Another wonderful day. And so I decided to go around town and take pictures of all the monstrosities built to date. That is, all the signs that the historical preservation of Motovun is failing, and badly, in spite of the Croatian law that considers it inviolable. As a matter of fact, the town is on the list of localities known as “the zero category” in legal jargon. Which is to say that no intervention into the historical heritage is allowed. None whatsoever. The zero category, my ass. My pictures are sufficient proof of the devastation allowed, if not actually encouraged. Spanning buildings completed within thirty to forty years, but mostly in the last ten to twenty years, they show that Motovun is at the mercy of an incompetent administration from top to bottom. Sadly, the only thing I can do is take damned pictures. All else is out of my reach. Within a few years, it will be out of everyone’s reach, as well.

Addendum (December 22, 2007)

In addition to my many dear friends around the world, who regularly get my writings as electronic postcards, guess who else will get my snail-mail postcard with this piece pasted on it? The one and only Ivan Jakovčić, the governor of Istria, of course! I simply had to send it to him, as a Christmas present of sorts. If I could only see him stumbling upon my misguided missive in his voluminous mail on Monday, Christmas Eve… Alas, I can imagine his reaction well enough: “Fucking asshole!” And I can imagine the postcard’s hurried flight in the general direction of the dustbin. But he will miss it, I am more than sure. He will be way too angry for his customary precision. Swearing all the while, he will have to get up from his cushy armchair, pick the postcard up from the floor, crumple it with both hands, and jam it into the old dustbin. The zero category, as the law providentially stipulates.