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2nd May 2006 - Osijek (HR)
Osijek is a heart of culture, pumping Baroque architecture, cafe lined streets and the National Theatre through the veins of its citizens. Try to ignore the fact that McDonalds gives all theatre goers the chance to enjoy a Big Mac and fries with their Swan Lake, having commandeered the downstairs of the HNK building and you could be forgiven for thinking that nothing was amiss in this beautiful city. In fact, almost nothing is amiss, but if you look a little closer you can see plenty of building with scars left from the war, and those which don't have recently been plaster healed, covering the wounds which clearly still exist.
Osijek is a town to have a good time in though, whether that means hitting a smoky backstreet dance club, prancing the cobbled streets of summertime Tvrđa, sloshing from one beer house to another on Radićeva or taking a cosy coffee with someone special in one of the stylish new cafes that have sprung up all over the place. Osijek is certainly my favourite city in Croatia, and I believe this is because the atmosphere is so real, and the people who deliver so much friendliness are just as real. I went with my friends Maja, Daria and Sanja to the just opened Old Bridge Pub, a swanky but at ease pseudo-retro style bar in Tvrđa. With some good value hearty food, and a liquid menu not to be ashamed of either, this is a pleasant hangout with decent music at a volume where you can still chat about what you've been up to in life since the last time you were in town.
Heading home with Azra pumping the car stereo and its time to relax. I sat with Maja and her mum, and as with every time I visit, I enjoyed Slavonian hospitality that would even shame Mother Theresa into thinking she could do more to help those around her. Such fantastic people! But it's time to head upstairs, and sleep well my child, for this is only the beginning.
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