28 April 2006

Rainy Days Again

The weather turned gloomy and soggy the last few days here in Rijeka. My colleague Bess is visiting from Zagreb to give some lectures, which went well, to our department. It's too bad that it's rainy because we had planned to rent a car and explore Istria this weekend. But with the weather so unhelpful, Bess decided to return to Zagreb tonight instead. There is a folklore conference in Istria tomorrow too, and I had thought I should go to that. But it will depend on whether I can figure out how to get a bus there (I'm not sure of the name of the town), and if I have any energy. After over two weeks of nearly continuous travel, and then hosting Bess here, I find myself exhausted today. I feel like I need a few days to re-gather my energy and just relax. Otherwise, things are going well. My students continue to impress me with their English skills and their general intelligence and respectfulness.

As I was in Zagreb walking around the streets looking at the stately buildings and landscaped parks, and on my bus trips (to here and Verazdin), looking at all the little towns we passed and houses and gardens and businesses, I was struck again by something that has often struck me in the past about life in Europe. The general spirit of building any community here seems always to attend at least partly, and often largely, to aesthetics. The countryside here and elsewhere I've been in Europe is not necessarily very different and often quite similar to the landscape in the States. But where we seem to so often have an eye on profit in our development of towns, cities, and so on, here there is more attention to keeping it or making it beautiful. Everywhere there are lovely fences, stone used in architecture, clay tile roofs, public gardens, private gardens on public display, and so on. Of course all those things can be found in the U.S. But it seems to me it's not the norm. Just driving down the highways, you'll see as many or more powerlines, billboards, ugly buildings like huge gas stations, diners, shopping malls, and so on. Too many buildings don't seem to be built particularly with aesthetics in mind. Of course you can also find ugly, utilitarian buildings here, and there is often graffiti defacing buildings or walls and so on. But in general one of the main things that I think helps distinguish Europe from the U.S. is this more comprehensive and widespread attention to aesthetics in public and private artchitectural and landscaped spaces. So often here, you'll see little details on buildings or on streets or in gardens that serve little or no purpose, but are a decorative element. For instance, just today as Bess and I were waiting at a bus stop to visit the castle here (Trsat), she noticed that on an otherwise not terribly important building across the street, there were a series of human faces carved in stone all along the lintels toward the top of the building near the roof. And people seem to organize much of their time to enjoy these spaces, sitting in cafes, shopping in the open air market, visiting downtown most days. It makes life in Europe appealing.

26 April 2006

Zagreb days

I just got back from Zagreb last night, which means I've been traveling almost non-stop for over two weeks. And that's how much of the rest of my time here will go – a week here and a week gone. Mostly I’ll be giving lectures at other universities, but I also have a trip to Dubrovnik (where there is no English dept) in the works. Today my colleague Bess is coming from Zagreb to lecture here. So I'll be busy helping to host her. Then on the weekend I’m off to Istria, a pretty part of Croatia near here.

I'm watching CNN in the background and hear how high gas prices are there in the U.S. now. The world is really a scary place these days with the most powerful man on earth so out of touch. Cheney is apparently coming here – to Dubrovnik – which happily is quite far from here. But I think the embassy is all abuzz about it. I was there two days ago (the embassy). I finally met the people there who have coordinated my whole visit and work experience here. It was a trip going to the embassy, literally. It's way outside of town (near the airport) and is a kind of bunker, I guess. The security was really tight getting in. I had to wait almost ten minutes while they verified that I was meeting someone there, and then I had to get everything x-rayed and scrutinized, and they kept my camera while I was inside the building. But everyone who works there seems very nice. And it was interesting to see. They used to be in a beautiful location right downtown on one of the main parks, but three years ago they moved out to the cornfields. The French are apparently in our old building. Those French appreciate aesthetics.

Zagreb is quite an interesting and beautiful town, more so than I expected. There are lots of beautiful buildings, public squares, and parks. I visited quite a few museums too, the best of which were the ethnology museum, the archeology museum, and the naive art museum. And there are lots of beautiful churches too. It has a fairly small feel and seems easy to navigate, although there are 1,000,000 people there.

