Confidence of a Nation

By Fawn Weaver on Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Zagreb, Croatia, a city so unapologetically, Croatian.  In every city I’ve travelled to around the world, even those I visited prior to this journey, there is a bit of English, French or American culture.  The street signs are in English, menus at restaurants are in English, the hotel staff all speak fluent English.  Not so in Zagreb. 

Walking through the city center, you can spot a Croatian anywhere.  They speak Croatian, look Croatian and walk Croatian.  They have a confidence that exudes from their inner core. 

Maybe it’s because they fought for their independence for so long, resisting influences of neighboring powers like Austria and Hungary, and seceded from Yugoslavia a little more than twenty years ago. 

Maybe it’s because at one point they were once divided into three states, each claimed by a different empire.  They are a war torn country, something you can see in the wear and tear of some of the buildings. 

In the city center, I can immediately tell who is Croatian and who is a foreigner.  Not because the foreigners are reading maps or look confused as to where they are, they just come across as a bit tentative.  Those with American or British-influenced countries tend to have that tentativeness about them.  But the Croatians walk with their heads held high and chests stuck out. 

In Croatia, I was escorted around the office of the President by his security (and was allowed to sit in his dinner chair), visited the critically-acclaimed Museum of Broken Relationships, interviewed a happily married woman -who was a knockout and could have been a model- but instead was an arms dealer for he Swedes, and I spent several hours sipping on cappuccino while getting tips from a happily married businesswoman and mother of two (one of the first I interviewed who is my age, mid-thirties).

I truly enjoyed my time in this country and can’t wait to share my experiences with you.  Join me tomorrow and we’ll start by talking about this museum that won the Most Innovative Museum in Europe award in 2011.  There’s alot to learn in that place about what to do –and what not to do- in creating a marriage that is built to last.

Question: What is your favorite city or country you’ve visited in the world?  What makes that place so special?

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Fawn Weaver is the USA Today® and New York Times® bestselling author of Happy Wives Club: One Woman's Worldwide Search for the Secrets of a Great Marriage, adopting the same name as the Club she founded in 2010. The Happy Wives Club community has grown to include more than 900,000 women in over 110 countries around the world. When she’s not blogging or working on her next project, she's happily doting over her husband of nearly eleven years, Keith.

 

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