I went to Block 45 for the first time in high school. I thought I got lost, went to another city. And then, another dimension.
Silence, shadows, and the sound of rustling leaves from the tall trees. And those buildings along the Sava river which look like weekend houses, with yellow, blue stripes and various skirts – awnings. The Charm of the Mediterranean on the Sava river.
Tenants have garages that they often turn into car workshops. They hang out, ride bikes, and run for more cakes at Joe’s.
That was the first time I came to Tina, Joe’s daughter.
Anyone who has ever come to Block 45 passed by Joe’s pastry shop and tried their cakes and pastries.
The taste of childhood.
Remember the moments when you watch your grandmother make a cake with ten eggs and two kg of walnuts. They make ice cream from fruits and put apricot jam in “vanilice”. Everything is genuine.
Photos on the wall. Joe on trips, making movies, little Tina with Dad. Big Tina with her children.
The gathering place is always in front of the pastry shop. Tina packs some cake for us, and we go to the Sava river.
Every time we say that we had a great time and that life in block 45 is something special.
On the way back, I never know where I parked the car because all the buildings looked the same, and there were parking lots and children’s fields in front or behind.
The numbers of the buildings are strangely stringed, so the tenants at entrance 102 never know where 104 is.
Then we sit down with Tina for coffee again, and slowly the night falls, and the mosquitoes come out.
