was built in 18. century, but it got this final shape in the 19. century. It is mostly famous for the cannon called Grički top that fires every day exactly at noon. This practice started in 1876. and it helps the people of Zagreb to have their watches always set correctly.

Gozpodzka Vulicza

A little piece of history - Gozpodzka Vulicza (Gentleman's street is a rough translation) - is an old street on Upper town today called Ćirilometodska ulica. I love this old street signs! They used to be bilingual in the old days so you can see here in a lower part the street's name in German - Herren Gasse. It dates from the time when Croatia was a part of a same country with Austria and Hungary in Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, at the second half of 19. century.

The Chapel of the Wounded Christ

I picked up this motive for it's very strong symbolic note! It's The Chapel of the Wounded Christ that's situated in the street Ilica 1, next to the main Zagreb square. It is a part of a building constructed in 1934., and it replaced the old baroque chapel that used to be here as a part of a hospital complex. The hospital and the old chapel are gone but in the new chapel you can still see a baroque wooden sculpture of a wounded Christ.

Two days of protests continued yesterday as well and will continue on Monday. Because of the sad and tragic events these day in Zagreb, I cannot oversee the symbolism between the wounded Christ and wounded Zagreb - we must pray!

Fight goes on!

It was a hard night last night! One of the warmest nights and days are here at the moment! More then 34 and 35°C during the day!
Also, it was a new protest and hot atmosphere in Zagreb yesterday evening. More than 2000 protesters against the devastation of Zagreb city center protested against the city's major, city government and state government. They all are responsible for the bad (turning even worse) situation in the country. We all had enough of it!

So, if you are in Zagreb today please do come to the new protest in 19 o'clock to the crossroads of Masarykova and Gundulićeva street! Come because it is important and because it matters!

Sad, sad day!

I've mentioned some emergency in Zagreb yesterday, so...

The new protests and horrible action of the police occurred in the very center of Zagreb. I've told you about it in an earlier post and now the protest culminated. Police arrested more than 150 people (which is a lot for Zagreb) who were protesting against the devastations in the city center. The protest was perfectly legal and protesters did nothing wrong. It was a really sad day for Zagreb yesterday - for cultural heritage, human rights and democracy. 

Sad, sad day...

Nu:Write

Yesterday evening I went to the summer party of the Nu:Write Theatre Festival - a new International Theatre Festival that will start in November. 

More info about it later on, there's an emergency in Zagreb at the moment!

Edit (few hours later): It was great at the Nu:Write summer party! The weather's been very hot but the crowd and event was cool, so that was OK! There were some interesting new bend playing - on the photo you can see a guitar player in a very interesting boots. Looks like an old diver boots. 

Jägerhorn

This is one of my favorite places in Zagreb. It is a passage near the main square called Lovački rog or Jägerhorn (Hunting horn or Bugle in English). It connects the Ilica street with the Upper town. There is a very good restaurant with the same name also. If you are coming to Zagreb you shouldn't miss this beautiful passage!

Who is coming?

I spotted this graffiti while having a drink with a friend last evening. And immediately got to love it! Not only that I love this character and the movie, but I like the idea of a shadow as well. So, do you know who it is?
Also, the graffiti is placed in a spooky place, by the stairs that lead to the dark corridor and a small alley. I'm not sure who the author is so if any of my fellow citizens know I am kindly asking them to inform me. 

And just one note: this is a facade of a very cult Zagreb bar and club called Melin in Tkalčićeva street. It is quite alternative and ''underground'' place, so I wouldn't even be surprised that the owner allowed the graffiti on bar's facade.

Zagreb coat of arms

I decided to share with you this photo of a detail of architecture with the motive of two dragons and the Zagreb coat of arms. It is placed above the doors of the Old city hall at the Upper town Gradec. The Zagreb coat of arms shows the town with three towers and open doors representing the hospitality. Above are placed symbols of a star and a crescent moon.  At the early years the colour of  the background was red, but it was transformed into blue in the 19. century. Today, blue colour is the true symbol of Zagreb!

I wish you all a nice new working week!

Exploring the old school days

I was always confused with those places in this city that somehow always seemed to be out of focus and interest of most people living here. This is one of those places - Hrvatski školski muzej (Croatian school museum). 

