I Took No Pictures in Zagreb

There are times when I visit a city and seem to just exist there, as opposed to actually being a tourist.

Although I may really enjoy my time in that place, I seem to do nothing more than eat, sleep, work and occasionally drink some nice beers. The tell-tale signs of these kind of places are the lack of photos on my memory card.

Unfortunately Zagreb was one such place.

I didn’t do it on purpose. Zagreb was actually a much different city than I had expected. Its leafy green parks and big avenues reminded me of more popular European cities such as Paris and it definitely had more going for it in terms of restaurants and nightlife than some of the cities we had been in previously.

And yet, for some reason, I just wasn’t inclined to take any photos.

I felt as though Zagreb was just a breathing space in the midst of the rest of the itinerary. We were staying in a cute little apartment and maybe this was partly to blame for my despondency; a little stability and a home base for a while made me feel as though as wasn’t a tourist in this city, but more a temporary resident. And who takes photos when they’re not on holiday or a drunk night out?

I feel bad for Zagreb. I feel as though it often gets a bad rap from people who visit there; many of whom don’t even stay longer than the time in between their train journeys.

I feel as though I should have done better by it than those people. I should have taken more photos and shown it in a great light. I feel ashamed for not learning more about its history and its culture so that I could share all those stories with you.

But sometimes when you have been travelling for a long time you want to just step back and take a break and regain a little routine in your life, however small. Zagreb was the place I did that. I stayed for a week, and these are the only photos I have to show for it. I guess that makes me a bad tourist. And a bad blogger. But I don’t care.

I still have good memories from the place that made me realise that what I was craving for so long – routine – was actually not what I wanted at all.