Blog — Project: We Travel

I haven't always lived in Zagreb, but now it seems to me as if I had. When I drive along side roads, it dawns on me how well I really know the streets of this city, the culture of its pedestrians and drivers or the lack of thereof. The city and I are particularly aware of each other on the way back home from a get-together after midnight. Without the slightest fear or - God forbid - any apprehension that I could come to harm in this city.

As years go by, Zagreb is turning into the kind of city I used to cross borders to get to. A city that is somewhat faster than it used to be, offering better cafes, restaurants and yoga studios. A city where you can get from A to B a little slower because it is gradually being taken over by tourists, which makes me especially happy. A city where various languages are trying to make themselves understood.

When I was thinking about this post, I knew that it would be anything but a typical advertisement for this city. I knew that I would be taking my readers - and later on you travelers as well - to places that will replenish them. To places that encourage you to think, take the city's pulse or take a break from it, write a line or two about your experiences or listen to this very singer when you walk along my route. Because it just feels right.

When you go for a walk with me, you will keep moving if I take you out for coffee first. You will keep moving by standing still for a while.

It is inherent to the culture of this city and country in general to drink coffee. We drink coffee when we are starting our day, when we want to stretch it out, when we need to talk to someone, make a business deal, think about something, when we need to calm down. Come over, I'll make coffee or Let's go get coffee is a very common sentence for your average Croatian.

When I drink coffee, it has to be really good. OK, fine, the best! It's a long story why that is so, but that's the way it is. I will tell you the story at some point.

My coffee is brewed in Cogito, who are without doubt the best roasters in the region. Although they have places on several locations in the city and each of them is tempting enough to make you want to sit down and collect your thoughts, I am enamored of the one in the Deželić Street. You'll find mostly locals there, each sitting down to their own table, everyone saying hello to each other, baristas who know which kind of coffee each of us drinks and will recommend you one that will hit just the right spot, the music, the atmosphere, the vibe... This place has it all.

This is my place and if you happen to see me, sit down next to me and I will gladly take you through the maze of thoughts that are crossing my mind at that particular moment.

You can find out a lot about Zagreb just by sitting down in a cafe and watching the locals. It is important that you slow down on your journey; that is the best way to learn what makes the people in this city tick. Memorize the word "polako", take it easy, slowly.

Cogito is close to the Britanski Square, which enjoys the reputation of the most Zagrebian of Zagreb squares.

I am planning to tell you more about this Square and the best places in Zagreb where you can enjoy as local. Stay tuned and curious for a short time, I promise!

Find out more:

Cogito

We were among the first guests of the first Praktik boutique hotel in 2009 - Praktik Rambla. I can still recall the feeling that this hotel inspired in me, especially during siesta and in the evening before going into town for dinner. The building, dating back to the early 19th century, is in eclectic style, with - you've guessed it, my great passion - huge windows, perfectly framed by white, wispy curtains. I could sit for hours, watching them sway in the only breeze to drift in that particular day during the warmest summer of 2009.

I also remember the scent of shower gel and shampoo. It has remained my favorite until this very day. The fragrance of those lovely toiletries still takes me right back to Praktik Rambla.

Praktik hotels boast very functional and tastefully decorated rooms, with details that pulls you into the story behind them, a perfect atmosphere, the staff, well designed community areas for guests, lamps, floors, hardwood surfaces... I could go on and on.

Owing to this concept, coming back to such a hotel after you spend the whole day exploring this city, you don't feel that you're missing out on anything Barcelona has to offer. The hotel itself becomes a part of your trip that you end up telling everyone about. The hotel where before going to sleep you just quietly say: Thank you.

It was then that I fell in love with the concept of Praktik hotels. They simply draw you in.

Shortly afterwards the Praktik went on to open hotels Praktik Bakery, Praktik Vinoteca and Praktik Metropol in Madrid as well as Praktik Garden. In 2015 we stayed in Praktik Garden and once more, we were wowed by the idea, the green concept, functionality of the rooms and the hotel location. The Garden hotel had a great green terrace and this hotel became our favorite spot to begin and end the day.

And now, after hearing about a new hotel, somewhere halfway between these two and still close to all others (with the exception of the one in Madrid), I found myself looking into dates for Barcelona. I haven't heard of anyone ever packing their bags for a hotel; it's always the city that we come for. But I am packing my bags for a hotel simply because it rounds off the story of my Barcelona like no other.

This new hotel, called Praktik Èssens, touches on the strongest among my senses that sometimes scares even me with its potency. The sense of smell. It is scent that always launches me into a narrative, I remember fragrances and attach colors to them, which makes it is easy to store them away in my memory. I have this incredible thing for fragrances. I can recall them even after 30 years.

And imagine now my favorite concept hotel chain in my favorite city opening a hotel that is all about fragrances, taking their guests on a wonderful sensual trip through its rooms.

„Praktik Èssens has created its own fragrances to capture the essences of the sea, the mountains, and the flowers of the city and its surroundings. After a careful selection process, Praktik presents its 4 Èssens fragrances: Mar, Herbas, Flor and Barcelona. This last fragrance is remarkable in that it blends the three previous fragrances in very studied proportions. For us, it directly evokes the city of Barcelona!“

We still haven't discussed this at home. This desire of mine to take a stroll through our favorite city, breathing its scent in, but somehow I know we will go there. Now or later on, I just know we will! Maybe we manage to catch the 25% discount they are offering on any available room in the period between 1st March (when the hotel actually opens) until 16th April. The very discount we used ten years ago when the Praktik Rambla opened and when we fell in love with the entire concept.

So what do you think, is it time to hop on a plane and go get a new story?