It was founded in 1871. and still works on collecting and presenting everything about schools and education in Croatia. At the moment they are in search for the oldest school bag in Croatia. Except for the school groups, not many people come to visit this museum, which is a shame because it has a very interesting and old permanent exhibition - where one feels like being in a time capsule.

Writer in the park

I saw this sculpture the other day when I went to the concert and thought it is really nice. It's a famous Croatian writer and politician Eugen Kumičić. He is considered the first naturalist writer in Croatia that was often compared with Émile Zola.
But the reason I really like this sculpture is the position of the man portrayed and where it is placed. He seems so relaxed, laid back and in the process of writing, while surrounded with trees and bushes. Such a calm and relaxed moment!

Lemon on a summer night

This photo is a little weird (I know!) but the place is quite cool! 

It is Lemon bar&club situated in the center of Zagreb by the Archeological Museum and Zrinjevac park. This was taken during the evening relaxation with a couple of Martinis! The cool thing is that the Archeological Museum let the Lapidarium to be the bar's terrace during warm days. Enjoy sipping cold drinks under the night sky and in the company of Roman and Greek archeological finds!

Zagreb Solar System

Did you know that Zagreb has it own Solar system? Yes, you read it correctly! :D
In the center of Zagreb there is a sculpture of a very famous contemporary Croatian artist Ivan Kožarić called Grounded Sun that was made in 1971. In that time it was quite controversial but today it became the one of the true and the dearest symbols of Zagreb.
Then another artist Davor Preis had a wonderful idea in 2004. He decided to place the planets of solar system all over the Zagreb. He took the measures of Grounded Sun and put the little planets in a precise distance from that sculpture of sun and in a right size too. I think it is a pretty cool idea!
So here you can see how Venus looks like. More info here and here.

Saint Mark

I made lots of pictures the other day when the weather was nice, so I'll show you this lovely detail. It's from the St. Mark's Church that I told you about already in an earlier post. This is a detail from the main entrance and it shows the St. Mark who is the patron of this church. He is shown with his symbol - the lion with wings. This church was the main church in the Middle Ages for the people of Gradec. The west entrance is all done in Neogothic style while the south entrance is a true Gothic from 14th century.

At the concert

I just came from a beautiful concert! A friend of mine had a solo concert in Zagreb's Mimara Museum. It was just magnificent to be on a classical music concert in a place like this, surrounded with old paintings! Ahhh,... the atmosphere!
The Mimara Museum holds works of art from the earliest times till 20th century. It all started with the private collection of Wiltrud and Ante Topić Mimara who donated it for the new museum.

Old city walls

For the beginning of a new week I have decided to show you one part of Zagreb that I love very much. I've already told you some things about old Zagreb - how it was consisted of two parts, Gradec and Kaptol. They were situated on two hills that are part of mountain Medvednica. Here you can see a part of a city walls that were protecting medieval Gradec. Today it is a nice place for walks - I must say I have many lovely memories from my earliest youth as I used to hang out around here and in local cafes.

Inside the structure

I went to the opening of an art exhibition the other day that was at the Museum of Contemporary Art. That's something you could have probably guessed from the photo. 

The exhibition, called Inside the structure - Dialog with Picelj, is about the one French designer Frederic Molenac who, after being inspired by a great Croatian artist Ivan Picelj, decided to make designs and artwork as ones you could see on the exhibition. And both artist and their artwork are on a photo as well, believe my word on this one.

If you are near the MSU (Muzej suvremene umjetnosti, aka Museum of Contemporary Art) please fell free to drop by.

Yellow, beige and blue

A detail of an architecture from a Zagreb streets. This is part of a building of The Faculty of Law that's next to The Croatian National Theater. I love the detail and the contrast of yellow-beige facade and blue sky.

I wish you all a nice rest of the Saturday!

St. Catherine's Church

I took this photo the other day on Upper Town – Gradec. It is St. Catherine's Church. I just had to take the shot as the sky was so beautiful! I just adore this little white clouds!
The church dates from the beginning of the 17th century in a typical baroque style. It was a Jesuits church and therefore is constructed (like all their churches of that time) according the model church Il Gesù in Rome.

July Theme Day - Reflections

For this months theme day I decided to make a shot of a reflection of myself. Isn't that nice!? :D 

This was taken in front of a quite old and old fashion shop window in Ilica street.

Check out the other July Theme Day photos!