Laser Man Love Cafe

found: Rovinj, Croatia, July 2010

2 9 2010 Beograd: Love Café near the Monument of Vuk




The café has outdoor seating adjacent to a busy street. The seating is enclosed by three rectangular hedges. There is a tram that passes frequently, and it makes a flash of sparks as it passes a certain point. Many people are out, walking this street, and the presence of so many people seems to counter the traffic, in terms of atmosphere, and the scene feels relaxed.

Horns are used liberally in this city, as in, any delay in the flow of traffic seems justification to use the horn. My left hand feels stiff, typing in the cold. I broke my ring finger at the end of July.

The waiter is a stocky man in with a black apron. In the center of the apron is a blue light blue circle with the words, “Love Café” written there. He has short-cropped, dark hair, wears jeans and nondescript white shoes. He asks where I am from, and I say, “Seattle,” and he says, “Ah, USA.” I nod, and he says, “How you like our Serbia?” I answer affirmatively and he goes to place my coffee order. I spot the man on the street with the green laser. He scribbles his laser on buildings and at cars as he paces near the bus stop bench. He wears a black hood and I cannot see his face.

Last night, the girl at the Sun Hostel, near St. Savo’s Cathedral told me that if I take a left out of the hostel door, and walk, I will see lots of big houses. “We’re in the nice part of town,” she tells me. Now I am here and it is cold, so I will move inside. Maps are mostly useless to me in this town because I have not taken the time to learn Cyrillic, and while my map is written with Latin letters, the streets are all in Cyrillic, so you see.