I taught a class on Native American literature at University of Zagreb on Thursday. The students were very sharp, asking some perceptive questions. Then I had dinner with my American counterpart in Zagreb and two Croatian colleagues in American studies. We had a nice dinner at a restaurant across from the old cathedral and talked about our cultures and politics, and so on for hours. It was the first dinner I’ve had with Croatians I think, and it was very nice. I wish for more such experiences.

I also took a day trip with my colleague Bess on Sunday to Verazdin, a town northeast of Zagreb with a castle and several palaces. It’s known as one of the loveliest Baroque towns in Europe. The churches and palaces are indeed very Baroque, and it is undeniably a lovely town with many beautiful buildings, the castle set in a park (you can walk around the whole place on the old hill that made the moat), and plenty of squares and parks. We had a great meal at an Italian type restaurant on a balcony overlooking a big park. Afterwards we walked (or rather waddled – it was a huge meal) to the cemetery, noted for its park-like design by a famous landscape architect here. It has very tall hedges (though with gaps between each bush), and the graves were raised and quite well tended, with walkways weaving maze-like through the whole place.

Monday evening in Zagreb the embassy people organized a Fulbrighter gathering at a bar in the center. It was fun to meet and compare notes. Almost all the other Fulbrighters this year (and most years) are in Zagreb. But a number of them were working or out of town this week. Still, those of us who went had a nice couple of hours. I ordered Guinness to drink, but this bar didn’t have it. The waitress suggested I try the Croatian dark beer that is like Guinness, so I did. It was good, though a little sweet, and I’m sorry I can’t remember what it’s called. Then three of us went on to dinner at a good little restaurant one of the student Fulbrighters knew about. It had some kind of Vietnamese influence, though the menu items were more or less standard Croatian fare. I ate pasta and salad that were very tastily prepared.

My last day there (yesterday) I met with the folklore institute, who were quite nice and buzzingly busy – something like 60 people work there. They gave me homemade apple juice and a few pastries and asked me to come back and give a talk in June or July. They also invited me to a conference on myth this weekend near here. But with my Istria plans I don't know if I'll be able to go. And they gave me a bunch of journals and articles about folklore in Croatia. I'm so glad I got to meet them. It's always a joy meeting with other folklorists, everywhere in the world. I hope I do get to go back. They seem to be doing a lot of good work, and I can’t wait to read these articles (I’ve been longing to have something to read about the folklore here).

I took the bus back yesterday afternoon after my meeting with the folklore institute (arrived here about 6 pm). So now I'm back “home” in my place in Rijeka, which feels good. Seeing the familiar streets, buildings, and river and sea was nice. I slept ten hours last night and still feel a bit tired. I'm here (except for Istria this weekend) for almost two weeks, then I'm off to Osijek (in the east – Slavonia), near the border with Serbia and one of the cities in Croatia most hurt by the war. They are quite keen on having me come, and I’m also interested to see this part of Croatia, though I heard at the embassy that they are plagued now by mosquitoes, because they’ve had so much rain and the river is flooded (as are rivers in much of this part of the world).

As I was wandering through the beautiful archeology museum yesterday morning in Zagreb, looking at various artifacts from the Paleolithic, Neolithic, Copper, Bronze and Iron ages from all over Croatia, including many grave sites, “hoards,” and artifacts from daily life (pottery, jewelry, cups, icons, etc.), it struck me how cool it is to be here in the land where my ancestors lived. I mean I have seen museums like this all over the world and have always enjoyed them and find a sense of wonder in connecting with the work of humans from the distant past where ever I am. But when I see these kinds of things here, I keep wondering if one of my ancestors helped make that old pot or bead, used a similar icon, or prayed in that church, etc. It's the first time in my life I've been in a place where I can experience that feeling of connection, however fanciful or imagined it is. I mean if you go back far enough, I guess we’re all related and so any place is the home of our ancestors. Plus, I don’t know how long my ancestors even lived here. There was always so much migration all around the world. But still, I’m enjoying my imagined connections to ancestors here and getting to learn about their life ways.

