Croatia Travel Blog

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. 

Posted under Croatia Travel & Events & Kvarner & Life in Croatia | No Comments »

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. 

Posted under Croatia Travel & Life in Croatia | No Comments »

Croatia became a candidate for EU membership in June 2004, it has seen more than its fair share of ups and downs on the issue of European integration. But in March 2005 its latest down proved very low, with Croatia being bluntly told that it would not be able to enter the EU without dramatic improvements in its handling of the war crimes issue.

Read the full article here
Croatia was once desperate to join the EU mainly to show they weren’t like the savage Balkans but belonged to civilized Europe. It’s amazing how the tide has turned in 10 years. Gotovina is part of it, of course and I confess I don’t see him on the same level as Mladic or Karadzic. As bad as the Krajina operation was, it wasn’t Srebenica by a long shot. When the Krajina Serbs had the region, they made short work of the remaining Croats and were encouraged to do so by the unrelenting propaganda from Belgrade. Their secession was also actively encouraged by Belgrade which was behind them 1000% until. . .they weren’t. They left the Krajina Serbs to fend for themselves knowing that Croatia was never going to permit the secession of that piece of territory. When Gotovina swept in as part of Operation Storm (with American backing, I might add), it was with recruits that were only too aware of the atrocities perpetrated against the mostly elderly Croatian residents who had stayed in the region. That doesn’t in any way justify or excuse their own atrocities but to put Gotovina on the same level as the Bosnian Serbs is simply absurd. Britain and the EU are and always have been determined to see that conflict as “ethnic hatreds” rather than the Serbian land grab it initially was (until Tudjman lined up with the Hercegovina Croats to carve up Bosnia). The war was mainly (although not exclusively) one of Serbian aggression. Recasting it as a conflict where everyone was equally responsible is a means of excusing Europe’s disgraceful passivity in the face of ethnic cleansing. Get over it, Del Ponte.

Posted under Life in Croatia | No Comments »

I’m not prejudiced (really I’m not!) but Slovenians just don’t seem to have the same respect for food that you’ll find in Croatia. The Slovenians do a lot of things well. Actually the main thing they do well at is make money. I’m thinking of the Celica hostel in Ljubljana. Whoa. Who would think of buying a prison with the idea of turning it into a youth hostel? Who? The Slovenians that’s who! It cost the three of us €70 to stay in a miniscule room with shower and toilet in the hall. Of course they could get away with it because hotel prices in Ljubljana are sooooo outrageous.

OK. They know how to make money but couldn’t the Slovenians demand just a little bit more from their restaurants? In Ljubljana I had possibly the worst meal of my life in a place called something like Csonka on Trubarjeva? It was ghastly even though the menu description made it sound good. It involved thinly sliced courgettes and peppers topped with melted cheese but I think the whole thing was cooked in a microwave because the vegetables were still raw ant the cheese barely melted even though it took forever to arrive. Then to add insult to injury, the wine was undrinkable and then they had the nerve to charge extra for the potatoes in this gloppy dish! I said I didn’t order potatoes and he responded “Well, they’re traditional with this dish” so he just added them and then charged for them! As if that wasn’t bad enough, the waitress made a huge “mistake” in changing a €50 bill–in their favor of course.

I can’t understand how a place so terrible could stay in business more than a minute. Food in Croatia may not always be stellar but I have never had a meal that you could actually say was bad in Croatia. I couldn’t have felt more ripped off if they stole my wallet from my pocket.

Anyway, here is my favorite recipe for Brodetto Croatian style.

Posted under Life in Croatia | 3 Comments »