Walking tour and soccer

Hello everyone,

This morning when I woke up and took off my eye mask (hostel life!) it was stuck to my face below my eye. On closer inspection, I had what appeared to be a bite on my face that was really red and angry. Once we were ready, we went to the chemist. Super painful and gooey and revolting, and not what you want at the start of a trip!! I wouldn’t care so much if it weren’t smack in the middle of my face. I guess I just have to try not to let it worry me. I’m not succeeding so far!!

We bought some breakfast from a local bakery and then ate it in the Art Park next to our hostel. This park has some quirky sculptures and artworks. 

We went up the hill to look at St Marks Church again, which was much quieter this time but again closed. On the way down, a man overheard us talking and it turned out he was from Melbourne and has lived here for 20 years.

We walked around some local parks and saw the “foodball” festival where many locals have been watching the World Cup.

We then met the 11am “free spirit” walking tour. Kristina was our guide and she was fantastic. Our group was 40+ people because it was 24 and sunny today, so everyone wanted to be outside. She handled it like a complete pro, projecting her voice well and finding plenty of space for us all to stand at each stop.

Our tour started in Ban Jelačić Square. Josip Jelačić was the governor of Zagreb as of 1848. He was a very popular man who made popular political decisions, including uniting the two small towns that initially stood here to become one united city in 1850. He also signed the document to abolish feudalism. His statue was put here in the square named after him in 1866. It was removed by the communists in 1947 and returned in 1990.

There are 4 million people in Croatia, and Zagreb is home to 1 million of them. Originally as I mentioned above, two small towns existed here separately - Gradec (meaning small town) and Kaptol. There used to be a river in between them, but it became contaminated by a leather factory and was covered in to make way for the restaurant street we ate in on Sunday. The city walls from these parts of the town, gifted to Zagreb by a past king, still exist in some parts. Originally they were 2m thick and 6m tall!

We made our way through the stone gate (from Sunday) which was open today. The painting inside is of the Virgin Mary, and was the only thing to survive a terrible fire here in 1731. As a result, it is a popular site of worship as it is seen as a miracle having survived. The gate opened in 1760 and used to be closed at night, with locals able to pass through afterwards.

On top of this building was a spiky object, and we leaned a fun fact. When witches were believed to exist, these were placed on many roofs in the town so that if witches flew too low they would be captured!

Next it was back to St Marks Square and Church. The original church was built in the 13th century, but a massive earthquake in 1880 meant much of the town (including the church) was rebuilt by two Austrian architects (Croatia was under Austro-Hungarian rule then.

We learned what the pictures on the church roof are - the Croatian and Zagreb crests. The Zagreb one is a castle representing the gates and fortifications that used to be in place. The Croatian one has three sections representing different parts of Croatia. The Hrvatska (Croatia) ‘checkerboard’ pattern (which everyone wears when supporting the Croatian soccer team!) comes from when a Croatian king was taken prisoner in Venice in the 10th century, and it is said he won a checkers match to earn his and his country’s freedom. The Dalmatia section has three lions, and the Slavonia section has a kuna (mink). Interestingly, this is where the name for the currency here, the “Kuna”, comes from. People used to trade these animals and their fur as currency.

We started to learn some brief history about the war here in the 90s and why it began. I’m sure we will learn more as we travel more. The war in this region took place between 1991-1995. I remember hearing snippets about it as a kid as we had a few students at our primary school who had moved from Yugoslavia with their parents. Croatia and five other countries were part of the communist Yugoslavia from 1945-1980. Tito was the dictator/leader of Yugoslavia, and after his death in 1980, tensions grew as different areas began to speak of wanting independence. Some people will say Tito was a wonderful leader who created much prosperity, others will say he was a murderous dictator. More on him later, we visit his tomb in Serbia. The war began in Croatia and Serbia, and spread to Bosnia. On October 7th 1991, one of the buildings in this square was bombed as an assassination attempt on the president. Croatia then claimed independence on the 8th. This had been spoken of on June the 25th of the same year (hence the public holiday yesterday) but was not actioned until October.

Next we walked back to the tower we went up on Sunday. Here we waited at the bottom for the midday cannon to go off. It was very loud! The man operating it is the fourth generation in his family to do so. He is a civil servant and that is his job - to fire the cannon every day!

Our tour rounded up near the cathedral. It’s the tallest building in Croatia (and it’s tall, but not huge!). The renovations that are occurring have been going on for 28 years. The porous limestone that takes on water, dirt etc is being replaced with sandstone.

At the conclusion of our tour, we went and checked out a bar we had heard Australia was playing at. But France vs Denmark was the game being televised live at 4pm, and ours is being played on delay at 6pm. We went and had some štrukli at a cafe the tour guide recommended. Mine was cheesy and delicious. We made our way back to our hostel via the tunnels underneath upper town that were used as a bomb shelter during World War II.

At this point, the sore on my face had swollen even more and was worrying me so much that I decided I needed to go to a doctor. To be honest, I have a pretty crappy immune system and because we had some time today I thought it was worth getting it looked at rather than waiting and it being worse when we are moving around more.

We went and asked at a pharmacy, and the lovely lady there took us upstairs to a dermatologist/doctor. She squeezed me in in between her full schedule of appointments. I was worried it was an ulcer or something, but while waiting a mozzie bite on my leg swelled up to look basically the same as the one on my face. She cleaned them both and I got some stronger antihistamines and a cream I have to apply. Hopefully it goes away soon.

In the meantime - I look like a typical Collingwood thug with a swollen face and a bandaid under my eye! We watched France and Denmark draw, then we watched us get killed by Peru. We got some corn on the cob and then nabbed a good spot in the square to watch Croatia play Iceland.

This experience was both exciting and terrifying! In the first half, the vibe was really cool. Singing and everyone happy, and no one scored. Occasionally a flare was lit which was a bit scary! At half time, the people around us changed a little and all of a sudden there was a different vibe. The man selling beer somehow walked in and all the people around us were rowdy and buying lots of beer. And just as we were contemplating moving to the side, Croatia kicked a goal. Everyone was jumping and throwing beer, screaming and punching the air. We clung to each other and made it through somehow with minimal beer on us and no feet stomped on. I reckon the crowd was about 5000 people, and after that goal we moved to the side a bit. We watched the rest of the game from the side which was much more tame. In the end, Iceland equalised with a goal (to which no one jumped!) and Croatia kicked another one (much better being on the side!). Cool experience, but they’re insane!

Love to all
Claire
Xoxox