In the Footsteps of the Martyrs

[Reposted from my website]

One day on our recent visit to Split, Croatia, we took a city bus to the late Roman city of Salona.

Salona, a city of 70,000 people, was the birthplace of the future Emperor Diocletian in the fourth century. You can see the modern city of Silon in the background.

A city of 70,000 people requires a major sewer system.

Diocletian was the last pagan emperor, responsible for a major persecution of Christians. As I walked across the grassy floor of this area where several died, I though how great a cloud of witnesses are there to inspire my faith.

The city was sacked by the Avars and Slavs in the 6th and 7th centuries. Survivors settled inside the ruins of Diocletian's palace in nearby Split, where we stayed on our holiday.

When we passed the fish market, I had to check out what they looked like before the cook got a hold of them--significantly less appetizing.

We ate some new and exciting foods during our month in Croatia. This cuttlefish seasoned with its own ink in a tiny cafe beneath the wall of Diocletian's Palace was my most spectacular.

Split is first and foremost the sort of resort where the locals spend their summer vacation, and the sea is what they go for. It was too chilly for us, although I have no doubt that my grandchildren would have been happy to join the swimmers who braved the waters of the Adriatic even in late October.

Our two and a half days in Split inspired us to want to return and explore more of this fabulous coast. Who knows if we ever will, but we certainly enjoyed the time we had.

A Park for How Many Years?

[Reposted from my website]

Ghosts and ghouls are not my thing so let's see  more pictures instead. The city of Split, Croatia, sits on a peninsula on the Dalmatian Coast of the Adriatic Sea. On a recent visit to celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary, my husband and I hiked along the ridge of the Marjam hill, set aside as a park by the Roman Emperor Diocletian in the fourth century.The hike began with ninety-nice steps to this look out point--and that was only the beginning.

Cruise ships and ferries ready to embark for the islands wait in Split harbor in the early morning.

Medieval hermits were fond of the caves in the cliffs on Marjam Hill, so there are several chapels. (More steps.)

Even I didn't climb to this hermitage.

The views of the islands from the hill were breathtaking.

This cross at the highest point with the islands in the distance (another 100+ steps) made me think of Jesus, the Hope of the Nations, the Hope of Croatia.

The views made us dream of taking one of those cruise ships someday.

When we reached the tip of the peninsula, having met only a handful of joggers and dog-walkers, all locals, we walked back along the shore of the bay through an area that proved to be popular with families and bicyclers.

"The best part of the city," the girl in the information office said, and by the time we returned to our hotel, footsore with aching muscles (did I mention the steps?), we could almost agree with her. No crowds, no tourists. Only the beauty of the amazing world God created on a gorgeous blue-sky day. Tomorrow I'll show you pictures of Silona, a Roman city of 70,000 people in Diocletian's day.

Fairytale Anniversary

[Reposted from my website]

My husband and I completed forty years of marriage in May. Knowing we would be in Croatia, we decided to wait and celebrate in Split on the Adriatic Sea. Well worth it! Fabulous time!

Split was originally the retirement home of the Roman Emperor Diocletian in the fourth century. The facade of these buildings is the wall of his palace, facing the sea with this well-used modern promenade full of --you guessed it--coffee shops.

The view from our hotel window inside Diocletian's Palace. My first thought was noisy, but I revised that thought to community. The sounds of church bells and people in the cafe below were never far away. It reminded me of a giant family reunion. Even when you retreat to your bedroom to put your feet up as I was doing when I had these thoughts, you are never far from what is going on.

I felt like I was sleeping in the International Showcase at Epcot --people everywhere in this exotic, fairytale setting.

The best preserved part of Diocletian's Palace is the cellars beneath--now a shopping arcade. Weird to think this mall is 1700 years old.

Behind this facade was Diocletian's private quarters over the cellars you just saw.

My husband is not comfortable with heights, so I climbed the medieval bell tower added to Diocletian's mausoleum (now a church) by myself.

Today's first picture was taken from half way up this hill. Tomorrow I'll show you pictures of our hike.

With his fear of heights, my husband
made a wise choice when he decided not to come.

These steps were considerably higher and steeper than normal modern stairs. The rail is definitely needed!

Not Wisconsin

[reposted from my website]

The fun part about staying for five weeks in a place is getting to feel almost like a local. We were well known at the bakery around the corner where we bought fresh bread for our supper each night. (Our main meal we ate at noon with staff and students in the cafeteria.) We were recognized at our favorite pizza place and my husband was a regular at the coffee shop on the corner. Today I will share a few more pictures of life around town.

Beneath this square in the center of town is a modern shopping center where city government functioned during the Serbian bombardment in the 1990s war of independence. (The Cathedral is off to the left.)

A tourist brochure described the "caffeine culture" of Osijek. Coffee shops were everywhere and despite the brisk October weather, many people sat outside in the sunshine. This shop is on the same square as the previous picture.

