Parting shot

Another perception I had in Zagreb during my visit in the 1980s was that the workers in the very rundown pensionat where I stayed did not need supervision.  In communism, I figured that everyone would understand their roles in the organisation and work for the common good without the need to be pushed along as happened under capitalism!

I also travelled to Plitvice, the lakes resort near to Zagreb, arriving there on one of those helpful buses.  Being October, the place was in process of being boarded up for the winter. Again, my perception being of the staff going about their work without supervision as I imagined they would in a perfect communist world.  That in spite of the fact that there was no food in the hotel, or maybe nothing that anyone wanted to eat.  The heating wasn't working properly and everyone went about in overcoats.  In general, everything seemed austere; I recall the dining room resembling a factory canteen, stainless steel vats and plastic mats.  It's a different world now and Zagreb receives about a million tourists every year.  More than one for each of the 800,000 residents.

This is my parting shot: the Art Pavilion in Zagreb, the oldest gallery in the Balkans.