Zagreb Family Dinner, Zoo, & Maksimir

(Saturday, June 19th 2010) Our first full day back in Zagreb! We watched more & more World Cup & began packing.

After our beautiful, sunny trip to Plitvička Jezera, Ujo Dado noticed that I needed a lens hood for my Canon XTi so he bought me one, Canon ET-60! It allows me to protect my photos from stray light & he gave it to me just in time to use in the gorgeous (and “glarey”/reflective) Dubrovnik.

I bought two pairs of Italian leather shoes on sale in Croatia, Freemood & Filanto.

Every meal in Croatia was satisfyingly delicious except… no no, they were all good! The wonderful chefs Ujo Dado i Ujina Lilit prepared us juha od piletine (chicken soup), pečeni krumpir (baked potatoes), Schweppes Bitter Lemon (mmmm tasty), entrecôte (premium cuts of beef).

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Hajduk vs. Villarreal

As if hiking up & down Mt. Medvednica to Medvedgrad and around downtown wasn’t enough on Saturday, my dad & Idecided to check out the nogomet (soccer) match currently in progress not far from our stan.

A European young league nogomet tournament (Croatia, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Netherlands, Ukraine) was being held all weekend long on the practice field beside the massive Maksimir Stadium, where Zagreb’s nogomet team DINAMO plays & where bands like U2 have appeared in concert.

[The] Mladen Ramljak Memorial Tournament is held in memory of Dinamo ex-junior and Premier League player who won the greatest trophy in the history of the club – the Uefa Cup in 1967. Immediately after football career he tragically died in car accident in 1978, aged only 34. Only players born on January 1, 1992 or younger [were able to] participate in the tournament. (via NK Dinamo)

The utakmica (game) currently in progress was Hajduk (white, from Split, Croatia) vs. Villarreal (yellow, from Spain) and the score was still 0-0.

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Maksimir Park

We went walking in Maksimir Park, the city’s largest park just east of centar. It covers 1 sq. mile & is considered one of Croatia’s living monuments. The park is landscaped in the English style with wide lawns, flower beds, woods, & 5 lakes. Zagreb’s Zoološki vrt (zoo) is located in the park as well & on unfortunate days you can smell the animals at our apartment across the street :-D.

Check out a couple of more shots of Maksimir Park on Flickr.