July 27, 2020 – OPINION: Marc Rowlands downplays the doom and gloom, claiming it will take even more than 2020's disasters to permanently damage Zagreb

International readers must think the city has fallen. After the triple hit of COVID-19, the strongest earthquake in a century, and last weekend's floods, they must imagine the people of Zagreb to be largely underwater, the tips of their toes resting on rubble, struggling to breathe above the waves through their surgical masks.

Their suspicions would only be justified if they're reading the comments sections of the coverage. “Oh, whatever next?”, “What will become of us?”, “May God save us!”, “First an earthquake, now snow! It's the end of the world!”, “It's because of global warming, I told you years ago. Now, not even my bitterness can save us”. Jadni smo (poor us).

That's because there are two types of people in this world; the doom-mongers - useless pessimists who sigh, tut, and briefly sympathise while reading the news, and then there are the positive thinkers who actually get up off their ass and help out. Sadly, the internet is full of the former. Thankfully, Zagreb is full of the latter.

Take for example Mirna Mrčela, who rescued a man from a sinking car on Friday night. Did she stop to worry about the implications for her or for the sunken city before diving into waters on Miramarska street to save him? She did not.

What about the young Zagreb residents who gave up their free time to help rebuild people's homes following this year's earthquakes? Or those who volunteered to help move children from the damaged wards of a hospital? What about the thousands of Croats who thought of innovative or compassionate schemes to raise money for those affected? Or the many more who donated? Or those who used their own drones to help assess damage to buildings? Was their assistance delayed by worry and self-pity? No.


Thousands of young people have been gathering outside the Croatian National Theatre at weekends. The real picture in Zagreb © Marc Rowlands

Even aside those who actually helped out, the story of Zagreb in the wake of both the earthquake and the floods has been one of irrepressible resilience, optimism, and joy. Thousands of young people have gathered outside the Croatian National Theatre at weekends simply enjoying to be, and each other. In recent weeks, Ribnjak Park, Zrinjevac Park, and Strossmayer Promenade in the city have come alive with gastronomic events, music, and people enjoying themselves.

On Monday 27 July, as the sun shines brightly above Zagreb, the last remnants of the flood are all but gone. People are at work, as usual, and some tourists can be seen taking tours around Tkalčićeva and the cathedral. No matter what news story comment sections might tell you, this city is open for business. Zagreb has seen much worse than this. And it will take a lot more than rain, earthquakes or, yes, even snow to dampen its spirits.

July 27, 2020 – A breakthrough by Croatian-led team has far-reaching implications for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's

A team of Croatian-led scientists have discovered a gene that protects against Alzheimer's disease. The remarkable discovery was made by a Croatian-led team at Queen Mary University of London in collaboration with scientists at The Croatian Institute for Brain Research, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb. The discovery has far-reaching implications for both the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's.

Alzheimer's is a degenerate brain disease that can be brought on by dementia. The main challenge in testing treatment drugs in trials is that participants need to already have symptoms. But, once people have symptoms, it is usually too late for treatments to have a significant effect, as many brain cells have already died.

Because of an extra chromosome they carry, people with Down's Syndrome have a 70% chance of developing the disease. So, the Croatian-led team took hair cells from people who have Down's Syndrome and genetically re-engineered to become stem cells. The stem cells were then grown into brain cells in a laboratory dish.


Queen Mary University of London © John Winfield

Studying the cells, the scientists were able to see Alzheimer’s-like pathology develop rapidly. They were then able to take two drugs and test their effectiveness in inhibiting the progression of the disease. Within six weeks, they proved that the drugs prevented the onset of Alzheimer’s-pathology.

The research also found proof of an Alzheimer’s suppressor gene (BACE2) that exists naturally within the brain. By increasing the activity of the gene, it is hoped Alzheimer's can be slowed in its progression or eventually prevented altogether. The research has far-reaching implications for testing those who may eventually develop Alzheimer's and on testing drugs for the prevention and treatment of the disease.

The team at The Blizard Institute, Barts & The London School of Medicine, Queen Mary University of London was lead by Croatian Professor Dean Nižetić. The international team that published their findings included another young Croatian scientist, Ivan Alić, who worked alongside Nižetić in London, plus Željka Krsnik, Goran Šimić, Ivica Kostović and Dinko Mitrečić from The Croatian Institute for Brain Research, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb.

July 25, 2020 - A severe storm hit western Croatia and Zagreb last night at around 9 pm, causing big floods in the center of the capital.

