The starting point

The starting point

Thursday, 20 June 2024

11/6/24 Zagreb

 

    Time to drop the car off in the city , they told us it would be close to the city and an easy walk - it was , about 2.5 kms !! 

  The staff at the Sixt car rental were less than excited to be at work , judging by the way they greeted and spoke to us , a little bit short and rude , how dare we keep them employed , what were we thinking !!!

Wandering up the streets , it appeared as though the city was a bit dull & drab , buildings had a lot of graffiti on them and there was a bit of rubbish lying around - mainly cigarette butts . This is where we walked up through past a museum  - can't remember which one though 😂.


    Carrying on , we wandered through the streets . The sign on the building says beware of falling plaster .


   An older cottage / shop still survives in between the newer buildings , presumably supported by the steel framework .


     Stopping at Britanski Trg Markets for some lunch that we'd prepared . The markets were colourful with lots of fresh fruit & vegetables .



    We kept going along Ilica St - most famous street in Zagreb apparently , till we found a road that led us up to the Upper Town . The bustling Ilica St .


   It's busy with trams & cars and people .



  The road leading upwards was all cobblestone , 2 lanes with parking in the middle ( or they just don't care ). It was a steep walk up to the Gric Tunnel .


   And here's the pedestrian tunnel that runs under the Upper Town . 


    Another steep cobblestone path leads up to the castle wall remains and Gric Park . There's a rather large building at the top that's undergoing serious renovations .


    This is Gric Park , they've found a graveyard with 250 skeletal remains .


 The original wall is the middle section , there are 2 workers repointing the brick work - other sections have been replaced with concrete walls .


    The information centre is in a tower building - Lotrscak Tower , and you can get up to the top for a great view over the city - at a cost , but it wasn't much and well worth it . There's a funicular railway next door as well - it only runs 66m up a steep section from the street below .


    There's some interesting roof lines and constructions up here .


     There's a striking roof on a church at ST Marks Square - St Marks Church of course . The roof is covered in glazed roof tiles to form the patterns and shapes .


                           Here's another church spire , bit plain and unobtrusive 


    St Marks Church from the ground .


The church is surrounded by the Croation Parliament , Croatia's Constitutional Court and Banksi Dvori home of Croation Government . That helped explain why there were Police cars and police keeping an eye on things .


   This is the city gate , the only one that's been preserved since the Middle Ages . There's a chapel just inside for those that need one .


  Looking down the roadway , there's a cafe where we opted to stop and have a rest and a beer to contemplate the world going by . There's also a statue of Dora Krupiceva - a character from Croatia's 1st historic novel .


    After the beer we headed back down the hill , driven out also by the cigarette smoke - as a side note , the smoking rules we enjoy in Australia don't even get a look in over here , there's smoking in restaurants , cafes etc , then you can also take your dog with you Wherever you go !!!


   The road down led us to this enormous square - Ban Jelacic Square .


    We could see the Zagreb Cathedral up a side street , so had to go for a look . Extensive renovations are going on the 2 spires as well . Just for size , there's small forklift parked in the doorway and stacks of pallets beside the door . The 2 towers are covered in scaffolding , and can be seen in the photo above that we took from the tower .


   This doorway would have some stories to tell , how old would it be ????


    Back down to the square , there's a bronze sculpture ?? of the city , showing all the city - upper & lower, and an explanation of them on the plaque on the side - quite clever !!


    We even managed to find some flowers , this one with some yellow daisies behind .


    These next 2 were outside our accomodation .



    We got a taxi back to the apartment , and the driver wondered why we were there ??? Guess he thought that's not where visitors normally stay - says something about us really 😆😂🤣 Here's map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=16uy4CAHy9ww73D8WmMAZ_JHZrBfQIF0&usp=sharing


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