Monday 6th May 2019, 1.15pm (day 2,811)
It was Zagreb, Croatia, to where I was travelling yesterday. When I was here just under a year ago I said it was quite possible I would return, and so it has turned out.
Amongst its other charms Zagreb is home to the quite brilliant Museum of Broken Relationships, where are exhibited objects, and associated stories, that represent break-ups of one kind or another whether through desertion, death, infidelity, geographical separation or whatever. The poignancy of that place — and it can truly be said that of all the museums I have ever been to, this was the first one in which I genuinely inspected every single one of the exhibits on display, and with emotional contact too — was highlighted by then coming back to the Lower Town via one of those panoramic viewpoints of the city (one of its churches in the background) where young lovers choose to set a padlock, to represent their undying commitment. It seems so permanent, yet in the end has taken just a few moments in time. I wonder how many of these can still be said to be meaningful. I’m not trying to be cynical. I genuinely hope most of them still are.
Being 42 