Index.hr reports that several streets were flooded, including Ilica and Miramarska, Branimirova and Strojarska, but also Britanski trg and the Importanne Center. Numerous cars were trapped underwater or entirely submerged, basements and family houses, shops, cafes were also affected.

Firefighters and emergency services were on the scene all night. They performed more than a hundred interventions, and due to thousands of calls from citizens, all lines (193) were busy during the evening. Thousands of calls from citizens were received, hundreds of buildings were flooded.

Tram traffic was interrupted along Ilica, then from Radnicka towards Zitnjak and from Drziceva, Ulica grada Vukovara to Savska cesta.

Traffic is limited on some roads today, and the underpass in Miramarska is closed to traffic.

"Throughout the night, technical teams were engaged in draining rainwater and repairing the consequences of the thunderstorm.

All preconditions for safe traffic have been created on the public city transport network and there are no difficulties on ZET lines," it was reported.

Warnings for dangerous weather conditions are still in force, reports DHMZ. But lower levels than yesterday. An orange meteorological alarm is in force for the Zagreb area.

It will be partly cloudy today, with rain or showers, mostly in the first part of the day. Wind mostly moderate north and northwest. The highest daily air temperature is around 25°C, reports DHMZ.

It will be partly sunny tomorrow, though fog is possible in the morning. There will be light winds. The lowest temperature will be around 16, and highest daily from 28 to 30°C.

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July 24, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, and Pula. 

Croatian Aviation reports that Qatar Airways has canceled flights on the Zagreb-Doha route until mid-August. There have been frequent cancellations on this line in recent weeks.

Qatar Airways resumed traffic to Zagreb on July 1 this year, reconnecting Doha and Zagreb 3 times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) with the A320 aircraft.

Due to reduced demand, the company has often canceled certain departures on this route since the beginning of re-operation, and now all flights on this line have been canceled until mid-August.

Traffic should resume from Wednesday, August 12, when the Qatar Airways aircraft should fly on this route again. Recall that this carrier operated twice a day between Doha and Zagreb in the summer, in the morning and the evening, but there was a significant reduction in the number of weekly flights due to reduced demand due to the impact of the global pandemic.

Croatian Aviation also reports that FlyDubai, a company that closely links its business to Emirates, will not fly on a seasonal route to Dubrovnik this year.

The company previously announced the operation of its B737-800 aircraft on the Dubai-Dubrovnik route twice a week this summer season, but all flights have been canceled until the end of the summer flight schedule and the company does not intend to launch them this year.

Considering that many tourists from Asia came to Dubrovnik with this line, which is almost non-existent in our country this year, the cancellation of this line is a logical step of the company.

FlyDubai operates on the Dubai-Zagreb route in winter, instead of Emirates. After Emirates canceled all flights on this route for this year, FlyDubai should work on the same from the end of October this year. FlyDubai has not yet made a final decision on whether this line will operate in the winter flight schedule, and there is a possibility of its cancellation, which would leave Zagreb without a direct connection with Dubai after many years.

Finally, Croatian Aviation reports that before the outbreak of the pandemic, Windrose Airlines announced the launch of a new route to Croatia, between Kyiv and Zagreb. The company ultimately canceled the line for this year, but introduced flights to its third destination in Croatia.

The company planned to launch the first direct line between Zagreb and Kyiv three times a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays), then postponed it until the winter flight schedule this year due to the pandemic, only to cancel it now. Windrose Airlines could return to Zagreb with this new route in the summer of 2021.

But that is why the company announced an increase in weekly flights between Kyiv and Pula, and as of July 23, it operates on this route three times a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays), and regular operations are planned until mid-September.

Interestingly, Windrose Airlines sent an ATR 72-600 aircraft on this route for the first time yesterday. The journey with this smaller type of aircraft took 3 hours and 40 minutes from Kyiv to Pula! The line is regularly operated by aircraft of higher capacity type A321.

The Kyiv-Split line will continue to operate three times a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays) in August, on A321 aircraft.

Despite giving up the launch of the Kyiv-Zagreb route this year, Windrose Airlines connected, for the first time, the capital of Ukraine with Dubrovnik, and amid the pandemic, launched a new route to Croatia.

The Kyiv-Dubrovnik line has been in traffic from July 17, once a week (every Friday), and traffic will run regularly until the end of August, specifically until August 28 this year. ERJ145 aircraft with a capacity of 48 passengers operate on this route.

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July 23, 2020 - In the second match of the playoff finals for the Croatian champion, played on Wednesday night in Zagreb, Dubrovnik's Jug AO were better than the home team Mladost in yet another penalty shootout and celebrated 13-11 (2-2, 3-3, 4-2, 1-3, 3-1) to take the 2-0 lead in the series to three wins.

