Day 99 Walkng, walking, walking!

Thursday 28/06/2018 Apartment Vuksa Ribnjak ulica 54, Zagreb, 10000, Croatia

Another day of beating the track... we headed around to Maccas after a late start today, no rush, got some admin up to date.... The Maccas here doesn’t get over run so nice and quite to relax... and the girls are starting to know us ha ha... John had a haircut before we set off on the Green horseshoe....

The Green horseshoe is a series of gardens in the middle of the city dotted around the shape of a horseshoe! To be honest they were ok but nothing outstanding, what was out standing was the amazing old building around each park. They really are architecturally just beautiful and these particular buildings have been looked after, not like many of the others....

One park had a massive stage set up, with heaps of lighting and sound gear everywhere, all for the for football fever that’s happening. They really are Football/Soccer mad here! Another park had a lovely shabby, shek look coffee shops, cafes and cake stalls set up all pretty and delicate like! This was only for a short time while some other festival, thing was happening..

By the 3rd garden we had come across the botanical gardens... they had some interesting plants and trees in them, but over all it really was just ok as far as botanical gardens go. Some interesting plants, Lillie’s and lotus pods, but on a whole a lot of what was there I have in my garden at home.... again as we came out of The Botanical gardens, it was the older buildings that held my attention they were the most unreal sights... we past the most magnificent beautiful buildings, so gracious with charm and elegance! Funny thing is most seem to be a darker shade of yellow, the occasional difference but mainly yellow... I did also notice many of the doors I have taken here and a couple of other places all seemed to be a bright but darker shade of green... odd.

I don’t know if these colours mean anything here at all, but we are seeing is a lot of red, white and some blue footy colours.. everywhere! The other notable sight we kept seeing was all the statues, heaps of them... plus of course I can’t leave out the Graffiti , Graffiti, Graffiti... occasionally there would actually be some good stuff but mostly just unkept scribble!

John took me on his tour of the tunnels, after he learnt where they were... the only good point was it had good graffiti marking the entrance of the tunnels... inside it had a few different branches that came off the main tunnel... right in the middle of the main tunnel was an unusual Art display... once we reached the other end, into the main streets near the blood bridge area.. there were Green doors which were the only thing that marked it was a tunnel... no marking at all, only locals and those who go on tours mainly the War Tour know about these tunnels.. these tunnels were used for the politicians etc to hide in as an air raid shelter during the 1991-1995 homeland war..... the entrance to the tunnel, which was just past the funicular... (this is a vehicle like a cog driven trainthat takes you up a steep gradient... this gradient here isn’t all that steep or long, but they still, use the funicular to Ferry people up the hill to the next level of the town centre..
We had dinner just outside the tunnel, again nothing special, in fact it upset my tummy no end...

We had walked, walked, and walked my little feet we worn out... so headed home to put up our feet... it was a very late lunch today after 3.30pm so by the time we had lunch it was after 4 pm that was long enough outing since this morning...

So,off home we set, both feeling worse for ware..feet aching, shoulders about to drop off... John felt the same... it’s the weight of our bags on our shoulders after a period of time the jus veg so heavy and cause a real muscle strain... nothing you can do, I have a back pack already with my back up camera gear, then the bag on the shoulder with water, sunscreen, umbrella, maps, etc, etc, all gets weighty after a while... I curse oriole pulling bags around the city as you nearly fall over them all the time, but by golly I can see why they are so handy...
So home we go, rest recoup and stay in, ready for another pounding tomorrow...

Info on the Green horseshoe thanks to Wiki!

The Lenuci Horseshoe or the Green Horseshoe (Croatian: Lenucijeva potkova, Zelena potkova; "Lenuci" is also sometimes spelled "Lenuzzi") is a U-shaped system of city squares with parks in downtown (Donji grad) Zagreb, Croatia.The horseshoe was conceived in 1882 by Croatian urbanist Milan Lenuci. The parks were projected between 1883 and 1887, at a time when today's Donji grad formed the southern outskirts of Zagreb. The construction was helped by the efforts to rebuild the city after the 1880 Zagreb earthquake, and in 1889 the entire horseshoe was finished—its two ends were connected by the newly built Zagreb Botanical Garden. The park system consists of seven squares aligned on three straight lines. The squares comprising the horseshoe are arranged in three straight lines on Donji grad's grid plan, forming the west, south and east side of the horseshoe. Starting from northeast and going clockwise, the horseshoe is formed by Nikola Šubić Zrinski Square (locally known as Zrinjevac), Josip Juraj Strossmayer Square, King Tomislav Square, Ante Starčević Square, Lenuci fitness park, Zagreb Botanical Garden, Marko Marulić Square, Ivan Mažuranić Square and Republic of Croatia Square. The horseshoe is home to the headquarters of many organizations and institutions in Zagreb, as well as several museums: Archeological Museum, Modern Gallery,[5] Art Pavilion, Croatian State Archives, Ethnographic Museum and Museum of Arts and Crafts. The greenery is interrupted between Ante Starčević Square and the Lenuci fitness park. The Esplanade Zagreb Hotel is located there. The south side of the horseshoe lies next to the Zagreb Glavni kolodvor, the city's main railway station. Republic of Croatia Square is home to the Croatian National Theatre, while Nikola Šubić Zrinski Square houses the buildings of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. 1865 map of downtown Zagreb. Future Zrinski Square is visible on the east, while Republic of Croatia Square is on the west side. The oldest part of the horseshoe is Nikola Šubić Zrinski Square. It was formed in 1826 under the name Novi terg ("New Square") as a new home for the livestock marketplace formerly held on today's Ban Jelačić Square. In the 1860s, it was decided that the square would be re-purposed as park, and throughout the following decades the marketplace and the fairs were gradually moved to the area of today's Republic of Croatia Square, on the western end of the horseshoe-to-be, which was entitled Sajmište ("Old Trade Fair"). Toward the end of the century, many new palaces in the neo-renaissance style were built on Zrinski Square. The square was also decorated by busts of numerous famous Croats, as well as the Meteorological Pole in 1884 and a music pavilion in 1891. The palace of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (then Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts) was built on the southern edge of Zrinski Square, inside then-new Academic Square (Croatian: Akademički trg, today Josip Juraj Strossmayer Square). In 1880, a devastating earthquake hit Zagreb. The idea of a horseshoe-shaped system of connected parks in central Zagreb was first presented in 1882, as part of a plan to modernise Sajmište. It included two north–south axes of greenery corresponding to the west and east side of the Lenuci Horseshoe, which were called "Western Parkway" and "Eastern Parkway" (Croatian: Zapadni perivoj, Istočni perivoj)In 1887, a new urban plan was adopted, including a rectangular grid plan for today's Donji grad and incorporating the parkways. The two axes were connected in 1889 by the newly opened Zagreb Botanical Garden and the "Southern Parkway" (Croatian: Južni perivoj), today Ante Starčević Square.The marketplace on the western end of the new horseshoe was moved further out of the city in 1890. Sajmište was modernised, receiving a new name: University Square (Croatian: Sveučilišni trg). The Croatian National Theatre, located in the center of the square, was opened in 1895, in time for Emperor Franz Joseph's visit. In June 2013, a fitness park was opened in Grgur Ninski Street, between the Zagreb Botanical Garden and Esplanade Hotel. On 27 September of the same year, Lenuci Horseshoe received a special award on Entente Florale, while the city of Zagreb received a silver award.Læs mere