Zagreb is a city that loves to live outdoors and enjoys socializing. With the arrival of warm weather, the streets and squares of the Lower Town spontaneously turn into a big living room, and the citizens move their social life to cafés and parks, to terraces and benches. In Zagreb, an invitation to coffee is actually a secret code, an invitation to a long, casual and relaxing meeting under the open sky.

Špica or „the peak“ is the local expression for Saturday morning downtown promenade, when Zagrebians rush out in their finest attire, to see and be seen while having a cup of coffee and a chat. The hub of this ritual is Cvjetni trg (the Flower Square), as well as the streets around it. The other popular area for long coffee sessions is the lively Tkalčićeva Street. Although, when the weather is sunny and warm, all squares and streets in the centre get filled with people and positive energy any day, any time. Everyone can find the perfect spot to suit their needs.

It is not hard for visitors to blend in, adopt this mandatory Zagreb ritual and forget all worries. Simply said, resistance is futile and it is best to go with the flow. The city’s culture of socialising outdoors is a welcome oasis of normality in these weird times of cautiousness and social distancing. Even though the whole city seems to follow the same pattern of enjoying small things in life, there is definitely enough room for everyone.