Europe 2019 - Day 45 (Part 4)

20 June 2019, Thursday 

The lanterns or gas lights in Upper Town are worth mentioning here. About 200 of them are more than 150 years old (first introduced in Zagreb in 1863) and are still hand-lit by lamp lighters, who lights them in the evening and dims them in the morning. They are one of the few gas lights still functioning in Europe today.

Next, to Lotrscak Tower. This is a fortified tower built in the 13th century. Its name means “thieves’ bell tower”. Initially it was built to guard the southern gate of the Gradec town wall - so a bell would ring to signal that the gates were either closing (in the evening) or opening (in the morning). In other words, the tower showed the time with a bell. In the 19th century, a cannon (Gric cannon) was placed on the top. Since 1 January 1877, the cannon is fired everyday at noon to mark the mid-day. 

I was video-ing the shooting of the cannon and luckily I didn’t drop my phone - it was loud! It did give me a shock but luckily I was gripping my phone pretty tightly. And, in those days (before the nuisance of technology), the cannon was also a sign for bell ringers to ring the church bell. And now, so cute! They continued with the tradition; so after the canon shot we could hear church bells ringing from all over Zagreb. 

Then we took the funicular down again to Lower Town or Kaptol as it used to be. We went to Dolac Market, an open air market where locals have been buying their food and flowers for the past 80 years. We were greeted by a statue of “kumika” at the entrance. Kumikasare women from nearby villages who have traditionally sold their produce at Dolac. They sell fresh fruit, vegetable, eggs, corn bread and dairy products. The statue is a tribute to their indispensable role. Basically farmers from all around Zagreb come here to sell their wares. Unfortunately it was closed today due to the national public holiday. 

There is a St Mary’s Church beside the Dolac Market. Nearby was where the stream used to flow, and where the ‘bloody bridge’ used to be which separated the 2 medieval towns of Gradec and Kaptol. To remember this bridge, the name of the street now is Krvavi Mostwhich means ‘bloody bridge’. In 1850 when the 2 towns were unified to form Zagreb, they found that the stream was a problem, namely flooding and pollution from the nearby leather factories. So they divided and diverted the stream - now it has become small canals flowing underground. They removed the bridge as well as it no longer served a purpose; the 2 towns were combined. Now this whole area is known as the ‘Bar Street’, where we had our dinner yesterday.

Then we went to the Mirogoj Cemetery which is Zagreb’s largest cemetery. It is a burial ground for people of various faiths as segregation of graves is strictly forbidden here. I find this concept kinda cool. Everyone is equal when they die; they should also be equal whilst alive. The cemetery was a thing of beauty, with landscaped greenery, galleries and pavilions in between - I felt that if I am laid to rest here my soul would be at peace. 

Then we had lunch which was strukli(zapeceni sir salaniin full). This is a traditional dish here made of filo pastry either boiled or steamed or baked, and with fillings either sweet or savoury (typically cottage cheese). It can be a starter, main course, dessert or dunked in soup. I tried the baked one with cottage cheese and cream, the most traditional one. For me it was so bland! Unfortunately when the waiter asked me whether I liked it, I think my face kinda showed my dislike and he looked pretty dismayed and explained that it was food for the poor or the peasants; they only had cows hence all dairy related products (cheese, cream) mixed in bread or pastry which was cheap. I thanked him for his explanation and quickly made my way out of there.