The more I get to see of Croatia, the more persuasively I can affirm what a beautiful and interesting country it is. Apparently this is the number one tourist destination for Americans this year, but I really think most Americans have no idea how lovely the place is, nor how appealing the culture is here. I feel very happy to be here and lucky to have this opportunity.

21 April 2006

From Zagreb

I came to Zagreb yesterday to teach a class and meet next Tuesday with the folklore institute here. In the meantime I have time to explore the city. So far the weather has been ideal, sunny and not too hot. Flowers are blooming, birds are singing, and it's full on spring here. Zagreb is the capital of Croatia, and is a very manageable and lovely city. Lots of grand architecture, public squares, gardens, museums, and shops. People jam the cafes everywhere I've been, and many cafes there are.

Yesterday I visited the cathedral, which is under some renovation, and was mostly rebuilt during the 19th century after an earthquake hit the area. It's very beautiful in its neo-gothic design. I also wandered many streets before teaching a class, where the students were very smart, asking excellent questions.

Then today I have so far visited two nice museums, the ethnography museum, mostly with traditional costumes, and some furniture and textiles, and a private collection donated to the state that is now in an old high school. It's very large and eclectic as private collections go, with everything from prehistoric art (from cave art in Europe to Egyptian, Roman, Etruscan and Greek, etc.) to Chinese pottery, Persian rugs, European paintings, medieval icons, and ancient Italian and Egyptian glass. So it was a good morning.

I had lunch at a Mexican restaurant, first one I've seen since I left the States. It's not the best Mexican food I've ever had, but it was decent.

18 April 2006

Images from Hvar Town on Hvar Island (fortress; me and Mariellyn)


Diocletian's Palace, Split



Visit to Split

I spent the last week in Split, down south from here on the Dalmatian coast. I took the ferry there last Monday night. It was the first time I've been on a ship since my semester at sea voyage -- see that report at my website: https://faculty.gcsu.edu/custom-website/mary-magoulick/
I went to Split with my colleague Mariellyn to teach some classes for another colleague there in the English department. We were met Tuesday early morning at the dock by our colleague Tania and immediately set off for the law school, where Mariellyn taught. After a few hours there, we raced across town to the faculty of philosophy, where the English dept is housed. I taught three classes there that day, and three again the next day. I also met many members of the English department, including a senior scholar Fulbrighter who has been in Croatia several times previously and whom I had heard much about over the years, since I read his reports and I taught for a year at his university back in the States (Radford University). We all had lunch together that day at a vegetarian restaurant and the very congenial Myrl Jones (the prof from Radford) gave us a little introductory tour of Diocletian’s palace.

Diocletian’s palace is the main attraction in Split. Diocletian (245-312 CE) was emperor of Rome but originally was from Croatia, near what became Split, which was all part of Rome at the time. He started with humble roots but rose through the infantry to the highest position and eventually declared himself a god. But he had no happy end; rather he is believed to have killed himself when his daughter was taken prisoner (based on something to do with the way he split (!) up the empire to be ruled by four people and then retired to this palace). In any case, he built his retirement palace in Split, on the sea near the Roman town of Solanas (now Solin -- just a few kilometers away). I was able to visit those ruins too.

The palace originally was a huge walled fortress (or city) including soldiers barracks, courtyards, temples, his tomb, and living quarters, all of which eventually became the center of Split. When I first saw the “palace,” which I had seen images of showing the layout in Roman times, I did not fully comprehend that what I was seeing is what’s left of the palace. Many of the outer walls and the original gates are still there, as well as the “peristyle” (middle picture above) a central courtyard area that is the main place today where people consider themselves to be in the old palace. It’s a tourist hot spot and kind of a main square, with columns, steps, an Egyptian sphinx, and entries into the cathedral (transformed from Diocletian’s octagonal tomb in the Middle Ages). There are also some basement rooms (recently excavated) that one can visit to get a sense of the original layout of Diocletian’s apartments, and there are some other interesting spaces like a domed area with an open circle in the roof (bottom picture above) and a former temple of Jupiter since transformed into a baptistery. But the bulk of the space where Diocletian lived is now completely transformed and unrecognizable as what it once was. It’s all been subsumed by the rest of the city. So in Diocletian’s apartment are crowded many more modern apartment buildings (though often using the old materials).

