Ka-boom! In a flash, the reverie in the old part of Zagreb in Croatia has been shattered. Just seconds ago, people were drinking mulled wine and swaying gently to a Christmas song, when they were suddenly shaken by a loud explosion.
Looking up in surprise, they see white smoke coming from a window of the Lotrscak Tower. Tour guide Maja Halvaks reassures her guests that nothing is amiss. Every day – even during the pre-Christmas period – a cannon is fired off at noon from the tower up on the old city hill. It’s been that way for more than a hundred years, she says.