Zagreb and Family
Over Easter (Roman) Break we visited Fuji's sister and family in Zagreb, Croatia.
Christine (aka Chrissy), her husband, Zdenko, and two children (Sonia-5 and Nika-1) were wonderful hosts. They toured us around the city, drove us to places to go hiking and exploring, and fed us great meals! We were hoping Nika would take her first steps everyday we were there. She was so close, standing alone, but it didn't happen.
| Chrissy and kids posing above the Cathedral and downtown Zagreb. One spire of the cathedral is being renovated (see scaffolding.) |  |
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Of course, we had to follow suit and pose too! |
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Walking
the streets of Zagreb, Jim and Zdenko with the Nika in the stroller.
This section of town was a pedestrian only area and had a very nice
feeling about it.
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The mainstay of entertainment and activity in Zagreb (and in most of Europe, we suppose) is the outdoor coffee bars/cafes. Hanging out with friends and visiting for hours over coffee, a coke, or a beer, is a must in any city. Here, after touring the city, we ran into some of their friends, so we took a break for a while. |
| Sonia, with her cool "Barbie attire," having a coke at another outdoor cafe in a small town we visited outside of Zagreb (about 1 hr northwest) near the Slovenian boarder. |  |
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We went to this quaint town to visit a friend and also to hike up to these ruins. It was a nice day but very hazy. The mountains in the backdrop are actually in Slovenia. |
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This fortress (ruins) from the days of the feudal systems, was likely a strategic military post. From here the Earls or Dukes keep order in the kings fiefdom by granting agricultural land for peasants to work, collecting taxes enforcing order and conscripting soldiers for the king while enjoying life as a feudal lord. In a later discussion with locals they compared the old feudal system to the current one today. The king is the multinational corporations, the Earls and Dukes are the governments and guess who the peasants are? These Croatians have connected the dots with a wonderful European flavor. (At least to these 2 Americans who are remembering more and more of their junior high European history.) |
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Another angle view from the fortress looking back down the road is the boarder check point between Croatia and Slovenia. Not much more than a building along the road. It's a friendly and easy boarder among the farmlands. |
| Back at the homestead, Chrissy's first attempt at cooking octopus! A neighbor gave it to her and so she accepted (being very polite, of course) but didn't know how to prepare it. She is cutting it very "gingerly" as she isn't really sure she wants to touch it, let alone eat it! |  |
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A closer view of this dinner. It was wonderful! The meal was a big hit. She cooked it in a simple broil with butter and it was better than lobster or shrimp. Great flavor and the texture was fine. Even Chrissy liked it. She wrote to us since this trip and has cooked it again. |
