Recently pronounced Zagreb Person of the Year, Ivana Kalogjera Brkić is a journalist known for her tireless and devoted work supporting women with cancer through the We’re Not Alone association. 

What are your favorite spots in Zagreb, where you go to draw strength and inspiration?

When I seek quietude and beauty, I go to the Botanical Garden where I am inspired by the calm, colors and harmony. I also like to visit Maksimir and walk along the lakes and in the forest; that’s where I easily disconnect from the city’s noise. When my kids were little, I often took them to the Zoo.  

What do you love about May in Zagreb? 

I love May because it’s when Zagreb looks like a work of art. It’s like it finally starts breathing after winter. Everything is lighter, warmer, softer… the parks are green and full of life, and café terraces brim with life. I love that feeling of awakening, so I always find fresh inspiration in May. 

If Zagreb were a person, how would you describe them?

If Zagreb were a person, I think it would have an old and slightly nostalgic soul, but a youthful spirit which loves to play and explore. It would love long walks, books, chats over coffee… And It’d be a good friend who can keep secrets and surprise with little treats when least expected. 

Where do you like to take your favorite people?

When I want take my dear ones somewhere in Zagreb, I choose those hidden corners free of crowds and noise, like a bench in the Botanical Garden or the A’è  café in Radićeva, which has a terrace with the prettiest view. 

As a journalist, what would you say is a story yet untold about Zagreb?

I think that its untold story is the quiet, everyday one – about the people who bring it to life, the little rituals that connect us to it, the emotion it carries beneath the surface. In the late 80s, when I started freelancing at Večernji List, we had to go to the city center every day – to Dolac, Ban Jelačić square, the Upper Town – and write an everyday miniature. It wasn’t easy, but I am grateful to my editor for that assignment. It is exactly those small, seemingly invisible layers that make Zagreb real, warm and ours.