I arrived in Motovun around eight o’clock in the evening last night. To my relief, the house was in perfect order. There was electricity and water, to begin with. Everything in town looked closed, but the hotel was actually open. To my surprise, I had a pretty good risotto there, too. But this morning is my real return to the hilltown. As I discovered as soon as I came to the bathroom, there was no water. Motovun! I have no idea what is going on, but the idiots around here do not understand that there is some connection between tourism and, well, water. They dream on about silly things such as golf, but water and electricity they take for granted for some strange reason. At least until they actually spend a few days in this wilderness. I can imagine a variant of Lenin’s formula applied to Motovun’s future: electricity + water = tourism.

Addendum I (October 31, 2018)

So many years later, Lenin’s formula is still a secret to all those dealing with tourism in Motovun and Istria as a whole. There were serious problems with water several weeks ago, but electricity has been conking out quite regularly the last few days. Nonetheless, the banter about Istria as New Tuscany continues unabated as though everything is hunky-dory with the peninsula’s infrastructure (“New Fucking Tuscany,” July 15, 2010; “New Fucking Tuscany, Again,” September 24, 2013; and “New Fucking Tuscany, Again and Again,” March 30, 2016). Chances are that this is how things will remain in spite of the tourist boom ever since Croatia’s accession to the European Union in 2013. The basics such as electricity and water are beyond the ken of those who govern Istria. All they care about are sweet words that cater to their bloated conceptions of their turf. Poor Lenin must be turning in his grave…

Addendum II (May 30, 2024)

Alas, little if anything has changed over so many years! Lenin’s formula is likely to remain a secret to all those dealing with tourism in Motovun and the rest of Istria. Although the notion that this peninsula is New Tuscany has petered out the last few years, the focus on the essentials is still missing. And how. In addition to electricity and water, the Internet connection is failing every now and then. Actually, all too often. Right now, water is in the focus once again, though. It conked out on Gradiziol yesterday, and today it went dry within the town walls and Borgo. Many restaurants and cafés are either closed or they offer only a few basics because water is not available. As luck would have it, today is the Eucharist or Corpus Christi and many tourists from Croatia and the neighboring countries are crowding Motovun since the morning. And I cannot but feel sorry for good old Lenin. His formula is beyond the grasp of everyone and his uncle in these parts. In spite of its disarming simplicity, it is too sophisticated for the local potentates of all descriptions. Tourism, what tourism?