art by night

During the the Long Night of the Museums in Zagreb, we followed a crowd of people on the street into a building which housed a wonderfully odd collection of contemporary art. Some of it was quite cool (I really, really like the ones posted above and below), but mostly I found photographing the viewers much more interesting than photographing the pieces themselves.



Regrettably, I did not get the names of the artists or the name of the museum— if anyone knows or has any ideas, please let me know!

exoskeleton

The insect collection at the Hrvatski prirodoslovni muzej, Zagreb's natural history museum.

sausage

As I have mentioned several times in the past, when visiting a non-Muslim country, I get a little pork-crazy. The first night we were in Zagreb, we headed out to look for some of that other white meat, and found a nice little restaurant hidden in an alley. I have no idea where it was or what it was called, but they brewed their own beer and had a mean sausage. The beer was fantastic, and I wish I had remembered where the place was so we could have gone back.

I was delighted to discover that Zagreb is a city that offers sausages from stands on the street— one of the best things to keep that stomach silent when you are wandering about town. Really, what's better than a delicious sausage shoved into a cylindrical bread filled with mustard? You can also accompany this yummy treat with some hot spiced wine, which is a wonderful thing in winter.

cathedral

Zagreb's Cathedral of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a great example of Gothic architecture. The first structure was completed in 1217, but underwent several reconstructions (due to a Tatar invasion and an earthquake) and additions before it became the beauty we see today. Some of the fortifications that were built to keep the Ottomans at bay still stand, as you can see in the stone tower below:



The detail above the entrance is simply exquisite, and had it not been for the freezing, damp February weather, I would have been tempted to sketch some of it— though lately it seems it takes a lot for me to get out a pencil and sketchbook. I'm not allowing myself a new book until I finish the one I have completely.

on the walls

adorn

Some of the loveliest items on display at the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb are the most personal— jewellery. There is a fine array of prehistoric pendants, earrings, and pins from the Bronze and Iron Ages, as well as pretty pieces from Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. This is only a tiny taste of what hangs in the museum's glass cases.



Time colours hand-twisted wire and hammered abstract designs with a patina in every shade of green. Lichen, moss, fir, kelp... I wonder about the artists who created these pieces, but I must admit I'm more curious about the people who wore them with pride. As a person who loves to accessorize and appreciates every silver ring she has, I am intimate with the feeling that arises when you pull that special pin out of the old jewellery box and hold it in your hands, eyeing its details and curves— if it was a gift, then you are transported to its giver, which is particularly wonderful.

So who did these belong to, and in what context were these pieces worn? Were they gifts? Mere status symbols? Were they loved?

a museum to sketch

The first museum we visited was the Arheološki Muzej u Zagreb, one of the finest archaeological museums I have ever visited. The building was unassuming, but the displays, from lighting to the colour of the walls, were stunning. There was something for everyone: Neolithic figurines, Ancient Greek and Roman artifacts, Ancient Egyptian canopic jars, and a mysterious Etruscan mummy. If I had all weekend to spend in the museum alone, I'd try and sketch the whole collection.



As we entered the Egyptian Collection, a television crew of three came out from around a sarcophagus with a camera pointed in our direction. The museum had seemed empty until this point, and we must have looked like two deer caught in headlights, but the pretty lady with the microphone was reassuring, and politely asked if we would like to be interviewed for Croatian TV.

This is how we learned about Noć muzeja, or the Long Night of the Museums.



I have to follow this up with a second post, because that's how much I love this museum. If you're a jewellery enthusiast, get ready. Zagreb's Arheološki Muzej has a wonderful collection of ancient adornment.

the luck of the unplanned

I was really lucky to have been given the opportunity to attend a workshop in Zagreb last weekend, and due to the timings of available flights, I had a good chunk of time to explore the city. Being that it was also my birthday, Pedro came along— searching for Zagreb's feathered residents while I learned about Service Learning.



Everything was so... clean. The streets were litter-free, public spaces well-kept, people looked put together, there was an absence of traffic, no one was screaming... it was wonderful. Granted I was a tourist, and only seeing it in a frozen February when most people were huddling indoors, but it really seemed to be a peaceful and orderly city. The architecture was beautiful and there were cafés everywhere, and there appeared to be a museum for everything (including one for broken relationships— but we'll get to that later). I was enchanted.



While in Zagreb, we packed in as many museum visits as possible— and were fortunate to have arrived in time for Croatia's ninth annual Night of the Museums, when nearly all museums in the country are free from six in the evening until one in the morning. Having researched and planned nothing before setting foot off the plane, everything seemed fortuitous; we had no idea what to expect and were in a constant state of happy surprise. Sometimes, this might just be one of the best ways to travel!



Museum lovers, get ready for some photos!

zagreb

thirty-five

Zdravo from Zagreb!