Day 6 -- The Zumberak

Colin: Nothing is ever constant… including the weather. Today we were supposed to climb Samobor Mt. in the Zumberak (pronounced Joom-BEAR-rock) region but the freezing rain precluded our accomplishing that. Instead we went and toured Castle Trakoscan and saw the Austro-Hungarian influence in the region. Later we met Aleksander (“Alex”) Lukic, our guide, and a rural geographer from the University of Zagreb who is an expert on the region. We then went and met Dr. Medvan, a retired veterinarian, who moved back to the area to run a living history grain mill and vineyard. According to one of our Pilar Institute contacts, demographer Ivo (pronounced EE-vo) Turk, the population of the Zumberak is aging, and with the poor roads and lack of infrastructure improvement, there is some concern about the increasing elderly population being able to obtain proper and timely medical care. As of now, in order to meet their emergency and chronic health care needs, they have to drive a very long distance (almost 2 hours) to Zagreb, and the drive is not an easy one.

Dinner was scheduled at the Stepinac family vineyard. The family living there now is a generation removed from Cardinal Stepanic. He was a famous Catholic priest that saved many Jews and enemies of the state from the Nazi-backed Ustasha (pronounced OO-Sta-shah) government. The family welcomed us by serving us an absolutely amazing dinner. They are truly wonderful people. (The children range in age from 12 to 30 and are one of the few examples of young folks staying in the area rather than moving to the cities like Zagreb). The weather, however, was not working in our favor. Many of us had not listen to our guide Juraj and dressed much too lightly for the cold and wet weather. By the time we got to dinner, we were chilled to the bone. The Stepanic family took us and wrapped us in blankets and clothes to warm us up (the rakija also helped) and fed us some of the most wonderful food we have ever had. Next time we will listen better to the advice.