Today the Bloggers explored the small town of Samobor and another village in the Zumberak region, a cozy village in the Croatian countryside (both west and slightly south of Zagreb). On the way there we drove on both large highways and small country roads. The highway traffic moved very quickly and efficiently. On a huge tour bus it's not likely to get nervous in traffic (compact European cars tend to respect our presence on the road), but while still driving around the city center I noticed that Croatians seem to drive crazy-fast down the city streets where our speed limit would be 30 mph. At many spots there are no traffic lights and pedestrians have to first make five steps of faith out in front of oncoming traffic to ever make their way to the other side. The cars usually make a full stop before hitting anyone, but the stress induced by those risky first five steps would need to be offset by an additional five minutes of cafe downtime later.
Once on the main highway, though, everything sails smoothly. Between small towns, country roads are extremely narrow; but as long as reasonable speed limits are kept, I don't see significant traffic safety issues. Our first stop, Samobor, was a very attractive, small town with hiking trails and walkways outside of the main square. This spot is very popular for people living in Zagreb to enjoy for weekend get-aways. The town is known for its custard dessert (high-calorie, but delicious), which is served at most every cafe. This may be why we noticed that the locals didn't seem to be in as good of physical shape as people in Zagreb. Also, Zagreb is a larger city and waking distances may be considerably longer. While Samobor offers prettier areas for recreational walking, Zagreb presents walking as a required function for daily life – that favorite shoe store may be on the other side of town.
After Samobor we made our way to a very, very small village in the Zumberak region. How small exactly? ~~~~~
Ms. Maggie Benson (Blogger): “So, what is the population here?”
Mr. Ivo Turk (Guide): “Um, the census says 15, but I believe it to be closer to 11.”
Mags: “Eleven... thousand?”
Ivo: “No – just eleven.”
Even with such a small population, the village still has a cute little cafe that is owned and run by a small family. Surprisingly, when we stopped in, the cafe was extremely busy with our group of 35 plus 8 or 9 dirt-bike racers and 2 locals. Our guide Ivo said that the small community is closely knit, which is good in case any health emergencies should come up. It's difficult for Croatians in the rural areas to have access to health care. The closes hospital is over an hour away in Samobor and most often it's faster for a neighbor to drive the injured into town. So special focus should be given to preventive care to keep physician and hospital visits to a minimum. This can best be achieved by healthy diet, regular safety precautions and an active lifestyle. Fortunately fresh vegetables are grown in the yards of homes in the rural areas. Injuries tend to be a problem due to use of heavy equipment and a high frequency of falls. Exciting activities are not as available as in the small towns and city parks, but this shouldn't be an excuse.
Bloggers Top 5 Exercise Opportunities Unique to a Small Community:
Take the community dog for a walk up and down the beautiful rolling hills.
Coordinate a group walk to escort the three local children to the nearest primary school, fifteen miles away.
Volunteer for the new government tourism project by helping dig and build an underground museum to view a Celtic burial site.
Join the campers in their archery sport, Robin Hood style.
Wear your favorite shoes to walk down the goat-herding path to the old cow pond – you will get a workout for your calf muscles as you tip-toe around goat droppings.
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