I had one of the more interesting evenings of the year in Zagreb this week with a man who I met the first time the previous evening, and a man who - truth be told - I had absolutely nothing in common with, apart from a friendship with his wife.

Not for the first time this year I found myself in the company of people talking about something about which I had little interest and knew less about, but as I listened, my interest levels increased, and I realised what it was that had me intrigued.

The previous week I had interviewed Split's first barista coffee expert, and the greatest impression he had left on me was not so much the coffee he was talking about, but the passion with which he talked about a subject that he was almost obsessive about.

And so it was in Zagreb. No coffee here, but LEGO. 

I first became aware of Mario's extraordinary creations some months ago after his wife posted the lead picture above on Facebook, advertising a LEGO oil platform for sale. It looked stunning in the photograph, and she told me I would meet Mario when I came to Zagreb.

As luck would have it, he was with a fellow LEGO enthusiast, and while the plan was to have a little communal chat before leaving them to their LEGO, the more I listened, the more I got intrigued. Perhaps it is the start of my mid-life crisis, but I find myself seeking out and enthusing about other people's passions these days. I like a beer and I love to write, but a passion? I have yet to find one, and yet here were two fully grown men discussing LEGO with such enthusiasm that I found myself profoundly envious.  

"You seem really interested. Would you like to see my two creations tomorrow night?"

"That would be great," I found myself answering, not even thinking if I had any prior commitments.

And that is when the real fascination started...  

Mario, such a different man to me - quietly spoken, considered, precise, analytical, very gentle - took me with his LEGO friend to an empty apartment on the edge of the city. He bought beers, took me in and then opened the living room door. And there they were - two exceptional pieces of creativity.

The first, the oil platform I had seen on Facebook all those months ago, was all the more magnificent in the flesh, and I was invited to sit next to it. I had no words, it was simply sensational. I sensed Mario's concern at my silence, but it was due to total admiration of a thing of exceptional creativity.

"How long did it take you?" was my obvious question.

A pause.

"A year and a half." 

It turned out that there were no less than 69 THOUSAND pieces in the construction, but that was just part of the story. I had assumed that Mario had built the platform based on some plans, but the platform was unique. It incroporated features of existing platforms, but was a copy of none. He sat across the room from me, looking at both me and his creation, explaining that although the project had taken 18 months to build, most of that time was spent thinking, planning, calculating - that brilliant analytical and precise mind that I for one did not possess.  

Take the sea below the platform, for example. Four layers of carefully created sea to create choppy waters, each LEGO piece a small individual unit. Extraordinary patience.  

We were joined by a third LEGO enthusiast, and it was a genuine pleasure to sit back and watch them converse and argue the technical merits of Mario's creations, and their admiration was obvious and genuine. Three men in an empty apartment in southern Zagreb were bonding over a passion. That slight jealousy again. But not for long.  

You can check out Mario's oil platform in more detail here.

LEGO forum users have rightly paid tribute to Mario's creative genius:

Amazing creation, very eye catching.

Wow! We´re not worthy... ;-)

Who needs a TV with that sitting in the room? I could look at this for hours! Incredible!

Wowee, is this impressive. Yet another creation that blows my mind--there's so much to look at here it would take forever to soak it all in. Once again, you've outdone yourself on the size, too. Keep building, man; you're extremely talented.

Me and my wife looked deeply in every piece of this masterpiece and we are amazed. You Sir, have our bows.

Of course, that was not the only creation in the room... 

Next to it was a concert stage, with such extraordinary detail that once more I fell silent, once more to Mario's mild concern.

"It is simply amazaing." Inadequate words, but how to put into words something so spectacular. 

Mario has told the story of the creation of the concert stage in pictures here - truly stupendous - check it out. 

"Which one is your favourite?" I seemed to be specialising in the obvious questions that evening.

Pause.

"You have two daughters. Which one is your favourite?"

Great answer and no further questions from me... 

Mario is itching to do a new project, he does not know what yet, but it will not be long before he comes up with something special. The two that he has built deserve a much wider audience than the occasional fat blogger visiting an empty flat in southern Zagreb, and so both creations are now for sale, so that Mario can focus on his next project.  

He obviously wants them to go to a good home, but I would have thought that an oil company should be very interested in the platform for their head office, for example, and there are muliple possibilities for the concert stage. If anyone is interested to know more, contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  and I will put you in touch. 

And thank you Mario, for letting me experience a little of your passion and your world. It was a genuine pleasure. 

(all photos copyright Romulic and Stojcic)

Having worked on promoting tourism over the last few years, I have been very fortunate to meet some very interesting people and see some pretty cool things. I think it is fair to say that there is still so much of this country that is totally unknown to the foreign tourist, and it is one of the things that I love about what I do - every day brings a new discovery.

One of the people I have really enjoyed meeting on that journey is top Croatian photographer Mario Romulic, whose images have been promoted throughout the world, from official pictures for the Croatian National Tourist Board to a recent exhibition on Croatia's EU entry in Brussels.  Along with partner Drazen Stojcic, Romulic has become the timelapse master of the region, and this outstanding compilation, called Timelapse Croatia, set the Croatian media alight when it was released - some 150,000 photos in this clip under 5 minutes - with several commentators hailing it as the best promotion of Croatia thus far. 

Apart from the many things I love about their work, there is perhaps no other photographer which covers the whole country in all its facets so thoroughly. Their photography of the wild Croatian interior is impressive indeed, and so it was little surprise to hear that they had been hired by leading mobile phone network VIP to film a commercial.

Set in the imposing Velebit region, Romulic sets out to capture the wildlife close up, in particular the famous and fearsome Lika bear. Check out the commercial here - it has been a hit on Croatian television. 

A great commercial, and while the bear looked very convincing, the story of the filming of the advert was beautifully told in a series of pictures on the Romulic and Stojcic Facebook page (link below). They give a fascinating insight into just how much technology, professionalism and equipment goes into making an end product which looks so natural and simple.  

For more pictures from behind the scenes of this shoot, check out the Romulic and Stojcic Facebook page. For more info about the photo meisters from Osijek, visit www.romulic.com