Today we stumbled upon three futsal players from the University of Münster in the centre of Zagreb. They were noticeable due to their accreditations and sunglasses. The sunglasses are easily recognizable because they received them as an invitation at the European Universities Games 2014 held in Rotterdam. Visibly in a good mood, they decided to tour Zagreb on their day off. Usually, their day starts with breakfast and playing matches, while in the afternoon they rest or cheer for the women’s team from their University.
After visiting the Cathedral, they stopped for a bit at the central square and watched the International Folklore Festival. The folklore group from Rome even offered them to wear their traditional garments as jerseys at the next match. The guys were thrilled, but they politely declined saying that it is too hot as it is.
They slowly continued the tour towards the shortest funicular in the world. With a ride of just 64 seconds, they made their way from Lower to Upper Town. They received a warm welcome from the driver of the funicular Stjepan Šemcaj, who directed them towards the Lotrščak Tower. They enjoyed the panoramic view of Zagreb from the Tower, and precisely at noon, they were able to witness the firing of the Grič Cannon. The gunner Alem Tutundžić, recalled his time as a volunteer at the 1987 Universiade and let the player Gunnar Kaib try on the gunner’s suit before firing the Cannon!
His teammates agreed that the suit was made for him because of his name, Gunner, and his nickname, Gun, as well as his shots on the field.
On their walk through Upper Town, they visited the City Hall, the buildings of the Croatian Parliament, and took photographs of St. Mark’s Church. On their way back to Down Town, they stopped by the Stone Gate before continuing their descent via Tkalčićeva Street and buying grapes at Dolac Market. Talking with Croatian volunteers, they shared their experiences on studying in Germany and Croatia, and their plans after graduating.
Gunnar Kaib is studying a PhD in Mathematics; Eike Wessels is studying Physics, while Christoph Rüschenpöhler is a future Mathematics and Geography professor. We will see how much Physics and Mathematics there is in futsal in the match against University North from Croatia.