HRT reports that the match ended in a 10-10 draw, and Jug goalkeeper Toni Popadic brought the Dubrovnik club the victory in the shootout with two crucial saves.

During regulation time, Jug's best scorer was Loren Fatovic with five goals, Alexandros Papanastasiou scored three, and Luka Loncar and Filip Krzic scored one goal each. Mladost's top scorer was Lovre Milos with four goals, Matias Biljaka scored two, and Milos Cuk, Luka Bukic, Franko Lazic and Konstantin Harkov scored one goal each.

After a tie game during the first two quarters, Jug created a three-goal lead in the third quarter (9-6), but the home team responded with a four-goal streak and took a 10-9 lead two and a half minutes before the end.

In the remaining time, only Filip Krzic managed to get past Mladost goalkeeper Marcelic to equalize at 10-10. Mladost had an attack to win, but the crossbar stopped Bowen's shot, so, just like in the first game, the winner was decided in a penalty shootout.

Here, the Dubrovnik team showed much more precision, and their goalkeeper Toni Popadic stopped the shots of Bukic and Lazic, while Bowen hit the crossbar. Thus, Jug took a 2-0 lead in the final series, and in three days, Vjekoslav Kobescak's team will have the opportunity to win the Croatian championship title for the fifth time in a row, and for the 16th time in total.

The third game of the finals is scheduled for Saturday, starting at 8:15 pm, and will be played in Dubrovnik at the Gruz swimming pool.

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As Marta Duic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of July, 2020, the location of the first Domino's Pizza pizzeria is the Croatian capital of Zagreb, close to the Sheraton Hotel, and the arrival of this global leader in pizza delivery, which has more than 16,300 branches in more than 85 countries, is due to the company All about pizza.

The company's CEO, Mihael Sviben, and his business partner Nils David Gornall have been working on the development of this business venture for more than two years now. The tradition of this American company dates back to 1960, and the first Zagreb branch of Domino's Pizza will start operating on Monday, July the 27th, 2020.

Local artists took part in arranging the 300-square-metre space, and Sviben pointed out that they wanted to be different and at the same time autochthonous and showcase the true uniqueness of Zagreb.

"Like any young entrepreneur, I have big plans, but for a start, we're going to focus on Zagreb. Domino’s is known for its incredibly fast delivery, and to achieve that, we need to work with small delivery zones. From our first branch, we're going to deliver only to parts of Zagreb, so the focus of our first expansion will be Zagreb as a whole, but our plans after that are much bigger,'' explained Sviben.

As he said, they had no problems finding employees to work at Zagreb's brand new Domino's Pizza, however, the coronavirus pandemic unfortunately changed their plans. When they first presented Domino’s pizza in Croatia in February, their plan was to open something physical in May.

"And we're more than happy to have this opportunity to open our doors in these unpredictable times. We're a team whose key is to offer a service that is on a par with the aforementioned fast delivery, and we strive to offer customers the best of both worlds, as well as the original American recipe on which Domino’s Pizza is based, just like local combinations of flavours and ingredients,'' added Sviben.

One of the most popular, almost classic types of Domino’s Pizza is Pepperoni. According to Sviben, the quality and safety of these products are crucial when choosing ingredients for their pizzas.

“All of our ingredients have been tested and approved by Domino’s International. Whenever possible, we procure locally, but we also cooperate with other European suppliers,'' said Sviben. "We believe that with our many years of experience in pizza delivery and our hybrid menu, we'll be able to bring something new to the already exciting pizza scene in Croatia,'' noted the entrepreneur.

His colleague in this project, Nils David Gornall, also explained what else is a plus for them. “Our main advantage is that everything is designed as a pizza theatre and everything is created in front of you. People especially like to watch the dough be rolled out,'' he said.

Sviben also noted that Domino’s Pizza carefully selects its locations, and the key to the chain’s success across the world is, in addition to quality, the speed of its delivery, which will be a maximum of thirty minutes. Delivery is eco-friendly as it is done by bicycle.

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July 22, 2020 - Offering Arabic food, Middle Eastern lunches like falafel and dips with salad, or spicy grilled meat wraps, Layali Lebanese holds an authentic provenance.

