Thursday, June 30: Cave men, Medieval castles, and Parking in 19th-century courtyards
We set out today for the countryside around Zagreb with three destinations in mind.
Our first stop was in Samobor, just to the west of Zagreb. This suburb (actually more of rural weekend getaway spot for Zagrebians) has a castle listed in Google Maps I wanted to visit, but once we got there, we realized it was a substantial hike to the top whose path we couldn't find. We made our way along a lovely stream with herons playing in the water that led to a kids public swimming pool and camp, stumbling upon a cute chapel from the 15th century.
Samobor is also home to "the best Cremeschnitte in Croatia" (according to Sarah Ćosić of Royal Croatian Tours), but we decided to head out again rather than stop in the town square hunting for a cafe. (Word to the wise: if you can stop and chill a couple times during a trip, do so. We ended up "hangry" by the time we finished our excursion that day.)
Our next stop was a museum I was REALLY looking forward to in the northwestern part of Zagorje, the Neanderthal Museum in Krapina. The discovery in 1899 and the subsequent six-year excavation was made by Dragutin Gorjanović-Kramberger who was a true anthropological heavyweight in Central Europe at the time. For some stupid reason, I took no pictures here so I'm going to reference the museum's excellent website. There were very few people here when we showed up, and for a while, we couldn't find anyone at the box office. The museum kicks off with a terrific dramatization film that is integrated into many of the exhibits. Heads up, though. This is not just about Gorjanović-Kramberger and the Neanderthals. It is also about evolution and the history of the planet. I wish my colleagues and I could bring our classes here, because it is comprehensive in so many ways: anthropology, archeology, earth science, paleontology, history, and museum curatorship!.... And that film really is terrific. The acting and make-up were terrific, providing us with a narrative that the exhibits referenced several times throughout.
From there we headed back toward Zagreb to the castle fortress Medvedgrad (bear city!) just to the north. It was built in the 13th century as a stalwart against the Mongol invasions. The trip by car up to the top made for some precarious driving, first through rich-folks suburbs and then suddenly along winding roads. This is also a major hiking area for Zagrebites (I have no idea what the English word is for a person from Zagreb).
We had no idea we could drive up to the top, so we parked a ways down from the castle. The path upward was all cobblestone. Once we got up there, we discovered we could have saved ourselves the hike that took a good 15-25 minutes, as there was a parking lot immediately at the entrance. But, dang, was it worth it, not just for the views but for the exhibits on the environment and the history of the region.
Keep in mind the temps are hovering in the mid-90s the whole time! After a while, we were delirious from thirst.
One really cute moment here: some parents were throwing a princess party here in the castle. We saw several of them starting to set it up while we were there. Little girls in tutu-princess outfits of various colors were everywhere. As we made our way down the cobblestones, we saw car after car (Mercedes after Mercedes) carrying 5-to-8-year-olds and their parents up to the top. The hosts must have had some money, since to rent out a space like that for a private party, had to have costed a fortune.
Our ride back down was uneventful until it came time to park the car in the courtyard. Somebody had parked in a way that made it impossible to get our car into place so I had to back up through the narrow stretch of the courtyard all the way to the street (Ilica) with Steven directing me through pedestrians and on-coming trams.
If you know me, you probably guessed I was losing my shit the whole time. Laughably, Google Maps had us driving around and around up the hill to Tuškanac (the rich folks part of town) and back down again even though the apartment was just 50 feet away. Eventually I had had it, and we ended up parking in a lot nearby for a couple hours just so we could chill out for a while. We made our way to an Italian place, me still pissed/shaken/traumatized by the parking nightmare. Steven got a bottle of wine at a wine store we had visited the first evening. I let him back into the apartment, while I finally reparked the car in our spot in the courtyard that had finally opened up after the workday had ended.
At least, we could relax.
Next post: Friday, July 1: Castles, castles everywhere!
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