Funky Mladen

We'll start introducing you to a variety of locals by talking to a man whose job is...well, it's introducing you to Zagreb. He's a tour guide, but he's not really into guiding groups through centuries of the city's history year by year and building by building... He can do that, too, but is that what you really want from him? Or would you prefer to raise a toast to life with his homemade jujube brandy, as shown in this photo?

Our first dear guest is Mladen Car, owner of a little business called Funky Zagreb.


What’s the most enchanting thing about Zagreb for its visitors, based on your experience?

They're enchanted with the little-big city in the heart of Europe, with very clean streets and squares (this remark I get to hear a lot). Although it's a continental city, Zagreb has got the Mediterranean vivacity, people are always out in the streets, running into each other and talking on the streets, at a cafe… People of Zagreb are amicable and they're likely to help a foreigner even when he doesn't ask for any help. For example, a married couple from Australia enters the tram and they don't know how to validate the ticket, glancing around in confusion. A passenger notices this, takes them to the ticket machine and shows them how to validate it. 

Dolac open-air market is the number 1 attraction. Why? It's open almost each day of the year and you get to buy fresh groceries directly from the farmers and the so-called kumice vendors. Other cities have open-air markets too, but they're usually open only a day or two in a week. Supermarket culture is much more expanded abroad. Tourists especially love to learn that by making your purchase on regular basis for a few years, you get your own personal kumica (something like a personal doctor, lawyer or banker). I also tell them it's not customary to go home right after you're done shopping. You have to stay and chat for a while over a cup of coffee, a gemischt or a beer. That's why I often sit down for a coffee with tourists, for them to absorb the energy and liveliness of the market. Canadians find it pretty cool that you get your coffee accompanied by a glass of free water!

On the other hand, is there anything you'd kick out off the pocket guides, judging by the lack of interest?

I wouldn't remove a thing, but I'd rewrite the guides and booklets all over again, using new vocabulary in a poetic manner. Plain recitation of years, art styles and names is a bit boring. That's nothing to remember anyway, what you remember are the anecdotes, weird destinies, great injustices and that sort of things. The most poetic brochure I’ve ever read was the one about the island of Rab. I'd also like to see informative signs on the most important buildings in the city with short info about them (as in Split). Also, when it comes to the street names signs, it would be nice to add, for example Nikola Tesla Street – inventor of alternating current.

How did you start Funky Zagreb?

It started in response to a group of tourists guided through Zagreb by a licensed tour guide who was holding an elevated umbrella and listing the surrounding buildings. It was about 4 years ago. Is this what the tourists paid for, I thought? I would have guided them better even though I wasn't a licensed guide at that moment and didn't have that broad of a knowledge of the city's history and geography. I said to myself: this has to be done in a better and more interesting way. That's why I carry around a little photo album of the old Zagreb on my tours with me, to compare past and present. This helps them to make their own conclusions. Such as, was the demolition of the Bakac tower and the defensive wall in front of the cathedral an urbicide, or was it really a sacrifice needed to be done for the progress of the city.

There's another thing I imposed on myself when it comes to 'Funky Zagreb'. There is no question about Zagreb or Croatia I can not find an answer to: that's why my backpack is always filled with road maps, brochures, fliers and booklets. Whenever I find the time, I try to get more information and read tons of online texts.

What's it like to be a tour guide who differs from the majority of Zagreb city guides? Is it like you imagined and expected it to be?

It's all more-or-less like I imagined. I am my own boss, and that is a fantastic feeling. For example, I can make a Sunday out of a Wednesday, and on Sunday, when many people are captured by fear of Monday, I might be hiking the old city Samobor with a little group of people, sitting on a city wall and having a homemade plum brandy while enjoying the view of the Samobor Mountains. If you see me there, you might think I'm having a day off, but the truth is – I am working.

As a guide, what makes you stand out? What types of clients do you attract?

