Day 86, Tuesday, November 19, 2019
The abandoned building across the street seems to be a favourite spot for the neighbourhood pigeons.
We drive and park near the centre of town. Bob shows me the places he explored yesterday. This is the Verazdin Fortress which is now a museum, and the drained moats are now covered with grass. There are workmen constructing a skating rink which uses refrigerated lines to make artificial ice because it doesn’t get cold enough for natural ice. We saw a rink like this in Rome a couple years ago.
Here is a view of the grass covered moat which has a path all along the top.
They are also building a toboggan slide using the same refrigerated plastic tubing.
We walk back towards the centre of the town, looking for a place to have tea.
It is a bit chilly outside so we find this cafe.
This was our table, in the sunshine by the window. Bob had a yummy hot chocolate with Baileys and some dessert and I had my usual mint tea.
In the square outside the cafe workmen are busy getting ready for the Christmas Market and erecting a stage. Festivities here don’t start until Advent on November 29, so unfortunately we miss the festivities. 
Verazdin is called the Vienna of Croatia but we think that is a bit of a stretch. There are many buildings in disrepair and lots of closed shops. There are a few people on the streets but it is pretty quiet.
Notice the bag of oranges Bob is carrying. It was about $4 for a big bag of really yummy Mandarin oranges. Almost everyone we saw on the street was carrying a bag of these oranges so we thought they must be good and we should buy a bag too.
Take look at the abandoned falling down building right next door to a neat and well cared for shop.
This is a main square and the big building on the left of the photo is empty and boarded up. Well, almost boarded up, there is an open door and we peek inside the main floor which is empty except for some piles of junk and garbage.
We saw these red candles in a couple of places. Near the cafe where we had our tea there were lots of them, spelling out the word Vukovar. I looked it up and found out that there was a siege at the town of Vukovar during the 1990 War. Over 3,000 soldiers and civilians, including 86 children, died during the siege and the aftermath. There are still over 300 residents missing from that time. Last Sunday evening, memorial ceremonies took place across Croatia and candles were lit for the victims of Vukovar across the country.
Here’s how big items get delivered!
Wroclaw has an ever growing populations of gnomes. In fact, our guidebook states “the little buggers are currently rumoured to be running rampant to the score of over 300 making it literally impossible for us to try to keep track of them!” I think they are delightful and I am happy to make their acquaintance .
and more tenement houses in the town square.
The interior of St. Mary Magdalene’s Church which dates from 1330.
We climb 147 steps up to the walkway between the two towers. In times past women suspected of being witches were forced to cross this walkway (there were no railings then) and if they made it across safely they were branded as a witch. If they fell to their death, then they were innocent of the crime of being a witch! You certainly didn’t want to be accused of witchcraft! I am very glad there are railings now and I meet another couple of gnomes.
We have great views of the city from up here.
Here is a view of the walkway, way up there between the two towers.There were steeples on these at one time, not sure if they were destroyed during the war?
More ornate colourful buildings.
I wish I knew the recipe for the bubble mixture this guy was using! He made hundreds of bubbles at a time with his string between two sticks. Kids had such fun chasing all the bubbles.
We found quite a few more of these little fellows, on doorsteps, or tucked into corners.
The two little houses in the corner called Hansel and Gretel are the only two houses left of streets that used to surround a cemetery. The cemetery closed in 1773. I wonder where the graves went?
and more busy gnomes.
and an interesting collection of artifacts. This is a chart for determining eye colour.
The Music Hall is under restoration but we are allowed a peak inside.
We. climb another 203 steps up the Math tower, which has displays along the way. 
and the views. Notice the very modern looking tower among the old.
I just love all the reflections of the old buildings in the glass walls of the modern new buildings!
Churches here are either very ornate…
or look like this. The late afternoon sun was shining through the windows casting everything in a lovely olden glow.
Then we visit the market and buy some fruit. Food prices are very reasonable here.
More reflections.
We catch a trolley bus home. We haven’t seem many paved streets or sidewalks here. Most of the streets and sidewalks here are cobbled in one fashion or another. All the uneven footing is hard on the feet and ankles. We walked 16,700 steps today and climbed the equivalent of 31 floors!
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