I got talking to Hannes a lot about Croatia and communism in these countries and stuff like that. It was really interesting what he had to say. He was obviously a guy who knew a lot about things like this and i heard with all ears about various things regarding communism and the eastern bloc countries.
One thing that came out of the break up of the iron curtain and communism was the sense of nationalism in these countries. The people in Croatia are insanely nationalistic. You feel it as well. There is always a hesitation or reservation with foreigners. It is so strong as well. It is the way people dont help you, look at you, and dont move to avoid you on the street. Only small things i know, but all together man feels these. It is really incredible. It is also seen in the architecture. Croatia is a perfect example. The inner city is always very very impressive, extreemly well built and planned. In this case, the influence comes from Austria, which means the centre of town is a mirror of Graz. But once man ventures only 5 minutes away, these huge, delapidated, ugly and indentical buildings, all in seriously disrepair, fill the streets. The people live in these concrete monstrosities like sheep, no indentity, no face, all the same, no expression. It is incredible. If you look in the hills above Rijeka, you see just huge apparment blocks, all the same, no colour, just concrete. It is like a battery farm. I know that is a really insensitive and gross way of putting it, but that is how i saw it. I was so glad i could have seen this though. All the same, i loved Croatia.
The next day would be by far the best day i had in Croatia. On that day Renaud came to see me. We had always been planning to catch uo somehow and we had no idea where or when, but we would try and make it happen. He was in Greece for the Olympics, and he was actually planning to come and see us in Turkey, but things changed and we ended up decided that it would be better in Croatia. He probably worked out the hardest way of getting there, but got there in the end. We picked him up at the bus station. I was so happy to see him, I had said that many times before, but i had missed my parents heaps, and it was so good to see them, but there was something else about my brother, maybe the fact that i had a bond with him, unlike that with my parents. Maybe it was that i did really get to see him so much in Sweden, i dont know, but i was so happy to see him.
We spent the next 3 or 4 days, just talking and talking. It was so good to talk through stuff with him. He understands me really well, and he listens to what you have to say, he has an incredible skill at that. He also was good fun to be around, as he always is. I was so happy to see him. We phoned mum and dad and spoke to them, it was a wierd kind of family reunion. But it was good to have a beer with Ren, something i had really missed doing.