Nikola Tesla

As always, imagining the unimaginable...



Nikola Tesla was a man out of his time, an inventor, a misunderstood genius who was born in a tiny village Smiljan in the mountain region of Croatia in 1856. We owe him modern electricity (AC), eco-light bulbs, radio (Marconi developed it 6 years AFTER Tesla demonstrated the wireless radio communication!), remote control, radar, X-rays, Tesla coil, "death ray", green (renewable) energy and many things which we are only now beginning to understand.

Pink blob

Blue blob

Taking a stroll in Zagreb's center can sometimes take an unexpected turn... you might run into your friends, enemies, blobs:



To this date, I haven't found out what the blob was, but they were dancing :)

Insightful graffiti

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Gandhi:



Photo was taken by Sarah..

Praying statue

Americans in Zagreb series 2: Break-dancing

Rich decided that Medvegrad is a perfect place to show off his break-dancing skills:



Photo was taken by Chelsea...

H

Very decorative "H" on a door:

Chillin'

A turtle, just chillin' at the Botanical garden:

Americans in Zagreb series: 1 - Trying on a dress

I've had a series of US friends visiting Zagreb in October... have you ever noticed how different nationalities act differently when visiting a foreign land? This photo series shows how my friends enjoyed Zagreb. Too bad we couldn't take a photo of them trying to find instant oatmeal and peanut butter :).

Here's Sarah "trying on" a dress in the window:

Quince aroma

A specialist store whose name suggests quince products - until you get in. I couldn't find a single product made from quince, however, they do have fantastic chocolate and coffee deserts :)

Parasol

What a parasol this is! Lace with maple leaves details:

Yummmm...

A stand selling home-made jam and marmalade jars:

How Zagreb got its name

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful woman called Manda who'd come to the well on the outskirts of Kaptol, nowadays the center of Zagreb each day to get water for her family. One day, a man called out to her and said "Mandušo, zagrabi (=scoop)!"... so the well became Manduševac (now a fountain), and Zagreb got its name from "scooping" the water by Manda :)

The Arcades - Mirogoj

Famous Arcades at Zagreb's largest cemetery:

A well

An old well on Medvedgrad:

History of Croatia - by I. Meštrović

This is a sculpture called "History of Croatia" in front of Univ. Zagreb's Law Faculty building:

Toddler sculpture

This toddler sculpture has a wonderful view of the park from his place on the roof of the Croatian National Theater:

Dragon claw

Here be dragons

This is the dragon from the previous post:

Determined...

.. to kill a dragon:



A statue next to the Croatian National Theater.

The lion sleeps tonight

Eternal tear drop

A glass tear drop - a part of the sculpture at the Homeland Altair, for the fallen soldiers in '91-'95 war, next to the eternal flame, overlooking Zagreb's panorama:

Misfit

There's a cave called Veternica, on mountain Medvednica, which is a home for a large population of small bats. Nature park preservation center and volunteers work hard on educating the public (and especially kids) about these harmless, very useful, and cute little creatures. An exhibition in Medvedgrad's south tower boasts detailed info on bats and their habits, photos,... Each bat got a purple paper cutout with its name and put on the wall. Apparently this one has troubles fitting in the crowd :) :

Peaceful

A part of a statue in front of the Croatian National Theater (HNK):

Oldtimer - Trabant

A very old car (I'm guessing 30+ years), Trabant, famous (or infamous) for its funny sounding two-stroke engine, repainted in bright red color and comfortably parked among "new age" sedans, coupes and similar in Zagreb's center:

Little white alien

Steps

If you decide to skip on funicular, these are one of the steps that will lead you to the Upper town. They go directly along the funicular, and exit in front of the Lotrscak tower:

Secure enough?

Just on the other side of the street from the broken shop window from the previous post, these doors offer an unusual vista in Zagreb (I've seen similar only in renovated castles around Zagreb):



IMHO, they're fantastic! :)

Not a good day

This small shop window, quite common in the center and usually presenting goods sold by shops in the passageways, is now full of broken glass, not the goods:

November theme day: Public transportation - Funicular

Probably the shortest public transportation line in whole Croatia, but much loved by locals and visitors alike - Zagreb's funicular saves you a lot of step climbing and connects the lower part of the city to the Upper/Old town. The whole ride lasts full 30-40 seconds :) :



Now go on and check out other public transportation offered around the world! Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.