Kostajnica. A pretty little town, by a clear, swift river...



With an old fort on the other bank... The place's been there since 1240, and people of that period loved building forts...



One would think, an ideal tourist destination. Indeed, the Hotel Central, in the very heart of the town, was built in 1905, which means somebody did see the town and say, what an ideal tourist destination! And the town seems to be developing in that direction. But... There are two problems.

First, in this country, tourism means the coast and Zagreb. As far as the central government is concerned, the rest of us can go fuck ourselves (or not, since prostitution is illegal), no matter how attractive places that aren't in Zagreb or on the coast might be.

Second, nine years after the liberation, the town is still full of ruins. This photo was taken there three years ago. The place looks the same even today. And it's on the promenade by the river. In the picturesque Davorin Trstenjak Street, paved with granite cubes in the old-fashioned way, which in any random Austrian town would be the beating heart of the town, full of small souvenir shops, there are houses which look like this...


A lovely house, isn't it? But in dire need of repair...

Or this...


Nothing to do with this one, but to tear it down...

Or this...


Imagine what this door would look like, if you couldn't see the fallen roof of the house through it?

Ugly, isn't it? I realise the restoration of old buildings costs money. But if you want to base your money-making on tourism, you can't skimp on that! Nobody wants to stay in a town full of ugly ruins. Ruins, maybe, but not like these ones. As long as our people don't realise that, and as long as our central government doesn't start showing more understanding for continental tourism, I'm afraid beautiful places like this will be stuck where they are. In a downward-spiral mode.