The whole palace area is a maze of tiny streets, surprising squares, and a mishmash of apartments, cafés, businesses, tourist shops, and so on. My guide book says this was for much of the last 50 years a kind of ghetto area of Split, the hang-out of prostitutes, drug addicts, and the poor. Nonetheless there seems to have been some recent renovations and changes, and although it’s now very touristy, it’s nonetheless a very beautiful and interesting place. I walked through the peristyle and ancient streets pretty much every time I went into town or to the faculty, so it became a familiar, but nonetheless thrilling sight.

Inside the cathedral is quite lovely, with it’s roundish shape from the original octagonal tomb. There are still a few carvings near the domed ceiling of Diocletian and his wife, and other scenes from Roman mythology, but mostly the original symbols were removed and replaced with Christian ones. There is a beautifully carved pulpit, a large, ornate choir behind the altar, and little side chapels, plus some nice, huge carved doors with biblical scenes. There’s also a tower just outside the cathedral that was added in medieval times and well, towers above the whole palace. The tower is a landmark you can see from the sea and many parts of town (top picture above).

There were many other interesting things to see in Split, the second largest city in Croatia. It’s such an attraction that there were tons of tourists from all over the world. I heard more American English spoken there than I have since I got to Croatia. Perhaps the most interesting and lovely day I had was when I visited the archeological museum, on the sea. It turns out there are actually two archeological museums, which is why I got completely conflicting and confusing directions about how to find it. But eventually I found one of them and enjoyed the exhibits on an excavation of part of the palace and artifacts from a medieval church from a nearby small village. There was also an interesting statue of a woman in a meditative pose. I asked the woman who worked there when it was from, and she told me it was the work of Ivan Mestrović, the most famous Croatian sculptor (from the early 20th century). She told me his museum was just down the street and that I should go see it. So I walked down this road along the sea on a beautiful, sunny spring day to his museum. The museum turned out to be in a beautiful old villa overlooking the sea where Mestrović planned to live (but instead fled to Zagreb during the Italian occupation in 1941). Nonetheless it’s an incredibly beautiful place, now full of his sculptures. My favorite part was the dining room, with a fireplace he designed with amazing sculptures, and medieval style chairs and tables. Plus the balcony running the length of the second floor gave amazing views of the sea and the beautifully landscaped grounds (also holding some of his work).

From there I was directed to also try to see the chapel Mestrović designed that is in a little kastellet just down the road, so I continued wandering along the sea, which was very lovely in this area and has many luxurious villas lining it. I found the chapel and really enjoyed the space. Mestrović carved wooden panels that line all the walls showing the entire life story of Jesus, and he sculpted the crucifix and altar as well. The little castle itself was also nice to see, with incredibly beautiful views of the sea. I sat in a window (with a wide ledge) there for almost an hour, just soaking up the sea air and the whole atmosphere, spring flowers, turquoise sea, waves crashing, and almost no other tourists around (I saw one couple the whole time I was there). It was a sublimely beautiful and inspiring morning all in all.

From there, I walked back into town, about a 45 minute walk all along the sea. I went from virtual isolation to eventually incredibly thick crowds (of mostly Croatians) as I got to the seafront area near the central harbor. This central seaside promenade was cheek to jowl with people parading on a sunny day, sitting at the numerous cafés, and just hanging out. It was Easter Saturday, so perhaps it’s the thing to do in Croatia to be seen that day on a public square or the waterfront.

