The “other Camics” will not be arriving until late tonight and so I use the day to do some work and then to go out and get a grasp on the Zagreb Sunday. Is it more like an American Sunday or an Italian one? You tell me.
park bench, pink chestnut tree
park bench, markings on tree
watching magic performed on the square
old town, café life
for me: krustada with cheese and cherries, capuccino, lilies of the valley
They speak a butchered Polish here in Croatia. In Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia as well. They take my language, mess with some of the words and it begins to sound like Polish with a few too many beers thrown in. A Pole can listen to a Croat and understand a lot. And conversely, I can throw together some Polish-like words and a person from here will get it.
Still, Zagreb is its own place. Even though I do tend to pick up on the similarities – the flowers sold by old women (the intense smell of lilies of the valley…no lily of the valley ever gives such powerful perfume in the States; I do not know why), the cafés filled in equal proportion with beer, coke and coffee drinkers from morning onwards, the chestnut trees, the lovers, the dreamers, the smokers, the Croats the Poles the Poles the Croats. God, it feels awfully close to home.
I bought from her; they were fresh and she was honest.
at the entrance to the market
red strawberries, red bag, red umbrella, red shirt, black cloak
she sells small amounts of lettuce
old town, looking up
old town, looking down
Monday afternoon we fly down for a week in Dubrovnik. Incredibly difficult to get to by land. Minutes from Bosnia-Hercegovina, significantly damaged in the conflict some fifteen years ago, it is now in a state of recovery. I’m happy to put tourist dollars into its effort to again become a favored Adriatic destination. I want to get to it before it puts itself in the league of all the other beautiful and significantly unaffordable spots along the Mediterranean coastline.
Oh, a post script to Sunday: a perfectly beautiful Mother's Day gift is to have your daughters show up to join you for dinner. And what is a Croatian dinner all about? Mine had the taste of a country that bounces between a Mediterranean culture and central Europe.
tomatoes, mozzarella, melon
baked cheese strukli
daughters
7 comments:
Really enjoy reading about your travels and the photos you take
Ahh, yes. Looks like Riga a little. I guess all the old countries of the new Europe have that certain look and feel which distinguishes them from their neighbors to the west, especially the older women in the markets with their headscarfs and worn faces. They have endured, recovering from the 50-year beating they took from the old Soviet system. I don't know about Croatia, but in Latvia the women are often the strong ones while too many of the men drink. Still, there is healing and hope. It will take at least a generation...
I love the Red Horsechestnut! Aesculus x carnea.
It's a cross between the European A. hippocastanum and A. pavia from the eastern United States. Generally growing smaller than its European parent, it makes a great street tree. I wish I had one on my street.
How long will you be in Croatia? I will be there (in Rab) around 3-6 June, maybe longer. Drop me a mail. Would love to meet up! q
Croatia is struggling. I'm writing a post about it now, in fact.
But the chestnuts are blooming and everything looks grand at this time of the year. Hope is easier to dust off and reconsider during the month of May.
Q: I don't think we'll overlap here, but I will be in the Savoie, close to where you live I should think, at the end of this month.Maybe there?
Great photos of the Old Town. Reminds me of my visit to Bratislava, another central European city in transition.
You're so right: central European cities, markets, people, children all look similar. I've never really thought about it, though. Well spotted.
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