Zagreb, May 7

We had breakfast at our hotel and then drove into Zagreb, parks and took the tram into Ban Jelacic Square.  It was the site of medieval trade fairs.  Then,  we walked and walked the Upper Town for 7 hours with ample sitting time.  Zagreb is a place of full outside cafes.  Wonderful ambiance.                        

Our first stop was Dolac, a huge open air fruits and vegetable market with a fish market nearby.  From there we went into the cathedral, which was fortified against the Ottoman Empire in the 14th and 15th centuries.  Outside is a large clock which stopped at 7:03 in the 1880 earthquake. The townspeople left it stuck at that time as a remembrance.

We strolled Radiceva Street and to St Mark's Square with its beautiful tiled roof church.  (The interior was closed.). Nearby were the Parliament and the Prime Minister's Office.  The square was the site of  the execution of Matija Gubec in 1573, for leading a peasant revolt.  His face is supposedly on a corner of a nearby building.

Then we went to the Museum of Naive Art, a small (6 rooms) but sweet museum.  The main artist was Ivan Generalic, who became famous enough to have a show in Paris.  Others never achieved that fame, painting on the winters and on Sundays.  We liked Generalic's peasant scenes, as well as those of Mijo Kovacic and Ivan Rabuzin.  (Mark got a t shirt of a Rabuzin)Many are painted on glass as it was a cheaper than canvas and, supposedly easier to do.

We strolled the rest of the day and had dinner again in Nokturna and then...rush hour traffic "home".