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The Balkans

October 2021
  • skip's retirement travel
A 29-day adventure by skip's retirement travel Read more
  • skip's retirement travel

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  • Albania Albania
  • Montenegro Montenegro
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Croatia Croatia
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  • 58footprints
  • 29days
  • 326photos
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  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelThe Balkans

    Zagreb Old Town

    October 2, 2021 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Zagreb is the capital of and largest city in Croatia where there is evidence of settlement dating to at least Ronan times. The city is informally divided into the upper and lower town. The Old City is in the upper town.
    The 1st picture is the the Stone Gate that was part of the old city wall. It is said that in a fire in the 12th century, all of the wooden gate structure burned except a painting of the virgin and child. It is still there, and people still come to pray.
    Not far away is the Zagreb cathedral in the 2nd picture, looking up a typical narrow lane of the old city. Many buildings such as the cathedral are not open. This is due to damage from an earthquake in 2020. The pandemic has just made it more difficult to get to renovation work.
    The 3rd picture is a recognizable building of Zagreb: St. Mark's Church, dating to the 13th century. The roof is most famous but dates to 1880. The church is in a square of surrounding buildings of the national government offices.
    The 4th picture is of the main square in old town with it's daily (except Sunday) market in full swing.
    The 5th picture is of the tower where a cannon is fired at noon every day as it has for over 100 years. At the foot of the tower is the upper end of the world's shortest funicular.
    The last picture captures a part of the old city wall with a bit of the Mary column to the left and the cathedral to the right.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelThe Balkans

    Tesla Technical Museum

    October 3, 2021 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Nikola Tesla was an ethnic Serb who was born in a town that is part of Croatia. He became a naturalized US citizen, and it is here where his most famous work was done. He is probably best known for his work with electricity. He is a fascinating character with a brilliant mind.
    The museum traces the history of technology in many areas: steam power, mining, transportation, space, etc There is a planetarium, a mock up of a mine, and more. Only one section of the museum is dedicated to Tesla himself. That is where most of these pictures were taken as that was my primary interest.
    The 1st picture is the entrance to the Tesla exhibit. This picture on the wall is of his home that was restored after being damaged during the Balkans War. The 2nd picture is a bust of Tesla.
    The next 3 pictures are all working examples of experiments Tesla ran and used to demonstrate his concepts and patents. Yes, the 3rd picture is of the one where electric arcs formed, creating "lightening and thunder". The other 2 show a couple of the systems for creating and transmitting electric power.
    The last picture looks over a portion of the rest of the museum. This section displays examples of the development of manned flight.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelThe Balkans

    Stari Grad Ozalj

    October 3, 2021 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Stari Grad means Old Town, and there are bunches of stari grads in Croatia. So it matters which one were talking about. The town of Ozalj (about an hour drive from Zagreb) dates to at least the 13th century, but it was in the 18th century when the town was converted into the castle.
    At one point, the main administrative center moved from here to a new location with the result that this place became the Old Town.
    The 1st picture is of the main gate, looking along the bridge over the old moat. This was a movable bridge until the 19th century. The rest of the pictures look at the buildings and fortifications. The last is the view from one of the bastions.
    Photos were not allowed inside in the museums. I use the plural as there are 2. The main one is the historical museum of the town, including many works by a locally famous artist (Slave Raskav) who lived here.
    The other museum is of the Balkans War of the 1990s. It includes memorabilia, weapons, maps and more.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelThe Balkans

    Zagreb Lower City

    October 4, 2021 in Croatia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    The lower town is the heart of the civic and business life of Zagreb.
    The 1st picture is the main square. Markets, concerts, protests and every event you can image happen here. For example, the 2nd picture is the same square but on market day. You will notice a statue in the center of the 1st picture. This stature is of Jelačić, Croatian Field Marshall in the mid 19th century. He is remembered for ending serfdom in Croatia and leading the revolution for independence from Hungary.
    The 3rd picture, into the sun, unfortunately, is of the rail station. The statue left of center is of the 10th century King Tomislav who stood against the Hungarian invasion
    There is a horseshoe shape in the lower town that has 7 parks. The statue in front of the rail station is in one of these. The next picture is of a clock in another of the parks. More accurately, this is a meteorological column that not only tracks time, but measures and records temperature, barometric pressure and humidity and has been doing so since 1884.
    The last 2 pictures are interesting buildings in the lower town. The first is residential; the second is a museum. Older and newer architecture abide in close proximity here    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelThe Balkans

