Sat 13 Sep- lunch at Vidikovac, farwell party for journalitst

Sat 13 Sep- the weather was cool and threatening rain, so we decided to read and work. We stopped by the library so Kiyomi could do some research, and Stan found a Ken Follett book, 'Triple', a Israeli spy vs. Russian spy vs. Egyptian spy vs. the PLO adventure set in 1968 that the librarian kindly let him borrow without any paperwork. Stan saw many familiar book titles and authors, all in Croatian - technical works (Chaos Theory), lots of travel books from Michelin and others, fiction (many mysteries, adventure, horror, romance), and motivational (would you believe Deepak Chopra!).
We had a great lunch at Vidikovac: draft beer, sides of French fries and Swiss chard with potato and garlic, Kiyomi had fried squid and Stan had the Argentina beefsteak. We were completely satisfied with the quantity (stuffed!) and the quality (delicious). The total was $39.
That evening we were invited to the closing ceremonies of the journalist's tennis tournament. There was champagne and wine, and a very nice buffet, including: octopus salad, cheese of various types, tomato and mozzarella salad, canapes, ravioli stuffed with truffle, grilled zucchini and eggplant, and other tasty dishes. We had interesting discussions about the Eastern Europe experience after the fall of Communism and the opening of the countries to the west. The general consensus was that some things are better, some things are worse, but overall it is a good thing. The older people are more nostalgic for 'the good old days' while the young people resent the decline in education opportunities and lack of jobs. Apparently under Communism, everyone had a job and had to work; schooling was free through the university for those capable of passing the exams; companies provided their workers with housing; health care, although basic, was free. On the other hand, there was no motivation to do anything more than 'good enough'; and good public service was unknown; housing was basic and often uncomfortable; transportation was all public with few private autos.