Saturday, June 18, 2011

Exploring Varazdin

Ante took us to Varazdin so that we could have a look at a traditional northern Croatian town.  This is a typical Varazdin city street.







This is the Bell Tower of St. John the Baptist in Tomislav Square.  It was built in 1650.


This is the Town Hall Building in Tomislav Square.  It is the oldest building in Varazdin.



This is the College of IT.  It is on Tomislav Square.  The colleges specialized in a given field.


Shops on Tomislav Square.



Church of the Holy Trinity


We ate lunch at a local pizza place.


As you can see from this picture, the town was very quiet while we were there.  It is because it is after lunch and everyone is home taking a nap.




This is the Varazdin Castle.  It was built by the Zrinskis in the 1500's.





This was once a mote around the castle.  It has been filled in and it now is grass and flowers.


This is the building that holds the draw bridge to the castle.

The draw bridge.

This is the country side between Varazdin and Zagreb.  There are no large farms in Croatia because the parents give their children parcels of land.  Each family seems to make good use of the land.  Every piece of land is planted with something.  It looks like everyone grows corn.  It is beautiful country.  This area is hilly and full of trees.







These pictures were taken as we were closer to Zagreb and as we entered the city. You can see the ugly buildings that were built in the 70's during the Communist Rule.  This is something Croatians are not proud of.