Just chilling

Zagreb in Croatia, like plenty other cities in that part of Europe, is relatively small. Depending on how much time you have, it’s doable in about three days, at a leisurely pace.

On one of those days, when I’d done all there is to do and seen all there is to see, I started to google to try and see if there were any shops or toy stores that had a sizeable collection of die-cast collectible cars. A quick scan confirmed Arena Centar, a shopping mall on the outskirts of Zagreb, in the Lanište neighborhood of Novi Zagreb. I didn’t know it then, but the mall is part of Arena Zagreb – a multipurpose sports hall.

That entailed a tram ride from where I was, in the heart of the city. A short ride later, I alighted at the designated stop, which was still quite a distance from the mall. Not an issue as I had plenty of time.

To reach the mall, I had to walk through what felt like a residential complex and a tunnel, covered with graffiti. However, more than the graffiti, it was these two chilled out blokes under the tunnel that caught my attention.

As one of them strummed on his guitar, the other seems to be enjoying the cool vibes with a shake of his head, occasionally joining in by humming along. However, when they spotted me, they stopped momentarily.

Of course, I was going to bother them. I asked if they could continue and whether it was okay for me to photograph them. While one of them was initially hesitant, the guitarist was game. He struck a pose and continued to strum on his guitar. He looked like a natural. After a while, his friend got into the groove too.

I hung around for a while, occasionally chatting, but mostly listening. Finally, when I had listened enough, I shook hands, thanked them for the music and headed on, in search of toy cars.

Way too cool, these guys.