    Samobor, Croatia

    October 5, 2021 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Samobor is a small town not far from Zagreb that dates to at least the 13th century when it was identified in documents as a free royal town. It is (and has been for a long time) a tourist destination from Zagreb due to its closeness and it's environment.
    The 1st picture is of the main square, called King Tomislav square, named after the guy on the statue in front to the rail station in Zagreb (see Zagreb Lower Town post).
    The 2nd picture is of the Livadić mansion, now the town museum. The 3rd picture looks down the Grandna River with St. Anastasia Church in the background. The 4th picture is a covered pedestrian bridge over the Grandna.
    The 5th picture looks up the Gradna River at another of the bridges and a couple more buildings typical of the town.
    The last picture looks up Tepec Hill to the ruins of Samobor Castle, built in the 13th century.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelThe Balkans

    Dobovac Castle, Croatia

    October 5, 2021 in Croatia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    The Dubovac Castle is located near Karlovac (Karlsberg in German). It dates to the 13th century, with updates, enlarging and refurbishing over the centuries. The castle is built upon an artificial hill, presumably to make it more defensible.
    The 1st picture looks up at the fort. The square tower is the oldest part of the fortress. The 2nd picture looks across the inner courtyard to balconies that were used for access to hotel rooms at one time. Apparently, the hotel conversion did a lot of damage, and it is now in the process of being repaired.
    The next 3 pictures are all taken inside the square tower. It is several stories of equal sized square rooms. Picture 3 looks across the bottom room to the stairs. This was set up as a meeting room. Picture 4 is up one floor and is a chapel. The photo shows some of the restored artwork. The 5th picture is up another floor to a room set up as a residence. The fact that the desk is enclosed in glass suggests it's valuable, but I don't know the story. The last picture is taken from the top of the tower, looking across the countryside that would have been part of the castle's domain.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelThe Balkans

    Church of Our Lady

    October 6, 2021 in Croatia ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    The Church of Our Lady of Trsat and the adjacent Franciscan monastery (that is still active) date to the 15th century and were built by the Frankapan family (see other posts). This is the oldest Marian shrine in Croatia.
    The 1st picture is of the church and the 2nd picture is of the monastery. You will see a statue of Pipe John Paul II kneeling in prayer facing the church. He was a Trsat pilgrim. Note, too, the mosaic of the Holy Family on the monastery wall.
    The 3rd picture is in the nave of the church. Behind the altar there is a wrought iron screen separating the sanctuary. It looks like there's a bright light back there. Actually, it's reflection from the icon in the 4th picture, believed to have been originally painted by St. Luke.
    The 5th picture is of stained glass that was made by local craftspeople.
    The last picture is the Pastoral Center of Pope John Paul II. This was built to enhance the pilgrimage activities and cultural events taking place.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelThe Balkans

    Trsat Castle

    October 6, 2021 in Croatia ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    Trsat castle is thought to be built on the site of a Roman (and perhaps even older) fortification. The current castle dates to the 13th century and was originally built by the Frankopan family, the nobles who ruled in the area. (See other posts such as Status Grad Ozalj which was also a Frankopan castle.)
    The 1st picture is the castle gate, and the 2nd picture looks along the walls to the right of the gate. The 3rd picture is of the castle mausoleum. The dungeons are underneath.
    The 4th picture is of the Round Tower, and the 5th is a view from the top of the tower. The last picture is of part of the ruins beyond the Round Tower.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelThe Balkans

    Castle Grobnik

    October 6, 2021 in Croatia ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    If you guessed that this might be another Frankapan castle, you would be right. The fortification of this site dates to at least the 10th century, though the structure here now dates to the 15th century. Much of the castle is not restored or is under construction. So there isn't that much to see. However, this site is historically important. It is one of the castles that fortified Europe against the invading Ottomans. It overlooks the Grobnik field where a major battle was fought during that time.
    The 1st picture looks at the current state of the central bailey or courtyard. The other pictures are of the fortifications.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelskip's retirement travelThe Balkans

    Old Town Rijeka

    October 6, 2021 in Croatia ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    Rijeka is a town with a good deep water harbor that has made the town strategically important. It's history is first recorded in the 1st century during the Roman period.
    The 1st picture is taken from the Trsat Castle (see another post) and looks over the city and old town to Kvarner Bay off the Adriatic Sea.
    The 2nd picture is not a camera trick. The tower is leaning. It dates to the 14th century and is built of materials taken from the old Roman baths that existed on the site.
    The 3rd picture is of an excavation of the old Ronan settlement, and the 4th picture is the old Ronan arch that is the only city gate structure remaining from that period.
    The 5th picture is in the atrium of the former governor's palace, now a city museum. The last picture is of the old town at night with the fountain at the end of Korzo, the main pedestrian street through the old town.    Read more

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