Cindy was up and out at the crack of pre-dawn and she graciously allowed me to sleep in since my chest cold has gotten worse and not better. I’m departing for DC tomorrow and don’t want to be all congested and coughing on the eleven hour flight. I woke up at about 8:15 to the sound of the door opening and someone saying something. I had a coughing fit as I sat up and then heard the door close. Later this morning one of the Green Guys came by and said, well I think he said, he had seen the door open and knew Cindy was gone and wanted to check to make sure everything was okay. These Green Guys are Great.
It was far too late for us to go out to dinner last night so I found some leftover pasta sauce that I had made for Cindy to use on my last trip. I doctored it up with stuff around the house and we had a lovely pasta repast with a glass of wine and then headed right for bed. Poor Cindy must be exhausted at this point.
On Saturday afternoon, Cindy’s meetings ended at two and they had arranged a city tour for the participants of the conference. They swung by and picked me up and we headed for the old Mirogoj Cemetery. This place is a gem, with some of the most beautiful buildings of classic design I’ve seen anywhere. We walked around for a while enjoying the informative talk that our guide presented as much as we were enjoying the beautiful day. Here is a link to the best bits:
We toured the rest of the city for another few hours and our lovely guide, Doris, filled in lots of gaps for me. While I had walked the entire city, she had all the historical background and odd and interesting tidbits that really made the city even more enjoyable for me. She also had lots of funny stories about other tour groups that she guides around the city. She said the Japanese will do exactly what you tell them to do and will not move until told to move, whereas the Thais will get off the tour bus and disappear. I had seen some interesting cross-cultural antics at noon while watching the Changing of the Guard. There was a group of older Japanese women who were down the hill where the horses were gathered before the start of the ceremony. They were taking a million photos and videos and as the horses started up the hill, passing the women, they began to run after them taking photos.
Now I’m not much of a horseman, but when I lived in Winona I would go on trail rides with Lynn Nankivil who had lots of horses on the farm. The one thing I remember being told is that you never come up behind a horse since they get quite nervous. No one had told the Japanese women this and they came running up right behind the last horse who swayed to the left, knocking the two women right off their feet and into the crowd. Not to be discouraged by this temporary setback, they got right up, grabbed their cameras and started heading for the horses again. Fortunately one of the policemen who had witnessed this stopped them from getting anywhere near the procession.
The night before we had been taken to the marvelous brewery owned Medvedgrad Beer Hall. The beer here is simply delicious, very much like a Munich beer - light, refreshing and the last sip is as delightful as the first. The food was typical beer hall offering, good quality and plentiful. They even had some wine for Cindy. Here is a link to them:
Saturday night was the farewell dinner for the IT group and I was once again graciously invited to attend. Our host, Neven, had arranged for us to go to a typical Zagreb restaurant for traditional food and beverages. We walked over to the base of a big hill and then went up 166 steps to get to this little gem of a restaurant. We walked in and the owner, a man in his eighties and dressed to the nines, greeted us and escorted us to the big table that was to be ours for the evening. The smells were already beginning to drive me nuts since we were very close to the kitchen. Neven had done all of the ordering beforehand so that our only decision was what to drink. First came the slivovitz, that fiery plum brandy which did much to awaken our senses and increase our appetites.
“If there is one product that typifies Zagreb, then it is štrukli – dough, rolled and prepared in a specific way and filled with cream and cheese. Here we talk about its age-old tradition, and ways of preparation. The humble but precious štrukli has seen proud Croats fight its corner with the Eurocrats in Brussels. The Ministry of Culture had to proclaim this traditional dish of rolled dough, fresh cow’s cheese, eggs and cream a cultural icon.” From a Zagreb guide to local food.
 |
| This would be worth the trip! |
We all treated it with reverence and dispatched it quickly. It was simply divine and if the meal had ended there, I would have been completely happy, but of course it did not. Out came liters of wine, beer and water followed by platters of food, served family style. There were a baker’s dozen of us and there was enough food for twice that number.
Two outstanding soups started the next course - a rich cream based mushroom soup that was filled with a variety of fresh mushrooms from that day’s market, and a clear beef soup with thin pasta and veggies. The fragrance of these soups was only matched by their earthy flavors and textures. Before the main dishes came out, great big plates of pickled cabbage, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, greens and shredded carrots were brought to the table. I was told that you eat the salad with the meal to cut the heavy meats. Boy, was that an understatement!
First came Pasticada, a stewed beef dish originally from Dalmatia (and sometimes referred to as "Dalmatinska pasticada"). It was served with gnocchi (dumplings) that absorbed the magnificent juices. There were hints of honey, cinnamon, orange, nutmeg, bay leaf and wine and it went fast.
Next came oven-roasted veal shank that was presented on a huge tray with heavenly potatoes and root veggies. The meat was falling off the bone and the skin was crisp and delicious. Finally, even though we didn’t really need any more food, out came the roasted duck served with a kind of flat pasta that had been pan fried and browned in duck fat.
 |
| Duck Delight |
My goodness, one bite of this and I felt like I was in a deep forest in front of a roaring fire; it was a dish to be cherished.
When we all thought we might explode, out came two strudels, one a sour cherry and the other apple. No one was eating to be polite anymore. We were digging in like there was no tomorrow and enjoying every savory mouthful. I now understood why we had such an early reservation. We needed four hours to eat this feast and no one left early!! Thank goodness we had fine weather so that we could walk home the long way and start to digest this lovely dinner.
 |
| Apple Strudel |
 |
| Sour Cherry Strudel |
I filled my day today with multiple loads of laundry and then doing the food shopping for Cindy. I must say that I really noticed how cold and distant Muscovites are, especially when compared to the good folks of Zagreb. The first thing that Cindy noticed when we were in the markets in Zagreb was how friendly everyone was. The ladies in the pickled cabbage section of the market must have been the friendliest with huge grins and genuine warmth; they each greeted us like long lost friends. The other thing I noticed today was that I didn’t hear one car horn blaring the entire time I was in Zagreb. Today on my short walk to the market I heard dozens and saw two accidents, again something I had not noticed in Zagreb.
I’ll most likely not be writing much in Charles Town so perhaps you’ll get to hear more about what Cindy is experiencing during my week in the States. Best wishes, Cindy and Wm
No comments:
Post a Comment