Zagreb courtyard entries

I've always been fascinated with the idea of an interior life.  Courtyards are like the perfect visual metaphor for this fascination of mine and maybe that's why I love them so much.  You can almost gauge the personality of a building and its inhabitants if you are able to see beyond an outer facade.  The older parts of Zagreb have countless such opportunities.  

Each old city block consists of what on first glance seems like an endless wall of apartment buildings but on closer inspection you notice that each doorway represents a single building, each with its own interior courtyard that can only be seen by that apartment's inhabitants.  

However, many of the blocks include open (sometimes arched, sometimes blocky) large passageways that allow you to view the space within.  Sometimes these spaces are used just for parking, sometimes there are stores inside or gardens, or are entryways for more apartments.  I'm posting a variety of these for your consideration below:

This one is a little ominous.

This one is a little nondescript.

Parking occurs in here.

More parking complete with some sort of turn style.

Another kind of blah one.

Finally, something a tad more interesting.

Looks like a hostel is back there.

Kind of mysterious.

Elegant.  This actually might even be a government building of sorts.

Neglected.

More parking.

Oops this is an entrance to the botanical park.

Here is an entryway that advertised an art supply store.  I had to go in.

Down this hallway was a very small store that had mostly oil paints and smelled of turpentine (you would not have like it, Marth!).  I bought two half pans of Windsor Newtons for about $2 each. 

This place was totally trashed but had once been grand.  We couldn't resist checking it out.

Look at the details.

A student was wandering inside with some luggage.  Overall a squandered space.  Sad but still beautiful despite 

The pummeling of time.

Dueling entries.

A random passageway.

More off street parking.

And here once again is Wire.  We stopped in to grab a coffee but were ignored probably because we should have ordered at the counter.

Here's a view of inside Wire's courtyard looking back out to the street.

And just for fun, here is the cutest little window I have ever seen in my life.  I hope to go back and get a better picture of it.

Tomorrow: boxen!