nds and Family!Tomorrow the conference moves to Split, Croatia, so Dave and I started the day determined to really enjoy being in Zagreb. Our first adventure began with breakfast. I forgot to mention breakfast in yesterday's blog entry, but a Croatian "continental" breakfast is simply astounding. Even here at the Best Western, the breakfast buffet is a wonder to behold. We have never, ever seen such a variety of foods offered for general consumption at 6:30 a.m. in the morning. For example, consider an approximate snippet of our breakfast conversation:
M - Are those french toast sticks?
D - I'm not sure.
M - Is there some type of filling in there?
D - Yes.
M - What is it?
D - I have no idea.
M - (tries a bite) Oh. It's filled with fish.
D - I'm not sure I'm enjoying this breakfast.
Croatians apparently eat at least one complete meal for breakfast. A typical morning spread here includes: hot dogs, sausage, hamburger, mushrooms, american pancakes, scrambled eggs, roasted eggplant, pate, several types of yogurt, several types of granola, caprese salad, fresh cottage cheese, assortment of dried fruits and nuts, assortment of canned fruit, tea, champagne, coffee, and a full spread of desserts. There are also about 20 different types of meats/breads/spreads. All for breakfast. No wonder most Croatians only eat two meals.
Today, on our second attempt at breakfast, we had figured out what some of the best breakfast choices are and stuck to those.
After breakfast,we went on a conference tour of musical sights around Croatia and then attended a lecture on 10 centuries of Croatian music. It was very interesting, in part because the history of Croatia is fascinating. This blog would go on for a long time if I tried to retell it all, but it is definitely worth investigating. Following the lecture, we had a group lunch at a local restaurant. We had some type of egg and cheese appetizer, followed by a 1/4 of a turkey over klugel. For dessert we had a poppy seed and fruit bar. It was very unique.
On our way back for the next lecture, we stopped in Zagreb's farm market, which boasts the most amazing variety of fruits and cheese. Fruit, and food in general, is extremely inexpensive here, even in the capital city. We got some fresh raspberries and shared them.
After an interesting lecture on music theory pedagogy, we had the afternoon to explore Zagreb. We decided to walk th
rough the old town area. To get to the old town, you can either walk up a small hill or you can take the "world's shortest" funicular. We decided to take the funicular just because we wanted to experience the world's shortest one, and because it was rather inexpensive (about 80 cents per person...and it is in the background of the picture on the left). In old town, we visited several churches. Croatia is predominately Catholic, and although it seems that it has been that way for a long time, many of the church buildings are more recent due to devastating fires, wars, and earthquakes of the past. There is a beautiful shrine at the east stone gate. The stone gate dates from the mid 1200's, and at some point in history there was a tragic fire that burned down many homes and consequently destroyed much of the gate. However, a picture painted on the wall of Mary and Jesus was miraculously left unscathed, and is one of the most sacred spots in Zagreb. The sincere devotion of the people praying there was quite moving.
After our time in the old town, we found a place to try two traditional Croatian dishes: Gulash (stew with meat and potatoes) and Strukli (fresh cheese placed in dough pockets and then boiled). Even with dessert, beverages and tip, our check still came to less than 18 dollars.
The last event of the day was the composers concert, and we were treated to two hour concert of new music by composers from various countries. The music was incredible! I think Dave's music would be ideal for one of the concerts, and I hope he had that opportunity in the future.
Tomorrow we leave at 8 am for Split, Croatia. Along the way we will be stopping in beautiful Plitvice National Park. We might not get a chance to blog tomorrow, so we'll fill you in on our adventures on Saturday!
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