Zagreb, all about the music!

We arrived into Zagreb in the early evening and decided to walk to our home exchange apartment. That's the advantage of travelling so light. Or maybe a disadvantage, allowing us to have crazy ideas such as walking for over 1 hour in the 35°C heat!
My initial impression of Zagreb on this 'march' was that it was more Eastern Block in feel than the Czech Republic or Slovenia had been. The parks were orderly rows of flowers and shrubs, with concrete statues and the buildings were more harsh. There was also incongruously the feel of mid west America. Wide roads and strip malls.
Ivona, our home exchange host had suggested the club 'Spunk' as a live music venue. It was on our route, so we stopped in. An unlikely location on a strip with a book shop and another music bar, 'The Hard Place', but true enough it has a backline and drum kit. However, it's high season and so there is no music for a month. The phrase 'of course it's closed, it's high season' has become a much repeated catch phrase as we travel around. I love that making a buck is less important than going on holiday but it's slightly frustrating as a tourist.
We walked past a huge stage being set up in one of the parks. Not some Croatian star but Ed Sheeran, surreal to hear him playing the next night while waiting for the very delayed bus - thanks for the disruption Ed!
Our home exchange apartment was once again a delight. Another treasure hunt to find the keys and another sweet home. Our gift to Ivona for her hospitality was fixing her wobbly toilet seat which required watching several YouTube videos!
The city of Zagreb was rather underwhelming when compared to the beauty of Prague, and Ljubljana, and the cool, hip vibes of Berlin and Dresden. The summer holidays emptied the city centre and the historic buildings were under wraps being cleaned. It is a good city to just walk around though. We skipped the 'Hangover Museum' and the 'Breakup Museum' but decided to check out the 'New Wave Rock Museum'. Of course it was closed. We sat just outside wondering what to do next when the owner, Aleksander, turned up and opened for us. He had a wonderful sense of humour and encyclopaedic knowledge of the underground, garage music of the 80's. The museum was small but interesting and we made a firm friend and ally in Aleksander. He is keen to book us to play in the museum in the spring. He invited us back for a drink the next night which was a delight.
The other huge honour was spending a morning with LHD, formerly The Bambi Molesters. A legendary surf rock instrumental band. Do check them out, their music is fabulous. They invited us out to their practice in the hills. The Bolt ride took forever because of the holiday traffic but it was worth it. They welcomed us on the porch and then invited us into their practice space through the garage door. Wow! It was a full on state of the art studio. The sound was perfection in there. They played a few songs for us, then asked us to join in. So much fun. So now we have a band to tour Croatia with. They were so welcoming and very keen to collaborate. What a coincidence that our new single is surf rock style!
So Zagreb, we will be back to rock you!! Czytaj więcej