Once famous mostly as a run of beer bars and backpackers, over recent years Tkalčićeva in the capital's upper town has also become the focal point of international cuisine in Zagreb. But, even among the city's more exotic menu of meals, Layali Lebanese Restaurant stands alone. Offering Arabic food, their light, Middle Eastern lunches like falafel and dips with salad, or spicy grilled meat wraps hold an authentic provenance. Mastermind behind the menu is Zafer Hindash, who comes from the Middle East. He runs the restaurant with his nephew Bernard Solaković. Both practicing Muslims, alcohol is not permitted on their premises, so this is a destination that's all about the food

Zafer Hindash and his nephew Bernard Solaković © Total Croatia News

Zafer: My name is Zafer Hindash and I'm 53. I was born in Jordan but I left there in 1976. I lived almost all my life in Dubai. My brother got a job there, so we moved the whole family. The things I remember from Jordan are the people, the neighbours, the atmosphere. It was a very similar feeling in Dubai when we arrived. There were not so many rich people there back then, unlike today. You cannot imagine what it was like to be there to see all the changes. Really, it felt like everything was running too fast. You could walk down the street one day, come back the next and it would look totally different. A few years ago, I was searching for the next place I could be, for retirement. I went to Turkey, I visited here and I liked it. I left Dubai in 2017 and came to Zagreb.

Bernard: I didn't really know so well Arabic food until Zafer came here. I'd tried things my aunt would make on her visits here from Dubai. The food inside a Muslim home here in Zagreb is different from what you would find in a Catholic home. We brought many dishes here from Bosnia, which is where the older generations of my family are from, so it's very normal for us to make pita and burek at home. Some people might only buy this from pekara. We also make baklava at home and other sweet specialties.

© Layali Lebanese Restaurant

Zafer: I travelled a lot and, honestly, most places are the same; you can find good people everywhere. But, I love it here. The people, the neighbours. The pace of life is more stable here than in Dubai. I am at an age now where you cannot handle everything moving so fast. This is now the best place for me to be.

Bernard: At first, people couldn't understand why we don't serve alcohol here. Tkalčićeva is so famous for drinking. But, after we explained that it is a religious thing, that this is our Hallowed way of working, people accepted it. We offer instead our Arabic teas and coffee.

Zafer: I was in business all my life. This is the first time I worked with food. Before this, it was only a passion in my home. Preparing food is like the sea; so many spices, so many different combinations. The food we make at Layali is the food I love to make at home. I would describe our food as Arabic, but really now, some of it is international. They ask for it everywhere. And not just falafel and hummus. I get shocked when people ask for muhamara or fatoush. I guess food and people travel a lot more these days.

© Layali Lebanese Restaurant

Bernard: It can be tricky to eat out here if you are a Muslim, because so much of the meat here is mixed and it may contain some pork. It's even more difficult if you strictly adhere to religious rules which dictate you can only eat Halal meat. We have a Halal supplier for all of our meat here. There are farms in Croatia and the wider region which provide meats in this way.

Zafer: All of our spices are imported. We tried everything that is on offer here, but nothing is quite the same as back home. All the spices we use are really fresh. We import them from Lebanon or Dubai. We use the fresh parsley from here. In every Arabic home, you'll find a mix of seven spices. It's very important to our cuisine and it can differ from house to house, from region to region. We have different spice mixes for each meat dish we make. We tone down the spices to more suit European tastes but, if someone asks, we make it how we make it back home.

© Layali Lebanese Restaurant

Bernard: In my home, we mostly eat meat. We don't actually eat so many vegetarian main courses. But, when I eat the vegetarian options from Layali, such as falafel, I really don't miss the meat. It really encourages you to eat less meat. I feel lighter - especially when I'm working - if I eat like this. It's perfect for a lunch in this hot, summer weather.

Zafer: If I'm not working, I love to walk. I love the city and I love the weather. I walked all over Zagreb. I don't have a map, I just walk. I love the old buildings and the nature. In Dubai, all the buildings are new. It looks artificial to me. When I'm tired, I stop in some cafe for a drink. Especially I love the rain. When it rains, I walk. If I eat somewhere else, I usually take pizza. It's something we don't make here.

© Layali Lebanese Restaurant

You can find Layali Lebanese Restaurant at Tkalčićeva 59

You can read the introduction to our series on Zagreb international cuisine and the first installment here

To follow our whole series on international cuisine and to follow the Croatian restaurant and gastro scene, keep an eye on our Gourmet pages here

July 20, 2002 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Dubrovnik.

Croatian Aviation reports that at one point, the Turkish national airline had open sales on the Istanbul - Dubrovnik route for August, but now, there are no longer flights on offer.

Turkish Airlines launched a line between Istanbul and Zagreb in early July, and it currently operates in a reduced form, only five times a week.

