Archive for the ‘Life in Croatia’ Category
August 24th, 2009 | 
Author: 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 Croatia Islands, Croatia Property, Istria, Life in Croatia, 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.
The wrangle over Croatia’s Sunday shopping ban has gone on for a number of months but now there’s a final verdict: unconstitutional. Ever since the ban went into effect in January 2009, Croatia’s merchants have been agitating for its repeal, arguing that the weak economy could ill afford the loss of jobs that the ban would entail. Supporting the ban was the Roman Catholic church, a potent political force in Croatia. Even though the law was riddled with exceptions designed to minimize the impact on tourists, the owners of various supermarket chains, malls and shops filed suit claiming that the law was an unconstitutional impingement on market freedom. Croatia’s Constitutional Court agreed and struck down the ban in a unanimous decision.
See more on shopping in Croatia.
So far, so good. Swine flu has not yet made an appearance in Croatia despite yesterday’s scare in which a Croatian man tested positive for the disease. It turns out that the London laboratory that tested the sample made a mistake! By the time, the false positive and the correction were published, the sufferer was already feeling much better thanks to his homespun herbal treatment.
Of course, it’s probably only a matter of time until someone falls ill with the malady in Croatia but for now the country is swine-flu-free. See more on staying healthy in Croatia.
