#podgaric

The past led to a focused view of new possibilities...

Today is the day our trip becomes reality.  We have looked through so many pictures that seeing one in real life still doesn't seem possible.  We started our morning off with preparing for the day and making PDFs of the maps on how to get to where we were going.  The only thing on our itinerary is to study the Monument to the Revolution of the people of Moslavina in Podgaric.  It was about an hour and a half drive.  The last quarter of the drive was a small windy road through the gorgeous landscape of Croatia.  Along the way were small villages, aged and worn away with vegetation taking over the houses.  Shortly after the sign that read "Podgaric" the massing of the trees ended and we entered the small town.  It was only a few seconds before we saw it there...our first spomenik.  It rested on top of a large hill and had a presence over the town.  When we arrived at the site, we discovered that there was more than just the large monument you see in pictures.  We were pleasantly surprised that there is an entryway and path that led up to the spomenik.  The entryway was of the same concrete and had a lentil overhead, all which presented a threshold as you entered into the site.  Also in the entry way was a plate that read the meaning of the sculpture and a small candle rested on top of the plate.  The path that led to the spomenik was enclosed by two hills to the left and right and isolated you to just the path, yourself, and the spomenik, blocking out the town.  Courtney and I talked about the reasons behind design elements like this and we thought that maybe it was not only to block out the world and focus you on the sculpture but also to put you "below the ground" in remembrance of those who have passed.  For hours we sketched, wrote and discussed our thoughts on the monument.  Mid-afternoon rain started to fall and we decided to move on.  We drove down the hill to the Vila Garic.  Here we met a very nice lady named Vesna. She told us what she knew about the spomenik but said she had a friend who knew much more than her.  I give her my email, and she said she would forward me information in the days to follow.  We told her why we were there and she suggested we visit Garic Grad, which is a very small castle from 1256.  We jumped on the opportunity.  It was only a short drive before we made it to the castle and it was picturesque.  It was currently in ruins but scaffolding and building materials suggested they were trying to rebuild it.  Vines grew up the stone walls, and shrubs and small trees grew on top of the structures.  This was an amazing secondary visit for our day and really gave us a look on some of the history that was in the area. We then set off back to Zagreb and were thinking we might have some extra time to spare that we could tour around the city some.