Zagreb

Zagreb is the capital city of Croatia. Half a day in Zagreb is way too long.

A completely meaningless city.

From the first moments, Zagreb seems to ask: tourist, why did you come to me?

In the city, there are posters supporting refugees from the Middle East.

Do the Croatian authorities seriously believe an Iraqi refugee would go to fucking Zagreb?

Architecture.

In Ljubljana, graffiti is seen as a new genre of art, while in Zagreb, it is perceived as a shitstorm.

And a shitstorm it basically is. Zagreb collected all the troubles of Eastern Europe: buildings with crumbling plaster, shabby asphalt, huge wooden platforms of street cafes blocking half of the street, and overall clutter.

By the way, the café platforms are set up not on the sidewalk but on the road. How is that even allowed?

The tram is one of the few pleasant things in Zagreb.

The old center.

The most touristy street. The roof with two coats of arms belongs to the Church of St. Mark. It is said to have been built way back in 1242. Okay.

If everything in Zagreb was built in 1242, one could forgive such devastation.

But everything here was actually built much later.

The main restaurant street of the city. All the cafés open at noon at the earliest, usually even later. Before that time, the street is almost completely empty.

There are a few cozy-looking places, to be fair.

Perhaps in sunny weather, it’s even nice here.

But fortunately, there was no sunny weather.

What I like most about places like Zagreb is the pretty-facade strategy. From the street side, everything is more or less clean, but once you turn from the main street into an alley... and there... the-e-e-ere!

Letter “N”. Navigation.

Letter “R”. Restoration.

Zagrebachka Bank.

A few good streets, after all.

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Yes, Zagreb is something else. If things are so bad in the city center, then what’s happening in the residential areas? Oh dear...

Why did you ask, huh?

The residential areas of Zagreb easily outshine the worst places in Russia (not really).

Here is one of the courtyards. Two giant gray buildings. There is absolutely no room for life between them. The entire area is occupied by parking. Moreover, it is also filled with garages, through which an “underground passage” is carved between the two parts of the courtyard.

I have never seen such a brutal attitude toward public space before.

Children’s playground.

Monstrous buildings.

Entrance.

Hello, Bratislava!

Pain and emptiness in Zagreb.