Untold Stories

Would you dare to enter even if you "didn't know that the Forest was enchanted and that all manner of magic abode there? Some of its magic was good and some of it was bad - to each one according to his deserts. Now this Forest was to remain enchanted until it should be entered by someone who preferred his sorrows to all the joys of the world."

How come so many people have dogs around here? And big ones, too? For Zagreb locals, it feels normal to meet people walking their dogs everywhere in the city.

When imagining a mental institution, most Croats will think of the best-known one in the country. The hospital is known as Vrapče, and the name became a synonym for a psychiatric institution in Croatia.

New beginnings are always a good time to look ahead and, at the same time, to reflect on the past. At the start of this year, I looked back. A bit too far back, ending up in Zagreb almost a century ago. I found some postcards from the 1920s. Panoramic photos are so popular these days, and almost anyone can take them with the help of drones and modern technology. But what if you wanted to take one a hundred years ago? Let's look back together.

Christmastide is the time to go green. Evergreen, to be precise. Do you also decorate your homes with evergreen plants close to the end of the year?

Zagreb is a city with back doors into hidden worlds. Have you noticed that the buildings in Zagreb are arranged in big blocks? It takes as much as 10 minutes to walk around one of those. You could feel a bit suffocated by the busy city on a regular stroll. However, there's a little secret: the spacious areas are well-hidden. Just one look at Google Maps will unveil a world by itself inside each of the blocks.

October has walked into the town. It’s not your most typical Zagreb October. We’ve been blessed with sunny days and only the best of autumn so far. However, not even the warm weather can stop the quick changes in the year’s cycle. The days are getting visibly shorter. If you like long walks, prepare to get caught up by the nightfall.

A part of Masarykova Street in the city center has recently become a car-free zone, now reserved for walkers and cyclists. The experience of the street has completely changed since. People are taking a small break from life to enjoy the city buzz. They grab a coffee, sit on one of the benches, look around... This brings me to my favorite pastime - sightseeing and detail-spotting, even here in Zagreb, my home-town. Why don't we all take a better look at Masarykova Street?

As promised in the previous article, we are staying on the south bank of river Sava for yet another post about Novi Zagreb area. The recent article was about the must-sees, and now is the time for my choice of special treats that you might like to visit.

With this article, we are taking you across the river Sava to the area of Novi Zagreb (New Zagreb). Explore it with the help of these recommendations for must-see places!