Current mood:

mellow

Baroque music and reforms in the new ancient city
The weekend was rather busy as we've tried to keep our days interesting for the kids as well as going out every night to one of the many clubs and bars in the historic center of the city.




Saturday it rained and we noticed a drip in the entrance hallway in my mother's apartment. Aside from this little defect, my mother has managed to create a stunning living space in a very central location, fully rennovated (including her own gas mains). The apartment building dates from about 150 years ago, possibly more.



The whole area it's in contains buildings and churches dating back as much as 500 years. There are also a grandiose Jewish synagogue and a two-towered Serbian church less than a block away. Makes for an interesting walk around the block, at the feet of these stone building erected once as symbols of the ruling classes of the city. Down the street there's an internet cafe where youths play video games and curse loudly and the select Corso bar, which outside has yellow-green latin-style walls, and inside has a cigar bar with some very fine international selections. When I walked in on Friday afternoon, in one of the velvet chairs was sitting a young woman holding a lovely kitty and chatting with a friend over drinks. In typical fashion, the bartender looks and smiles, neither asking for an order nor allowing you to slip back out without one.

That night Lina and I hanged out at Baroque, a dark red-velvet cafe in one of the corners of the grand union square. This square is the heart of the city, it is a widely open plazza at least 200 meters on each side.




From its spider-like position, dozens of little streets spread out in a medieval maze.

At Baroque we were drawn in by the brick arcades and heavy curtains, interspersed with some surreal velvety paintings of horned sofas, angels, disembodied labia and pensive sheep. We sat in a corner and soaked in a jazzy mix of balkanic and spanish trance, while the barman alternately pressed juice, served me a belgian beer at 1/5th the price I am used to, smoked a few cigarettes and stopped over at a few tables to chat with the customers. We walked the two blocks home a short while after midnight.

Flashback to 22 years ago. The dark ages of communism were drawing a tighter noose around the neck of civil society. Not only was there no sign of prosperity to be found anywhere, but any future prospect was to be firmly repressed for the sake of the political hegemony.



It promptly fell over only 7 years after our departure. The initial reform years were a haze of repercussions and regressive movements which cast serious doubts about a true reform and a democratic society. Even today, the majority of people believe that things are worse in many respects and that it is impossible to claim that overall its better.



For some it is better, for many it is much worse. I cannot contradict them, because I am one of few whose family has property, income, friends and we don't even live here. So while it may appear like absolute improvement to me, I am not facing their reality and their difficulties. So what are the true feelings and hopes of those who are directly concerned?

Will this be a capitalist jungle where multinationals grab the best assets and then monetize them while expanding their customer base in new markets? Or will it be a socialistic democracy where the true potential of the country is slowly reached by hard work and communal efforts?



Or will there be confusion and see-saw political scandals such as the ones in the last 15 years of freedom, while a few smart entrepreneurs take advantage of the rising tide of wants and needs?