Croatia Travel Blog

Just in time for the summer season in Croatia, Gordan Jerbic, head of the veterinary section at Croatia’s agriculture ministry has banned foreign tourists from bringing their own meat and dairy products into the country.  The ban is effective immediately. Ostensibly implemented “in line with European objectives”  in assuring food safety, it’s interesting that the ban only applies to foreign tourists. Croatians accustomed to loading up their shopping carts with cheaper Italian or Austrian products should have no problem.

Is the issue food safety or the influx of Eastern European tourists who come in caravans laden with their holiday food supply? In fact, Croatians have been grumbling for years about former Soviet bloc visitors who stream into the country and spend no money except for Autocamp fees. “If customs officers are consistent in checking people on borders, it could have some negative impact,” said Jan Papez, spokesman for the Association of Czech Travel Agents.

 As Mr. Papez surely knows, this measure is aimed squarely at his clients who could not otherwise afford a Croatian holiday. See more on travel costs in Croatia.

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“We love tourists and travellers”, said local art historian, Goran Vukovic. “We just need to preserve the unique atmosphere of Dubrovnik that visitors are coming to see”. He was talking about a recent candlelight protest that drew some 2000 Dubrovnik residents to the streets. At issue was the city’s plan to “redevelop” the area around Pile Gate to accommodate the needs of tourists, specifically the ones that come in vehicles. A vast new underground parking garage has already destroyed a 17th-century orphanage outside Pile Gate. Okay, it may not have been one of Dubrovnik’s architectural masterpieces, but still. The new and boxy “Monument to the Fallen Defenders” outside Pile Gate is also no masterpiece, according to locals. Worse, is the plan to expand and modernize the current local bus stop outside Pile Gate to receive the constant stream of tour buses that bring cruise passengers to the town walls. Approaching Dubrovnik’s classic western gate to the tune of rumbling engines is not the way to fall under the spell of Dubrovnik’s charms.

The project is presented as a “solution” but locals feel that it addresses the wrong problem. What about the fact that the Old Town population has dropped to 900 (from 3000 only a few decades ago) as ballooning real estate values encourage citizens to sell and leave? What about the grocers, butchers and hairdressers that cede ground to souvenir stores? Could Dubrovnik have survived earthquakes, occupation and shelling only to be turned into an amusement park?

Concerned citizens have launched a petition drive to block the project and are appealing to the international art-loving community and UNESCO, which named Dubrovnik a World Heritage Site. “This is an appeal by the citizens of Dubrovnik to those of you all over the world who know and love our beautiful, walled town founded in the 7th century” they declared in their petition to “Save Dubrovnik’s Landmarks”. (You can find it here).

Can a group of “concerned citizens” protect their way of life against the inexorable demands of mass tourism? It sounds like a hopeless cause but Dubrovnik has prevailed over much longer odds.

See more about Dubrovnik and Dubrovnik history.

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Parish authorities in Zagreb had a flash of divine inspiration. Cleverly using the local coffee habit, they managed to exponentially increase the number of daily prayers said in Zagreb. At their newly opened “Jedro” cafe in the Jarun district of Zagreb, the “price” of your caffeine boost isn’t in Croatian kuna but in prayers. For example, a cappuccino costs four Our Fathers and a cola drink costs five Hail Marys. They don’t serve alcohol but imagine what they could charge for a beer!The formula has proved immensely popular. The little coffee shop started with five tables but now people at 20 tables are muttering prayers to their coffee. And they really, really mean it. If only this concept could spread to hotels.

Read more about Zagreb’s pubs, cafes and bars.

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If it’s Fat Tuesday it must be the end of the spectacular Rijeka Carnival. Beginning on January 17, most Carnival festivities officially ended on February 3 with the final lowering of the Carnival flag. But it was a wild few weeks. Each year the Rijeka Carnival induces some 10,000 people to don costumes and parade the streets alongside 100 Carnival floats.  There’s a Children’s Parade, and International Parade, masked balls and a prestigious Carnival party not to mention the famous Rijeka Bell Ringers. Naturally, the ever-lively Rijeka nightlife reaches fever pitch until the whole extravaganza ends with the Burning of the Pust. And now it’s all over until next year.

Read more about the  Rijeka Carnival and other sights to see in Rijeka. 

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There’s good news for those who like wine with their meals. Croatia’s famous “zero tolerance” law which placed at zero the acceptable amount of alcohol in the blood of drivers has been modified. Passed in 2003, the law seemed to reduce traffic accidents but was highly unpopular among Croatia’s hospitality professionals. Croatia’s has a thriving wine industry that was none-too-pleased to see tourists drinking soda with their dinner, instead of local wine.

The new law allows drivers over the age of 24 to drink a glass of wine or beer with their dinner as long as their blood alcohol content is lower than 0.5 per ml.

See more on driving in Croatia. 

Don’t think that you will long enjoy a cigarette with your wine or beer however! Part of the same legislative package  aims to put an end to smoking in bars and restaurants by the end of 2008. A 2006 law banned smoking in workplaces but it was not widely enforced. Implementation of a law banning smoking in public places is more or less required for Croatia to become part of the EU but the one out of four Croatians who smoke are most displeased. Which leaves three out of four who will certainly love the overall improvement in air quality.

See more on smoking in Croatia. 

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