Ethnomusic Tour

Once upon a time when giants lived on the Earth, a man was walking along a river bank. He was alone. Only the wind played around his shoulders, running here and there through the reeds that grew along the riverbank. Suddenly, he heard a strange sound, different from any other sound he had ever heard before. Silence, then the sound again. Silence, then the sound again. With every gust of wind, he would hear the sound, which stopped as the wind abated. The man approached the reeds to discover what creature made such strange sounds. He did not see anything, only one hollow, split reed stem that stood out from the rest. The wind blew again, the reed vibrated and he heard the sound again. The man’s heart was full of joy; he took the broken reed and blew into it. Since that time, he was never alone again.

It was a long, long time ago, at the dawn of the human race, but this relationship between the wind, the reed and Man has lasted until today.

Although the times and the world are different, we believe that even today, somewhere deep in the forest the fairies dance when someone somewhere plays the bagpipes, shepherd’s pipes or at least a twin-reed.

Let us take you to the miraculous world of old Croatian traditional instruments.

1. Day

Arrival at Zagreb International Airport.  Transfer to the  hotel, check in.

Afternoon Zagreb city tour. Overnight.

2. Day

Breakfast at the hotel. Croatian traditional musical instruments presentation and workshop with lunch in a local traditional restaurant. 

Free afternoon. Overnight.

3. Day  

Breakfast at the hotel. Full day excursion to Zagorje region. We will visit the Orsic castle museum in Gornja Stubica, built in 1756. The exhibition gives us the overview of the history in this region. Lunch in a local restaurant.  

Check-in in a hotel in  Marija Bistrica, the  largest Marian shrine in Croatia where Croatians find salvation and spiritual peace for centuries. In addition to the beautiful church - basilica with the Miraculous statue of the black Virgin Mary, there are Stations of the Cross to the Calvary, which are works of art in their own right and created by famous Croatian sculptors. Free time for exploring.

Afternoon visit to the pictoresque  town of Krapina known by its Neanderthal site, one of the largest and richest sites of the Neanderthal prehistoric man in the world. The new museum has just recently been opened offering wonderful experience of the prehistoric times. The old town, the Church of Sv. Katarina (St. Catherine), the Franciscan monastery with its rare collection of sacral arts and a rich library of rare books, as well as the birth house of Ljudevit Gaj, the Croatian forefather, are evidence of the rich cultural, monumental and historical heritage of this area. Overnight.

4. Day

Breakfast at the hotel. Free time. Transfer to the airport Zagreb.