This trip seems to have taken on a distinct literary orientation. Largely unplanned... But we've had D.H. Lawrence, and G.W.F. Hegel, and lots about James Joyce and other writers associated with Trieste (of whom there were even more than I'd realized).

Having started to read On the Edge of Reason by Miroslav Krleza (the only Croatian author I've really heard of, apart from Dubravka Ugresic), it seemed like a good idea to track down a few more literary figures in the Croatian capital.

For this purpose, you can't do better than follow the trail put together by Andrea Pisac. You learn about new writers (not that it's easy to get hold of their material in translation, mind you), and you also see lots of pretty Zagreb vistas.

It was cold this morning. We needed all our layers. It was also dull, at least initially. Not as advertised.

But eventually the sun broke through, and gave us some good photos.

First up, Marija Juric Zagorka (1873-1957), still -- Pisac tells us -- the most widely read Croatian woman writer:


Then a bit of a diversion. First for the Dolac Market (this is the indoor bit):


And then for coffee at K&K Milcec, founded by journalist and writer Zvonimir Milcec (1938-2014):




Back on track after that, however. Up the big hill for great views, and the statue of Antun Gustav Matos (1873-1914), who's flanked by building work at the moment, but still accessible:




If you prefer, you can come up to this level by funicular:


Whichever way, it's worth the climb:


The statue of Miroslav Krleza (1893-1981), the author I'm reading at the moment, stands in the very beautiful Tuskanac forest park:


Interestingly, we saw a very similar statue in Budapest, but we didn't know who he was then...

Nearby is Vladimir Nazor (1876-1949):



We retraced our steps via the Gric Tunnel, part of a maze of passages burrowing under Zagreb's upper town. There are loads of legends about this network. But our current tunnel is the only one that's open to the public, and used for events and installations:








Next on our list of authors is August Senoa (1838-81), known as "the father of the Croatian novel", and among the first to document 19th-century Zagreb:


Then we have Marko Marulic (1450-1524), who not only wrote in Latin (including Evangelistarium -- Pisac's article contains a photo of a version that's been annotated by Henry VIII), but also put the Croatian language on the map by using it to write an epic poem in 1501:


Just to complete the record, here are:



All in all, this little tour was a great intro to the city.