i spent 6 months there also, living in an apartment in the commieblock near the national police station (endless yapping dogs). the way the river is the center of everything makes cycling very practical. the steep sides of the city on teh eastern side are ridiculous though. my number one fave city in balkans tho is sofia. i'd still be happy to live there now except i have plans to move more east. budapest and istanbul are not bad from what i've seen, a lot more time in budapest. but when orban fell that was the end of budapest for me, and my legal situation in croatia is retarded. i didn't think it would be so complicated but let's just say the liberlander who owns where i'm staying - an abandoned place, really, it means i can't get tax registration without moving somewhere else and why would i want to be within shengen in the state of things these days?