I also took a couple of day trips from Split, once to Hvar, an island nearby called “the jewel in crown” of Croatian islands. No doubt it is very pretty, with an interesting medieval old town area, a monastery, a lovely seafront, and hills that tower above it all. The island is known for lavender, rosemary, olive oil, figs and so on. There is a fortress that rises above Hvar town, where we hiked up to get amazing views of the sea and nearby islands (see pictures in Hvar entry above). We also met another English language fellow, Annie, who lives on Hvar. After we toured Hvar town, she drove us to her house in a little village near Stari Grad (another town on the island near the ferry). Her house is an old traditional farmhouse that she is slowly renovating. It’s in a charming location, and she has a lot of good ideas for how to use it. It’s got one main room to which she has added a loft. There is also a kitchen, then a kind of outdoor courtyard with other attached rooms, including a summer kitchen, the old outhouse, a modern bathroom she’s put in, a barn, and some basement areas, and also a little garden area. The whole complex is maybe 800 sqaure feet (I'm totally guessing at that). It’s really nothing like houses we know or that I’ve seen elsewhere, but I suppose it’s a fairly common style for this area. Imagining a whole family living there is kind of hard, since presumably they would all have slept in that one main room, and crowded their animals and gardening and all their living into that space. But I guess all our ancestors were used to much more communal living than most of us are. For Annie it’s a good space, I think, with lots of opportunity for her to keep transforming it to her vision. It’s already got all the character and a lot of lovely details. Her neighbors bring her wine, herbal tea, honey, and other local goods.

In Split, we stayed in a student dorm (but nicer rooms set aside for faculty and visitors therein) about 20 minutes walk to town. It was nice to get an idea of how Croatian students live. When I first got to Split I wished I had been placed there (it was the city/university that I requested on my original Fulbright application). But after a week there I realized that the tourists might get on my nerves. Although Split is in many ways very beautiful, I am happy to be in Rijeka, maybe just because it already feels more like “home.” I took the ferry back here the evening of Easter Sunday, after a quiet day I spent by myself wandering the old town one last time. It was an overnight ferry trip back, about a 12 hour trip from Split to Rijeka (faster by car). I met people on the ferry who’d all been to Dubrovnik as well, and they all raved about it as being even more beautiful than Split, one of the most beautiful places they’ve seen, so that’s something to look forward to.

09 April 2006

Visit to Krk Island



Yesterday (Saturday), the English Language Fellow, Mariellyn, and I took a little excursion to the nearby island of Krk (pronounced “Kirk,” with a slightly rolled “r”). According to reading I did back in the States, there is some thought that this might be the island where Ulysses / Odysseus was stranded, what we call “Circe” (though in Greek it was pronounced with a hard C or K sound, hence the spelling). In any case, it’s a very beautiful island with a very long history, from prehistoric traces, to a strong Roman presence (when Croatia was known as Illyria), to more recent Italian influence. There is a bridge from the mainland just south east of here (Rijeka) to the island, so it is easily accessible. We took the bus, which was very comfortable, though they played this cheesy radio station (all old songs in English, none of which I’d ever heard before) rather loud the whole way. The island, like the mainland nearby, is hilly and rocky. There are many little villages and towns, several of which our bus stopped at before arriving at Krk town, our destination.

Krk town includes the old town, which is a medieval walled city that is very beautiful. We wandered along the harbor, with many tulips and spring flowers just blooming, and lovely views of the sea and mountains of the mainland beyond as views, as well as the walls and towers of the city. We entered the old town through the “south gate” that is near the water and almost immediately stumbled upon the beautiful cathedral. There were children gathering in the St. Quirinus church just across a walkway from the cathedral, and eventually they started singing, perhaps practicing for an Easter concert. The old town is full of narrow, twisting, hilly, cobblestone streets that wind between the buildings. As we wandered all around this labyrinth of streets, we came upon a bakery exuding a marvelous smell. So we stopped and bought pastries. Mariellyn got a chocolate croissant, and I chose a local specialty, croissant dough filled with a sweet ground nut mixture that was heavenly. It was still warm and had a light dusting of powdered sugar on it. We wandered to a nearby park and there enjoyed these pastries in front of an incredible view of the sea and the old castle. The water from this vantage point appeared various colors at once, from a clear, deep green to an amazing aqua blue. There were boats tied up, picturesque houses in the background, and a stone wall before us. We sat under a big old tree on a park bench, while pigeons flew abruptly from the cat stalking them. I saw quite a few cats on that island, mostly lazing around soaking up the sun on the city walls, hunting birds, or begging tourists for tidbits.

