GRABOVNICA: Zlatko Salaj has come a long way from the bleak Christmases of his youth. The 67-year old former telecommunications engineer has turned his country estate in Grabovnica, central Croatia, into a festival of light and color that attracts thousands of visitors every year.
Starting in 2002 with 70,000 light bulbs hung on each of the hundreds of small trees and shrubs on his 7-hectare (17 acres) estate, Salaj has this year lit 1.2 million lights, many in the shape of Santa Claus, his sleigh and reindeer.
"My childhood was really... we were poor. My father had a mill but it was destroyed in World War Two. On top of that, my mother left us when I was four so father and I ended up alone," he told Reuters.
After a career spent abroad, mostly in the Middle East and Africa, Salaj returned home and set about the project, which he named "Christmas Story." ( Reuters)
Starting in 2002 with 70,000 light bulbs hung on each of the hundreds of small trees and shrubs on his 7-hectare (17 acres) estate, Salaj has this year lit 1.2 million lights, many in the shape of Santa Claus, his sleigh and reindeer.
"My childhood was really... we were poor. My father had a mill but it was destroyed in World War Two. On top of that, my mother left us when I was four so father and I ended up alone," he told Reuters.
After a career spent abroad, mostly in the Middle East and Africa, Salaj returned home and set about the project, which he named "Christmas Story." ( Reuters)