Eastern Europe - Zagreb. Croatia

Oil on glass

Naive Art

St Mark's Church

No 31 Email – Zagreb. Croatia

I was ready to board my early train to Zagreb when I decided to show my ticket to an attendant. Sure enough, he pointed to the last coaches. The last two coaches had a sticker stating the destination “Zagreb”. Had I boarded any other coach, I would have ended at another destination! (In Vienna I think)

I have learned my lesson well !

Stepping out of the train station brought me to a wide boulevard at the edge of a large park, definitely a welcoming sight and a first great impression.

The wide park extends almost all the way to Zagreb’s main square. For once, I decided to stay in a “rea’l hotel and I ended up at the Dubrovnik Hotel, right on the square. This square is the central focus of modern Zagreb and this is where everything happens, it is also marks the division between the Lower Town and the Upper Town where most of the sights are.

On Sunday they held a market with a strong medieval flavor. Many vendors were wearing medieval clothing and were hand-making dolls, toys, decorative wooden objects. There was even a complete set up of a huge hand-operated blower feeding an open coal fire for the heating of iron. A man was making different decorative steel objects, and a potential customer had to help by operating the blower.

The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the main sight. The Cathedral is surrounded by defensive walls built at the time when the threat from the Ottoman Turks was at its height.

Several museums as well as other interesting buildings, and a huge colorful open-air food market are also located in the upper town. I visited the Museum of Naïve Art, which features the work of over 20 Croatians masters. What I found amazing where oil paintings on glass.

You are looking at the painting thru the glass. I other words, the painting has been painted with the close details first and the background last! There is no way that one can redo part of a picture by painting over it.

I also joined a Segway two-hour guided tour, which of course is a lot of fun!

Zagreb was a very pleasant city to visit.

Next Belgrade.

Eastern Europe - Sopron. Hungary

No 30 Email – Sopron. Hungary

Going from Bratislava in the Slovak Republic to Sopron in Hungary, about 80 km away, turned out to be far from a trivial affair.

I first went to the tourist office where they downloaded a bunch of options involving from three to four trains ( or two to three train changes). I picked a suitable time involving three time changes and went to the train station where, after looking at my list, they downloaded their own option (different from mine, of course),with my chosen time.

The ride involved three train changes, one of them a very tight 3 minutes between trains.

I boarded the first train and got off for the first transfer. I am in a very small station. I am completely surrounded by open fields. There are two parallel tracks and on that curves off in a different direction. There are two other people on that platform. I show my next destination to a man who confirms that I am on the right platform. Twenty minutes later the train arrives and I am on my way to the second destination (I think!). We stop at a station, and we stay there for a longer time than I anticipated. We finally go and then a woman comes in to check the tickets. She looks at my ticket and kindly let me know that the train is not going to where I must be for the next transfer. She explains to me that the train was separated in two sections at the last station, and that I am in the wrong half!

Not all is lost, she told me where to get off to take another train to Sopron. The problem is I will have to wait one hour for the transfer. I have no idea how I could have anticipated this?

I feel that the woman who checked the tickets could have done this before the split. She really would have had to check only three people. The man I asked about the train could have told me that I was getting into the wrong section. How well, I got to Sopron anyway.

After all these efforts, Sopron turned out to be a disappointing place. They have discovered Romans ruins under the Old Town’s main square and some of the streets around it. The area is barely accessible. The main attraction, the Fire Tower, which contains several exhibits and can normally be climbed for good views of the city, is closed. That did not leave many interesting options.

So, I went to a concert of mostly modern music, such as “Singing in the rain”, “Fiddler on the roof” etc.. The composition of the group playing changed a few times and the best one was featuring a pianist, a saxophone player, a drummer, and a bass, all great musicians. The singers where, in my opinion, so so.

I attached a picture of Franz Litz bust because I thought that the expression on his face was pretty much a reflection of my mood at that time.

Next, back to Croatia , in Zagreb.

Eastern Europe - Bratislava. Slovekia

The Castel

The "Working Man"

Email 28-Bratislava. Slovekia

After an overnite trip (no couchette) I arrived in Bratislava early in the morning and walked to the hotel. Another one of those where rooms in an apartment building have been transformed into hotel rooms. One of the problem with some of those is that the owners do not live on he premises. An awkward situation since I do not carry a cell phone! On a similar setting in Krakow, instead of making it the renters’ problem they provided a telephone. The people who own this place also run the Tourist Office. This is my contact .

Bratislava, like many of the Easten Europe cities, has a very complicated history and deep roots in many cultures; Slovak, German, Austrian, Hungarian, Jewish, Romanians and Roma (Gypsy). Under the Hapsburg the city was a favorite of Maria Theresa.

In the 20^th Century Bratislava was destroyed and rebuilt by the communist regime. They destroyed the historic Jewish quarters to make room for an ultramodern suspension bridge over the Danube. They also built many similar blocks of apartments on the other side of the Danube.

Today Bratislava with its 70,000 students in six universities and a population of 450,000 has become a thriving economic center, and its location, between Budapest and Vienna, has helped Bratislava become a successful tourist destination.

Much effort has been spent in the pedestrian-only Old Town.where most of the sights, and many of restaurants are located. The Old Town with several whimsical statues. A bare footed, hat covering his eyes is a statue of Napoleon leaning on a bench and turning his back to the French Embassy.

The most interesting building is the Primate’s House (!?) A large mansion, home of a series of archbishops and now a museum featuring a Mirror Hall for concerts, a series of tapestries, a chapel and many paintings. Few of the paintings are properly identified.

The imposing Bratislava Castel, a landmark, sitting outside the Old Town on top of a hill is square with a square tower at each corner, is nicknamed the “upside-down table”. The main reason to go up to the castel is to see the view over the Old Town, the bridges and the Danube.

Next Sopron, Hungary.

.