The Saturday morning that I took off on a photo safari, I stopped for hot chocolate, thickened with cornstarch and topped with whipped cream, at a coffee shop across the street from this musician playing folk music.

Bike paths were everywhere and even old ladies like me used them for transportation. (You can sit up on these bikes instead of leaning on your hands!) One Sunday afternoon Deborah, one of my library colleagues,invited me to bike downtown with her for an evangelistic street meeting. Great exercise, good fellowship and gorgeous day.

Bike paths follow both sides of the Drava River. This graceful bike and pedestrian bridge connects them.

A mile (?) upstream a free ferry provides the crossing. Much cheaper than a bridge because it uses no fuel. It's attached to a cable. When untied and steered toward the center, the current against the keel provides the momentum to glide across.

Another Sunday afternoon one of the faculty invited us to the town of Valpovo
where an eighteenth century palace was built onto a medieval Ottoman castle. Wonderful walk in the grounds.

My husband and I completed forty years of marriage in May. We decided to delay celebration until we were in Croatia. Tomorrow I'll show you pictures of the fabulous Dalmatian Coast and the ancient town of Split--not the best name for a wedding anniversary, so be sure you pronounce it "Spleet" as the Croatians do. :-)

Living in the midst of History

My husband and I recently spent a month in Osijek volunteering at the Evangelical Theological Seminary. See previous blogs for pictures of the school, the synagogue turned into a church, and the Cathedral in the town center. Todays pictures feature the old part of town, called the Tvrda (the fort) by locals.

Osijek, Croatia, on the Drava River, has changed hands many times over the past few millennia. The Austro-Hungarians razed the city when they forced the Ottomans out, so what you see is late seventeenth to nineteenth century.

The Austro-Hungarian city was surrounded by a wall entered by this gate facing the river.

I bought a water color of the square from this vendor the morning of the monthly antique fair. One side of the square was a series of open-air coffee shops. Croatians LOVE their caffeine.

The music school is in this yellow building
facing the square. I love the sound of students practicing.

One evening we attended a free saxophone concert in the music school. The guy was awesome!

Tunnels run under the surviving fortress walls on the opposite side of the river. I found them very photogenic, i.e. I got carried away taking pictures.

Here's another attempt at a stitched panorama. I stood in the middle of the street to take this. (Left and right are really one continuous line.) I had to edit the pictures before stitching to make the corners line up properly. I think it works better with distant shots.

I'm partial to shooting through arches and doorways, so here is the Tvrda from the ruined walls on the other side of the river.

Tomorrow we'll see a few more pictures of life in this fascinating city, before moving to Split on the Adriatic.

For God and Country

The Cathedral in Osijek, Croatia, dates from the early 19th century. We made several trips there to admire the paintings and the arches.

I got a kick out of this stork's nest on a broken pinnacle.

South aisle. The Catholic Church is closely associated with Croatian nationalism, so non-Catholics are considered unpatriotic.

The church was heavily targeted by the Orthodox Serbs during the war for independence. Most paintings have been restored, but this one still shows the marks of shrapnel.

Most of the windows were broken in the shelling. 

Windows all bear post-war dates. When we were there in the 1990s everyone wanted to tell you their war stories. Now people don't want to talk about it.

I'm still trying to figure out how to use the stitch function of my camera to create panoramas. When buildings are involved, it's hard to get edges to line up because moving the camera means changing the angle. This attempt is from left to right over the crossing of the cruciform.

The city of Osijek dates back a few thousand years, although it has been destroyed many times. Monday I'll post pictures of the old town.

A NEW KIND OF WORSHIP IN A TRADITIONAL KIND OF PLACE

reposted from my website 1 Comment   This synagogue, surrounded on three sides by the seminary, was built in 1902. There were once three synagogues in Osijek, Croatia, but following World War II few Jews were left. An Assemblies of God congregation rented the building off and on until the handful of remaining Jews offered it to them for sale in the 1970s. The synagogue was restored as a Christian place of worship that celebrates our Jewish spiritual heritage. In 2002 the choir of the remaining synagogue came to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the building together with the church. The cross and the decalogue (10 commandments) share the front of the sanctuary. I found it symbolic that when the ark is open--the holy place where the scrolls of the Torah were once kept--the cross is revealed "Glory to God in the highest" arches over the contemporary worship team on a Sunday morning. Stars decorate the arched ceiling of the room. My last Sunday was Croatian Thanksgiving. The front was decorated with fruits and vegetables for anyone to take and enjoy. I have a thing for reflections. This one on the synagogue door makes me wonder how my church reflects the surrounding community. Is that good or is it bad? Tomorrow I'll show you some of the pictures I took in the 19th century cathedral downtown that was the target of Serb attacks during the War for Independence in the early 1990s.