The second line of this well-known airline in Croatia is the service to Dubrovnik, which operates throughout the year, and in winter with a smaller number of weekly flights. In the summer of 2018, there were as many as 11 weekly flights on the line between Istanbul and Dubrovnik.

The company stopped traffic on this line during the pandemic and has not yet established traffic on it again. Given that the start of traffic has been delayed several times, there is a very high probability that Turkish Airlines will not return to Dubrovnik Airport so soon.

Direct flights on this route are now available for booking from September 1 this year, but, just as was the case with Emirates and the Dubai - Zagreb route, which was completely canceled for this year, there is a very high probability that the same will happen with this line between Dubrovnik and Istanbul.

Thus, we will have to wait and see what will come of the Turkish Airways routes to destinations in Croatia; Dubrovnik and Zagreb.

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July 19, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates from Zagreb and Rijeka airports. 

Croatian Aviation reports that Emirates, a renowned Dubai-based airline, has canceled all flights on the Dubai-Zagreb route for this year.

Before the outbreak of the pandemic, Emirates planned to launch its seasonal route from Dubai to Zagreb with the first day of the summer flight schedule, at the end of March this year. For obvious reasons, this did not happen, and the start of the line was delayed several times. The last plan was to launch the line in September this year.

As this is a seasonal line (it operates only in the summer flight schedule, until the end of October), it was to be assumed that Emirates will not come to Zagreb this year, which has now been confirmed.

Namely, the company canceled all flights on the said route, withdrew sales on all dates, and currently offers flights from Zagreb only in the summer flight schedule in 2021.

Emirates connected Zagreb with Dubai daily, using a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, which was also the largest wide-body passenger aircraft at Zagreb Airport. With the complete withdrawal of Emirates from this line for this year, Zagreb was left without wide-body aircraft. Recall that Korean Air, Air Canada Rouge and Air Transat also canceled flights to Zagreb and used wide-body aircraft to operate them.

In the winter flight schedule on the Dubai - Zagreb line, FlyDubai should return with a B737-800 aircraft, but this will depend on epidemiological measures and travel restrictions.

Emirates canceling this line is another significant blow to Zagreb Airport traffic. 

Croatian Aviation also announced that Croatia Airlines will still launch a direct line between Munich and Rijeka, according to Rijeka Airport. 

Although Croatia Airlines previously closed sales on this route and has not operated on it since the beginning of the pandemic, the company has now released tickets on the direct route between Rijeka and Munich.

The Munich - Rijeka line will operate twice a week, every Thursday and Sunday, on a DashQ400 aircraft, from August 6 to September 27 this year.

This is certainly good news for Rijeka Airport, but it is a smaller number of weekly flights (previously operated on Tuesdays), and given that the route has been announced until the end of September, there is a possibility that it will not operate in the winter schedule, which has been the case so far.

As before, the aircraft will first operate the Split - Munich flight, then Munich - Rijeka - Munich, and then the return flight Munich - Split. The flight schedule remained the same, with the morning departure from Munich to Rijeka, while the return flight to Munich was scheduled shortly after noon from Rijeka Airport.

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July 19, 2020 - In the first game of the Croatian Championship finals, which took place in Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik water polo club Jug defeated Zagreb's Mladost with a better performance in the penalty shootout for a score of 18-16 (5-2, 4-4, 3-4, 1-3 - 5-3) to lead the series 1:0.

HRT reports that Mladost did not have the strength to beat Jug twice in Dubrovnik in just four days after they celebrated to win the Adriatic Regional League title on Wednesday. The Dubrovnik team started the match much better and were up by three points at half time. Mladost was also left without their best player, Milos Cuk, due to a penalty. However, the Zagreb club proved to be more physically prepared again, gained an advantage, and scored five points before the end of the match with a goal by American player Alex Bowen.

In the penalty shootout, all five players of Jug hit the net, while Jug goalkeeper Popadic defended Luka Bukic's shot.

Hrvoje Benic scored five goals for Jug, while Luka Bukic, Konstantin Harkov and Alex Bowen scored three goals each for Mladost.

The finals feature the only two clubs with a double-digit number of Croatian championships won - Jug has 15 titles, and Mladost 10.

The second match will be played in Zagreb, on July 22, starting at 6:45 PM, and the third match will be in Dubrovnik on July 25 (8:15 PM). Possible fourth and fifth matches will be played in Zagreb on July 29 and Dubrovnik on August 2.

Jadran Split and Solaris Sibenik met for the first game in the series for 3rd place on Saturday night at the outdoor Zvoncac pool in Split. The Split club defeated Solaris 13:9. The two clubs will meet for the second match on Monday, July 20, 2020, in Sibenik. 

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