Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Secret Zagreb Walks!

Secret Zagreb Walks is company that offers unusual guided tours through Zagreb.

If you like horror stories, ghost stories, witches, secret and ocult societies, killers, strange and weird customs... No? Oh, nevermind. You certainly love dragons, gryphons and other monsters. No? And what about 19th century? Do you want to know how citizens of Zagreb future would look like? How did Zagreb looked like in Victorian times? Crackpot inventors, genious and skillful artisans... Steampunk is not your cup of tea? Oh, you come to Zagreb in November, your favourite season is winter and book is A Christmas Carol by Dickens! Whatever you like of these things, you can find them in guided tours offered by Secret Zagreb Walks.

Today is Secret Zagreb Walks' second birthday and throughout this week they offer discounted coupon for private guided tours of Zagreb (1-4 persons). Birthday coupons are valid for a year - until the next birthday.

For more info you can contact Secret Zagreb Walks at this link.

I Will Wait by Two Cellos

Turn on HD and full screen. Enjoy.
Rivendell? No. Croatia. Plitvice Lakes.
CGI? No. Croatia. Plitvice Lakes.

The Seagull of Cavtat

You walk down the Cavtat boardwalk in the afternoon... As you reach the end of the boardwalk, sun closes to horizon. This is the best time of day for stroll around Rat peninsula. But can you make it to other side of the peninsula with sun still being above horizon? How long does that stroll take? Do you have time for a swim in sea by Kamen Mali? In order to provide you with the best answers to these (and maybe other) questions, I took the stroll around Rat.

Little stroll around Rat

The easy stroll takes about thirty minutes. I am sure that you noticed that detour near the top of peninsula. It looks as I made wrong turn and came back on right track... I am going to write about that later. But first things first. The title.

There is one special seagull on Rat. The seagull is allways by the path and goes nowhere. It spred wings as in flight and stands there. You have to be very careful in order not to miss it!

Some say that the seagull appeared by chance as stone was broken. Other say that it is carved in stone by someone. Whether coincidence or not, the nearby islands Mrkan, Bobara and Supetar is ornithological reserve where caspian gull nests. Under the photo I marked GPS position to help you find it.

42.58584605555556,18.21147138888889

Now, back to that detour I made.

On that spot there is a building from the first century which might be Roman villa. Archaeological investigations carried out from 1984. to 1987. revealed that the building was used until late antiquity. It seems that the archaeological site is slowly being forgotten after 1987 because now you can feel like a true Indiana Jones, while treading through tall grass and weeds as you search for the remains of the Roman villa. You just have to stride very carefully so as not to fall into old Roman cistern and hurt yourself.

Indiana Jones in Cavtat

I suggest you to slowly continue your stroll around peninsula until you come to Cavtat again. There are few more things to see on this small peninsula. But... Soon's going to be dark. I'm not a coward! Just.. Even the bravest one are more comfortable visiting that place during daylight! No, I'm not talking about cemetery. By the way, it's too late. 22:32. I am afraid even to mention it. I'll write about ut next time...

Wheelbarrows in Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik has rich and fascinating history. Throughout the centuries, Dubrovnik managed to preserve a certain degree of independence and freedom. This would not be possible if people of Dubrovnik weren't willing to accept new inventions, ideas, and to adapt to different situations. However, they had one weak point - a wheelbarrow.

Medieval Dubrovnik... The city-state slowly becomes more poweful, overland and maritime trade intensifies, the city itself is surrounded by high stone walls, and in front of it, the most advanced outer curtain, resistant to the newest technology in warfare - gunpowder, is being built... Stonecutters cut stones, masons put those stones together into walls, apprentices and other workers carry stones by bare hands and litters. No trace of wheelbarrows!

During the renaissance, Dubrovnik is at the peak of its economic and political power. Shakespeare is delighted by big ships from Dubrovnik (argosies), consulates and trade colonies are being established all over the world, merchants, craftsmen and adventurers are coming to Dubrovnik from everywhere, 6000 residents and countless foreigners throng streets, many languages can be heard, exciting news, discoveries and innovations are being shared... Villas are being built all over the Republic of Dubrovnik, and Revelin fortress is being upgraded. Again stonecutters cut stones, masons put those stones together, apprentices and other workers... They still carry stones by bare hands and litters?!

Old Revelin

In the rest of Europe, even in those least developed places, materials are transported by wheelbarrows, but in Dubrovnik, in the city in which double bookkeeping is invented, which built the first medieval sewage system, maritime insurance is governed by the law, cunning skilled diplomats and traders adapted during the time of great changes on the political and economic scene - people somehow avoid to use that miracle of technology called wheelbarrow.

Maybe we will never know the reason for resisting to use wheelbarrows. Maybe even Stjepan Gradić couldn't see why his countrymen refused to use wheelbarrows. After The Great Earthquake in 1667, Gradić dedicated himself to restoration of Dubrovnik so much that he was dubbed the father of the homeland and the reviver of the city and liberty. As assistance in the reconstruction of the city, among other things, Gradić sent to Dubrovnik residents wheelbarrows. We can only imagine the frustration of this highly educated man, who pleads his countrymen in letter to start to use those wheelbarrows he sent them.

Can you find two men hailing from the medieval Dubrovnik?