On February 9, 2002, Meredith and I rode out to Samobor, about 20KM from Zagreb, to attend the 176th anniversary of the town's Fasnic (Carnival) celebration. There's a strong carnival tradition in Croatia, with many cities in Dalmatia having large parades.

You can see my photos here.

It turned out to be a beautiful, warm day, and a delightful time. We indulged in some of the town's signature cream-custard kremsnite (served still-warm)! It was great to see the whole town "dressed up" with posters and large sign boards for the holiday. Each business and office seemed to have a parody of it's own facade out front (the pharmacy with the busty nurse dispensing Viagra, the local government office with carictures of politicians and a depiction of the EU as the golden goose, etc.)

The crowd was well-behaved. Everyone was having a good time, but it wasn't rowdy, and it was definitely a family event.

The skits, presented by clubs from throughout Croatia, were often bawdy, and had plenty of humor that we could follow even without understanding much Croatian. The large magpie figure was prominent on all the posters, and served as sort of a court jester/MC during the skits. [an error occurred while processing this directive]