Archive for the ‘Life in Croatia’ Category
January 11th, 2010 | 
Author: At the end of a suspenseful presidential campaign the results are in: the next President of Croatia will be Ivo Josipovic of the center-left Social Democratic Party. With 60.29 percent of the vote, Josipovic handily beat former Zagreb mayor, Milan Bandic who only received 39.71 percent. Mr. Josipovic carried all Croatia’s counties except historically right-leaning Lika-Senj. The Croatian diaspora can vote in Presidential elections and, true to form, voted for the more right-wing candidate.
The largest issue in the campaign was corruption. Mr Bandic was perceived as tainted while Mr Josipovic promised to restore confidence in the government, police and court system. A successful battle against corruption will smooth the way towards Croatia’s eventual accession to the EU.
See more facts about Croatia.
The Croatian government just can’t seem to find the right balance. At the beginning of this year an anti-smoking law banned lighting up in all bars, cafes and restaurants. Despite the obvious health benefits, the lucrative hospitality industry went into overdrive campaigning against the law. As the Croatian economy is touch-and-go right now, the government was under a lot of pressure to bolster anything that kept people spending money. So they caved in–more or less.
Last week a new proposal was cobbled together that aims to satisfy anyone addicted to smoking in bars. Restaurants and all public places will remain smoke-free but bars have a little more slack. Bars larger than 50 square meters must separate their smoking and non-smoking areas and improve their ventilation systems. Smaller places can decide whether or not to allow smoking, but if they do they must ventilate and ventilate well. Plus they must put up signs warning that smoking is dangerous. As if you didn’t know.
See more on smoking in Croatia.
As the Washington Post recently reported, the Croatian economy is facing dire problems. Once the summer tourist season ends, “Croatia’s unemployment will rise and living standards deteriorate”. The unemployment rate which currently stands at 14% will rise to God-knows-what level while labor unions are gunning up for massive demonstrations in September.
Is that a reason to put the family jewels on sale? The Croatian government apparently thinks so. Rumors are that the Brijuni Islands, a Croatian National Park in Istria and former hideaway of late Prez Tito, are on the block. Do you have an extra billion or so euros? These delightful islands could be yours. Actually, the price is a bargain; a couple of years ago the asking price hovered around two billion euros but the property market in Croatia has gone into a serious decline. As the New York Times just reported, prices have fallen 20 to 25% this last year and most real estate professionals expect prices to fall even further.
Under those circumstances, raking in a billion or so euros for the Brijuni Islands is probably not a bad idea. Unlike other Croatian islands, there’s no regular ferry service to the islands as hardly anyone lives there. Although of great historical and even archaeological interest (traces of Roman settlements and dinosaur footprints) the islands have not been a great performer on Croatia’s tourism scene. It could be a prestige location but the hotels need serious work and private accommodation is non-existent. A deep-pocket investor could turn a nice profit.
Posted in Istria, Life in Croatia, National Parks | 
Tags: Croatia Islands, Croatia Property, Istria, National Parks | 
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For a while it seemed that the swine flu bug was going to bypass Croatia. After a scare last month in which a patient falsely tested positive for the virus, it’s now been confirmed that there are three swine flu cases in Croatia. The first case was announced last week and involved a Croatian woman from Split who had recently returned from Australia. Now there’s another Australian in Karlovac and a Brit in Zagreb that have come down with the malady. All three cases are mild and all are under treatment. The Health Minister claims to be fully prepared in case of a pandemic.
Forget about professional reviewers; let’s ask diners what they think. That’s the idea behind “100 Vodećih Hrvatskih Restorana” (Croatia’s Top 100 Restaurants) where visitors to the Croatian gastronomy site, www.gastronaut.hr, were invited to answer questionaires about their dining experiences.
The results are not too surprising if you’ve been regularly dining in Croatia. Let’s take a look:
Top Dubrovnik Restaurants
Atlas Club Nautika: classic, pricey
Gil’s: fusion, modern
Ragusa 2: local, regional
Domino: steak
See more on the best restaurants in Dubrovnik.
Top Split Restaurants
See more on the best restaurants in Split.
Top Zadar Restaurants
See more on the best restaurants in Zadar.
Other restaurants that made the cut include: Boškinac in Novalja; Amfora, Bevanda and Plavi Podrum in Opatija; Komiza in Komiza, Cetiri Ferala in Starigrad, Paklenica; Kapetanova kuća in Mali Ston; Milan and Vela Nera in Pula; Zlatne školjke in Skradin; Stari Puntija, Pod Starim Krovovima and Okrugljak in Zagreb.