I am oriented to individual guests who come to a destination without planning much what to do/see/eat. This is the type of people I manage to talk into giving over to me, and I promise them one thing: instead of returning home with a thousand pictures and not a single story to tell, they'll be returning home with some 20 pictures, but each comes with a half an hour story. I set the tour so they come in touch with locals as much as possible. Like when fisherman Ricky, born in Australia and living in Hvar, takes us in his fishing boat to the Paklinski islands, and Jerry the dog comes along. On our way back, Jerry is always sitting in someone's lap. I can see then on their faces that this sort of situation completely relaxes them and they thank me for giving them an opportunity to have that experience. I choose the restaurants we eat in by the following principle: friendly owner plus local cuisine and wine (and brandy). I am happy to see that in a rural household an owner has to pick up the cover of peka several times for everyone to have a chance to photograph this ritual and the 'suspense' of what's under the big metal lid. 

Where do you get your ideas? Can you give us an example of how you tailor your guests' stay in Zagreb?

It's quite simple. I just ask them what their interests are. If, for instance, they're not into churches, I just skip those, but we enter more patios and doorways, watching how people live on daily basis. Or I take them to a Konzum store and show them Croatian products. This is how a pack of bay leaves, Istrian surlice pasta and truffle cheese went all the way to Brasil. If someone is a food lover, I get him a piece of cheese from the island of Pag and some prosciutto. And talk him into coming back there after the tour to buy a bottle of Plavac Mali.

How do your clients reach you?

Through my web site www.funky-zagreb.com, Facebook and Twitter account, or at Tourist Information Center on the Jelačić Square in Zagreb. But with almost 200 tours and more than 500 people I've guided so far, I get more and more calls based on word-of-mouth recommendations. This is the best sign I'm doing a good job.

Personally, I think that the two tourist boards of the City of Zagreb and of Zagreb County don't collaborate enough. What is your opinion and does that come as an aggravating circumstance for performing your job?

It's too bad they're not in it together, I agree, but then, it would also be convenient if the office of the Plitvice Lakes came 'in the same package'. However, that's not a problem for me because I’ve gathered all the information, so those taking my tours don't need to go there at all. I even take a step further, giving people advices such as to walk counter clockwise when they get to Plitvice, towards the big groups of tourists. If I am the one to take them to Plitvice, we always stop at a little cheese farm OPG Novkovic on our way back to get a taste of homemade cheese, strukli and to have a glass of natural apple juice. After the turquoise-bluish lakes and a plate of strukli, it all gets easier. 

How do you combine your work and family? Do you ever get a chance to go for a trip with your family? Are you in charge of planning the trip even then?

Sometimes my wife comes along to my excursions outside the city. She animates the guests in her own way, and what they find particularly interesting are her stories about working at the university with students and about the state of the media in Croatia. She's a lecturer in television journalism at the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb. She was even invited to give lectures in Mexico City by a businessman from Mexico.

What's your favourite neighbourhood in Zagreb?

Precko. That's where I grew up. When we first moved in, you could still see horse carriages and common chickens there. There weren't many cars back then, so we often used parking lots as our football fields. The river Sava is nearby and you can still find a pheasant or a rabbit there. There’s a pub in Precko where I don't have to say a word when I enter. In just a few seconds, a beer's coming up, not too cold. And there's always someone there to have a little chat with.

Do you have a favourite excursion destination in Zagreb surroundings?

It's Medvednica. I only started to fully explore it. Up until recently, I knew of nothing more than of having cooked beans in the mountain lodge Graficar. But now I even know there are horned vipers at Bizek (an old quarry where part of the stone for cathedral reconstruction after the 1880 earthquake came from). I even touched one once.

Can you share an idea on how to spend a day in Zagreb? What to see or do?

On the first day, you should take a long walk along and across the city, or take a city tour on bike. A visit to the Dolac market is a must and, if you like fish, I suggest you to have a lunch in the bistro Amfora (first one next to the fish market). Yummy!

And the last question: why do they say that being a tour guide is the best job in the world?

The Forrest Gump line gets closest to explaining it: 'a guiding tour is like a chocolate box', you never know who will join you for sightseeing or a trip. I enjoy meeting new people with their life experiences completely different from mine. We then compare them and learn from each other.