Family trip to Croatia coming soon

[firefighter ontheside]

Building with non matching roof tiles is the Croatian Prime ministers office.  It was one of few buildings damaged during the Croatian war for independence when it was bombed in an attempt to kill the new country's leaders.  The tile lady do not match due to the repairs.  Other building is the parliament.  Normally you could walk right in front but rehab work to St Mark church in middle of the square has it blocked off.

 

 

   

[firefighter ontheside]

This pharmacy was opened in the year 1355.  Nikola Tesla was born in what is now Croatia but he was an ethnic Serb.  In 1892 He tried to convince the town of Zagreb to be the first town in the world to install an AC electric system.  They declined.  He moved to America and helped Buffalo New York to gain that distinction.  He is still highly revered in Zagreb and his statues and plaques are all over town.


 

 

[TimW]

Fascinating!  Can Y'all stay another week and post more photos here?
hugs,  Brandi

[firefighter ontheside]

I'm afraid not Brandi, but we have 2 more full days and should have some nice stuff to post.  Tomorrow we are going to Plitvice National Park which is an amazing natural landscape of cascading waterfalls.  Then on Tuesday we should make a trip into Slovenia and see a castle.  Plus, when I get home I will transfer pics from this phone to my computer and post more pics.  I'm glad you are enjoying them.  

[TimW]

Awesome.  Y'all have a safe trip home!!!
  hugs,  Brandi

[Ljohnsaw]

What castle are you going to see in Slovenia?

[firefighter ontheside]

John, I think it's Celje castle.  Only about an hour drive from Zagreb.

[Ljohnsaw]

As long as it's not the one in Ljubljana. That one was a disappointment. Have fun and waiting for pictures!

[firefighter ontheside]

Plitvice Lakes was the first Croatian National Park in 1949.  It is a long series of lakes and falls thru karst topography. One of the lakes is fairly large and you ride on a boat from one end to the other as you make your way along the river.  The walkways are built right above the water and sometimes a little in the water.  The views were wonderful and the water is crystal clear.  There are some trout, but not many.  Liam spotted about a 24" pike.  Fishing is strictly prohibited.  It was quite crowded and is a big matter of National pride for Croatia to have such a place.  You drive  few hours into the country to get there and see quite a lot of abandoned and damaged homes.  Many of these belong to Serbs who fled during and after the war to never return.

 

 

 

 

     

[firefighter ontheside]

In the hills I saw a lot of log yards and piles of logs in peoples yards.  It appeared to all be going to firewood.  They must use pretty big burners here as the firewood was all about 30" long or maybe longer.

 

[firefighter ontheside]

I've really enjoyed the beer in Croatia.  My family came from a little village near the larger city of Karlovac(pronounced Karlovots). The main beer of the country is Karlovatčko( pronounced Karlovotchko).  I've taken a picture of every can and bottle I've bought and I've bought a few.  My loving wife hasn't complained once.  The bottles and cans all look very nice.  The beers are mainly light lager type beers.  Tonight I bought a beer and it was served in the bottle with a glass to pour it in.  After drinking for a minute I decided I had to have the glass and asked the waitress if I could buy it.  She said she could not sell it, but could just give it to me and even brought me a clean one to take.  Best souvenir I've gotten.  Prices are very reasonable here if not cheap.  We had a huge amount of food which was a meal meant for 3.  Four of us ate and brought a lot home to the apartment.

 

 

 


 
   

[sawguy21]

My goodness, that is a lot of food for 3. ;D Trying local beers when I travel is one of my great pleasures.

[barbender]

 I may have said this before, but up here on Minnesota's Iron Range, there are a large amount of different ethnicities that migrated here in the late 1800's- early 1900's to work in the iron mines. Finns, Italians, Czechs, Croats, Serbs and I'm missing many more. The "ich" suffix on surnames is very common in towns like Hibbing and Virginia. From the outside looking in, it is hard to tell if a person or family is Serbian or Croatian...but don't mix them up!😬

[TimW]

Please explain what all is on the plate.  Looks like pork on top of the French Fries. 
hugs,  Brandi

[barbender]

That is a good looking plate of food!

[thecfarm]

Now that's a pile of groceries!!!

[Ljohnsaw]

I see 3 chops (pork?), 3 hamburger patties (beef?), 3 kabobs (lamb?), onions, fries and some sauce that looks like sweet potatoes or something spicy? and a good stack of pocket breads.

[DbltreeBelgians]

Bill, would you please take a close up of the lid on the can and maybe one of the back of the can label where the ink overlaps. Having worked for Ball Metal corporation for 33+ years I have a habit of looking at who manufactured the can and the end.
Thanks,

Brent

[firefighter ontheside]

Well, there were 3 chops maybe pork, 3 kabobs I think lamb, 3 burgers a mix of pork, beef, and lamb and 12 čevapa beef sausages.  There was a mountain of French fries, some sliced onions, ajvar which is a relish made from sweet bell peppers, and a cheesy sauce that they put on everything or so it would seem.  Plus a plate of lepinje which is flat bread.  That was doused in olive oil and delicious.

[firefighter ontheside]

Brent, I hope this helps.

 

 

[firefighter ontheside]

As I learned a while before I came here my name should be spelled like this, Modrošić.  The two diecritics indicate sh and ch sounds.  We consider it an accent mark above a letter, but they consider it a different letter.  Many names that sound like that in English were transcribed phonetically to include the sh and ch or even tch.  That does help to pronounce it correctly.  I never knew how my name was supposed to be pronounced until I met my friend Marijana Modrošić.  Telling Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian names apart is difficult for us.  There are lots of Bosnians in St. Louis, but not a lot of Croatians at least not those that came here in the last 30 years.  The Bosnian culture is pretty strong in St. Louis with so many recent immigrants.  My son's most recent soccer team had many Bosnians.

[aigheadish]

Tasty looking meal! 

Those pictures of the lakes and waterfalls are beautiful! 

[jasonb]

28 Euro for that meal is a very good deal.  Those little sausages are very tasty.  I had a version in Fieberbrunn, Austria that was really good.

[firefighter ontheside]

We had the meal, a large beer, two sodas and a glass of wine for €39.  Cheaper than Mac Donald's.

[firefighter ontheside]

Got home about an hour ago.  Happy to be home.  9 hour flight was easy to take.  Cindy bid $200 for each of our seats to be upgraded and we got them.  We got much bigger seats with much more legroom, nicer food.  I watched 4 movies and we were in St Louis.  I will post more pics in the coming days, but for now just resting.  It's almost midnight where we spent the last 11 days.  Now its only 5pm at home.  The dogs are happy to see us.  I'm not sure the chickens and goats care.