A journey from South Of Asia to South of Europe- Exploring Zagreb (Farzana Ibrar)
Everyone has a dream place to visit once in a lifetime, so did I. Since my childhood I had always dreamt of travelling to Europe. This dream of mine finally came true in the month of December 2021, when I got selected for an Overseas Student Exchange Programme conducted by my university. By the month of February 2022, I got to know that I had been placed at the University of Zagreb, Croatia which is located in the Southern part of Europe.
Home to some of the world’s most visited attractions and incredible feats of nature and humanity, Croatia is one fascinating country. Zagreb, the capital of Croatia ranks among the oldest cities in Europe. “An old City with a young soul”– that’s what they call Zagreb. On 1st April 2022, I started this beautiful journey with my team members. At around 2.30 am next day we boarded our flight from Kolkata International airport to Zagreb. We had a halt of around one hour at Doha, Qatar before boarding the connecting flight to Zagreb. We had sleepy eyes and tired faces from the long journey but everything turned worth when we witnessed the beautiful sight from the sky. From the skyscrapers to the ceaseless deserts in Middle East Asia to snow covered mountains to green pastures to the coastlines of Europe all of them shared one thing in common–stunning beauty!
The Croatian capital, Zagreb is young and playful at heart, despite the almost thousand year-old history of the town. The city is developed between the mountains of Medvednica and the river Sava. Novi Zagreb (“New Zagreb”), the part of the City of Zagreb located at the south of the Sava river is where we stayed during our internship period. This is the part of Zagreb that was built after World War II. The next day when we reached Zagreb, the first thing we did was OIB registration. OIB stands for “osobni identifikacijski broj”, meaning personal identification number. It is similar to Adhar number in our country and it is mandatory for the individuals to get it registered if they visit Croatia for work purpose.
University of Zagreb, the university where our team was placed, happens to be the oldest and biggest university in South-Eastern Europe. It contributes nearly 50 percent of the annual research output in Croatia and 80 percent of Scientific productivity of all Croatian universities. On the very first day or orientation day, to be precise, we all received a very warm welcome from the faculty members. They made a very sweet gesture by preparing Indian food for us along with their Croatian cuisine. A table set up with food from India and Croatia – a perfect example of Cultural Unity between two countries through food. The warm welcome we received everywhere we went made us realise that people of this country too believe in the concept of “Atithi Devo Bhava”.
People love Zagreb for being green and close to nature as well as for being a metropolitan city full of opportunities. The historic centre nestles among hilly meandering streets that blend in with the surrounding greenery. There is a fusion of Central European and Mediterranean lifestyles in Zagreb. Zagreb’s longest street Ilica starts at Ban Jelacic Square with an impressive high rising building built in 1959 known as “Ilica skyscraper” or “The skyscraper on the square”. The view from the top of the building almost covers the entire city. Countless histories and memories are woven into Zagreb’s main square. It is the most popular gathering place and this is the place where we find majority of the tourists visiting the place. The famous statue of Ban pointing his sword towards the south is located in this place.
Zagreb Cathedral happens to be the tallest building in the city. Its twin spires are around 108 m high. Near to the cathedral are beautiful souvenir shops. The most famous products in these shops are lavender based, as Croatia holds pride in its lavender. Apart from these, one can find famous Croatian Ties, Croatian wine, Keychains, Candles and numerous other souvenirs in these shops. The best part is that all these beautiful souvenirs are handmade by the local people. Another interesting thing about this place is that Gas lamps were introduced in Zagreb in 1863 but even today, more than 200 of them are still in use. Zagreb is one of the few European cities to keep this tradition alive. Zagreb is one of the few cities that developed into a modern metropolis while keeping its historic core intact just like many cities in India. One of the best preserved parts of Zagreb’s erstwhile foundations is the Lotrscak Tower also known as the Gric cannon which is fired everyday at noon.
More than 80 percent of Croatian territory is rural. Breathtaking scenery, rich cultural heritage, healthy home made food are the major attractions of the countryside. The region has favourable climatic conditions for diverse farming. The country receives different climatic influence like mountain, continental and mediterranean. As such, diverse crops and livestock are seen there. The major fruit crops are Mandarins, Apples and Olives; major vegetable crops include cabbage, tomatoes, onions and garlic. The country is self sufficient in the production of Wheat, Barley and Maize. They are also very rich in the livestock production sector. During our stay in Zagreb, we got an opportunity to visit one of the largest cattle farms in Croatia. Croatia is also famous for its wine production. During our stay we got to visit some of the vineyards and apple orchards in Croatia. Organic farming is something which is highly promoted in Croatia. There are more than 5153 organic producers registered in the area. They strongly believe in the concept of sustainable development which is highly practiced in the agricultural farms and greenhouses where they use every component and go for recycling of wastes in special set ups. No farmer in Croatia uses chemical pesticides as it is banned there. People strongly believe in protecting mother nature. Another attractive thing about Croatian agriculture is the practice of hydroponics or growing crops without soil. We got a chance to look at the highly developed hydroponics technique followed in crops such as tomatoes, coriander, basil etc.
Similar to our country, Croatia also has Farmer’s markets where farmers from the locality come and sell their produce along with handmade products. I visited one such farmer’s market called Dolac. Its the largest farmer’s market in Zagreb with a colourful display of fruits and vegetables from all over Croatia. Zagreb’s public transport is very affordable and reliable. The main transport mode is the electric tram system which helps to get to almost every corner of the city. A visit to Zagreb is incomplete without the visit to the museums there. Zagreb’s museums boast artworks of all ages and styles–from ancient Roman and Greek to medieval.
Exploring Zagreb on foot is easy. Even aimless walking leads to discovering some of the city’s major attractions, located close by. Nothing really puts a stop to discovering and having fun in the place. During our stay in Zagreb, I witnessed different cultures, different natural landscapes, food habits, lifestyles, friendly and welcoming people and above all I realised that there is much similarity between India and Croatia. Also, despite the geographical boundaries, one thing that ties two countries together is Humanity, the love we share for each other as children of mother Earth. The ties between India and Croatia sets a perfect example of this, which we personally got to witness during this internship. Everyone has their own experience of Zagreb, mine is a beautiful one that I shall cherish forever. From getting to know about the rural life in the countryside to the metropolitan city life everything was just splendid !!!
