I live in Novi Zagreb

This city has three layers. There is the old town or Upper Town, which is very old (13^th century, I think) and was fortified (one of the gates is on the Zagreb flag) and is built high on a hill. There is the downtown or Lower Town, which dates from the 18th-19^th centuries and is much like any other European city. Neo-classical buildings and elegant streets and boulevards characterize it, and there are a series of squares lined with shops and cafes. Some of the older cafes are much like those in Vienna. Old men and women sit there for hours over a coffee reading the newspaper or gossiping. Waiters are dressed formally. The coffee is excellent. I learned that you order the Italian way—Espresso, Machiatto, Latte, etc.

Then there is Novi Zagreb (new Zagreb), which is built on reclaimed marshland and is characterized by the kind of monster apartment building in which I live. This is the view from my window.

I look north, towards the centre of the city, and I am assured that when the weather clears I’ll be able to see more of the “Zagreb mountain.” It has been cold and foggy/overcast since I arrived, with occasional appearances of the sun. Spring has not yet arrived, but it will in a couple of weeks.

Today I started to work, which feels good and right, even necessary. It took a while to get the Internet working on a mobile plug-in device, and it was quite crazy-making not to have ready access to the Internet, as I am now so accustomed to having, but with persistence…and a bit of help from a computer shop guy…I got wired at home. Or at least sometimes. It seems very temperamental.

No my dears, getting wired is not the same thing as getting wasted on wine, though the wine is cheap and excellent! And like most sensible societies everywhere, it can be bought at any food shop. Because wine is sustenance.

Živjeli!