Jax Stumpes: Passage to Eastern Europe: Osijek, Croatia (8/23/2021)

Monday, August 23, 2021 (continued)

After lunch was our included shore excursion to Osijek, Croatia, a 25-km/16-mile ride on a motorcoach.

Our first stop was Tvrđa/Citadel, the self-contained Hapsburg
fortress (1715, with additions all in the 18C) on the Drava River

Jozo Trovač/Jozo the Poisoner has embraced his nickname
and sells the most popular hamburgers in town

Yep, Croatian War of Independence damage

Park hrvatskih velikana/Memorial Park to the Great Croatians
with busts of four important figures

First, the now familiar Lavoslav/Leopold Ružička,
Nobel prize winner in chemistry

Mijo Kišpatić, the first PhD in Natural
Science in Croatia

Vladimir Prelog, who received the 1975
Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Josip Juraj Strossmayer, a Roman Catholic
bishop who founded the Yugoslav Academy
of Sciences and Arts in 1866, in Zagreb

Post offices are painted yellow in Croatia;
we did not purchase stamps here because
we did not have Croatian currency

The fortress area is filled with educational facilities,
including the Glazbena škola Franje Kuhača/
Franje Kuhač Music School (est 1921)

Arheološki muzej Osijek/Osijek Archaeological
Museum (est 2005) in the Zgrada Glavne straže/
City Guard House (1728-1729)

Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera Osijek/Josip Juraj
Strossmayer University of Osijek (est 1975) in the
Palača Slavonske Generalkomande/Palace of Slavonian
General Command (1724-1726)

The architectural style throughout the Citadel is a mix of Renaissance and Baroque.

Trg Svetog Trojstva/Holy Trinity Square with the
Kužni pil Presvetog Trojstva/Holy Trinity Plague Monument
(1729-1730, attributed to Josip Gerupp, in Baroque style)
built to protect the city from plagues

The top of the column features the
Holy Trinity and many cherubs

Muzej Slavonije/Museum of Slavonia (est 1877) in the
Zgrada gradskog suca/City Magistrate Building (1702)

Electric scooter and a young man on his mobile

Trg Vatroslava Lisinskog/Vatroslav Lisinski Square was
modernized with a contemporary gateway (2019)

Also on Vatroslav Lisinski Square is the
Franjevački samostan/Franciscan Monastery (1699-1705)

Crkva svetog Križa/Church of the Holy Cross
or Church of the Raising of the Holy Cross
(1730s, interior in Baroque style)

The ornate altar is said to come from Hungary

We were treated to a concert by a music student who sang hymns and accompanied herself on piano. She sang Amazing Grace in English.

You know you are in a Roman Catholic Church vs an
Orthodox one because of the pews and kneelers; here
they provided kneeling pads!

Organ loft in the Church of the Holy Cross

In the monastery courtyard; a memorial
cross(by Ratka Žaje) made from parts of
military weapons as a monument in memory
of those killed in the Homeland War

Holocaust Memorial (1933, by Israeli
Aaron Bezalel) resembles a six-candle
menorah representing the six million
Jews lost during World War II

The Franciscan Monastery gift shop was like a local flea market

Including outdated cameras and remote controls...

Children's musical instruments..

Various toys; but note the ceramic brown bird, a souvenir
version of the Vukovar Pigeon, which was a well-preserved
artifact found in an archaeological dig in 1938

Hookah water pipe, maps, books, miscellanea

We purchased postcards.

Crkva svetog Mihael/Church of St Michael
(1725-1768, in Baroque style) with the
Spomenik Svetog Ivan Nepomuk/Monument
to St John Nepomuk

We skipped the rest of the city of Osijek, returning to the motorcoach.

Crossing the Drava River

Across the river from the Tvrđa/Citadel are the
ruins of Krunska tvrđava/Crown Fortress (18C)

Crkva Bezgrešnog začeća/Church
of the Immaculate Conception (1862) in
Bilje, Croatia, is having its steeple restored

Bilje Fire Station

Time for our home visit with a local family (all Viking hosts in Croatia must be registered as B&Bs, although they can choose not to have any overnight guests). Our hostess does run a real B&B.

There seems to always be a a table that can seat
a dozen people! And look at that large television!

We were served cake topped with Vaccinium myrtillus/
Bilberry or European Blueberry jam and mint tea

We had time to check out the family garden

Wood and brick-edged raised beds

The chicken coop

Capturing insect pests

The family Border Collie follows Kent, of course!

Back on the motorcoach to head back to Vukovar.

We heard that before the home visits began for another Viking group, four people were asked to go to the back of the bus. They missed the home visit, and were quarantined to their staterooms when we returned to the ship. With either questionable or positive COVID-19 results, they were tested twice more. A couple days later they were released from quarantine, apparently having consistently tested negative.

Državni arhiv u Osijeku/State Archive of Osijek

Crveni fićo/Red Fico, a tribute to the day in 1991 when a
resident parked his red Fiat in front of oncoming T-55 tanks
from the Yugoslav People’s Army - the little car was totally
crushed; however, in this scene, the red Fiat "crushes" the tank

Stadion Gradski vrt/City Park Stadium (1949-1980) and
Sportska dvorana Gradski vrt/City Park Sports Hall
(2006-2008) for just about any indoor sport

Petrol station shows the cheapest gasoline is about $6/gallon

Luka/Port Vukovar

Vukovarski željeznički kolodvor/
Vukovat Old Train Station has been left in ruins

Mural titled Skitnica/Vagabond (2019, by Lonac, Croatian)

Former match factory with a mural of winner of the
Vukovar Film Festival, sponsored by Bobi Snacks;
on the right is 2019 Systemsprenger by
Slaven Kosanović Lunar and on the left is a
Vukovar Film Festival mural (KSS)

When we returned to the Viking Ullur, the receptionist took our postcards to mail with Croatian stamps!