What we could see of the outer walls of the castle was picturesque, but the castle itself (or what's left of it) was closed, like the museums and cathedral (though you could look through glass inside the cathedral to see most of what's inside). There was an area near the castle wall that was open and allowed us to walk over boulders to get quite close to the sea. The water was very clear; in fact we saw a bicycle that had fallen in near the steps.

We wandered the charming old town streets for a few hours, at one point coming upon the Franciscan monastery that my guide book said is closed to the public. But the monks and nuns kind of waved us through and didn’t seem to mind that the two of us entered. So in fact we saw inside the courtyard, two churches (or chapels), and even their vineyard/garden area, all of which were very lovely. One old man tried to talk to us, but he spoke Italian and German, which neither of us spoke. We told him the garden and whole monastery were "bellisimo" and he agreed, smiling and nodding. There are also some ruins of old Roman walls visible from the monastery. We think we picked them out, but weren’t sure (since there are many walls made of stones all around the island, many of them crumbling).

We had lunch at a restaurant with a huge open air seating area right on the water and under some trees. I had a delicious pizza and salad and Mariellyn had lasagna. It was a sunny day, though still a bit cool. There was good opportunity for people watching, although since it’s not yet summer, the tourist season is not in high gear. This was overall good news for us, because the town was not too crowded, nor were any of the cafes. On the other hand, there were plenty of people there, many apparently tourists. We heard a lot of German spoken, but also a lot of Croatian. Only once did I pick out other Americans, some young women who came and sat at a table next to ours as we were finishing lunch. The two Americans appeared to be with two Croatian women their age who spoke excellent English. I imagined they were students here (the Americans) with some friends, but who knows. I think many Croatians come to enjoy the island as well as foreign tourists. In summer there are scuba diving and sailing opportunities, along with boat tours around the island. It is a beautiful place, and from what I’ve heard, not even the best of the many islands around here. But I’m glad I finally got out and saw at least one of them.

07 April 2006

Visit to Opatija


Things are going well here in Rijeka, though yesterday we had a blast of the bura (the cold wind from the Northwest that comes off the Adriatic), making it feel like winter again. Plus it was rainy. This was the first day when I saw people’s umbrellas getting blown out of shape. But it’s supposed to be nice again today and for the weekend.

A few days ago I went to Opatija for the first time. It’s the resort town just Northwest of us on the same stretch of the sea. You can actually walk along the “beach” in Opatija (unlike here in Rijeka where it’s all industrial port). You can walk for hours, all the way to towns (like Lovran) further along the beach. They do call it a beach, though mostly it seems to be concrete slabs, plus a developed walkway, with cafes and tourists shops interspersed at points. The whole town is also full of grand Austro-Hungarian architecture, from when this was the resort area for the Hapsburgs. Lots of lovely “villas” crowd the whole town, many of them now hotels (plus other big built up hotels) and casinos, restaurants, and all kind of tourist stores. It’s a long-standing resort town, and many elderly Austrians still come regularly. I heard more German spoken while I was there than I have since I got to Croatia. The day I was there (Wednesday) was overcast and a bit cool, but I was determined to finally get there after weeks of putting it off for one reason or another. It’s a half hour bus ride from Rijeka, which only takes that long because of frequent stops all along the way, and it costs only $2. It was not especially comfortable on the bus, however, as it was jam packed and went around a few sharp curves. I was standing the whole way. In fact this woman I met at the bus stop sort of latched onto me when she realized I spoke English (she asked me at the bus stop which bus had just left), and kept up a non-stop stream of talking to me the whole way. She was a bit pushy in her friendliness. She gave me her name and number and told me that if I didn’t call her, she would “find me.” It felt a bit like a threat!

Anyway, the English Language Fellow who lives here in Rijeka when she’s not traveling around the country working at all the law faculties, met me