Learn to salsa? Practice your groove moves? The Salsa Festival in Rovinj will be the center of salsa on the Adriatic for seven days this summer. Beginning on the 19th and ending on the 24th of June, the ancient, hilly streets of Rovinj will throb to a Latin beat for the eighth edition of the Croatian Summer Salsa Festival. In ten venues around town, there will be workshops in Cuban salsa, Mambo, Rumba, Cha-Cha, Linear salsa and other forms such as Zouk and Bachatango. Instructors and artists from around the world will be on hand and nearly every night there’ll be a party, concert or show culminating in a party boat trip on June 25. Rovinj is one of the most delightful towns in Istria at any time but now with this Salsa Festival, who would want to stay at home? For information and online reservations click here.
With such a bountiful natural heritage to choose from, where do Croatians go when they want to destress, wind down, relax? If it’s just for a short break, a recent survey showed that the number one choice of Croatians is the stunning Plitvice Lakes National Park. With 16 lakes and myriad waterfalls, that can’t be a surprise. And Plitvice Lakes is stunning to visit any time of the year from the snows of winter to the greenery of summer. The second choice was the thermal spa resort of Sveti Martin in Medimuska County, not far from Zagreb. The third choice was Istria, another all-year destination. In the top eight measured, nowhere was Dubrovnik, the unquestioned first choice of foreign tourists. Why? I suspect price has something to do with it.
Posted in Life in Croatia, National Parks, Plitvice Lakes
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February 24th, 2012
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Tags: National Parks, Plitvice Lakes | 
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The catamarans from Venice to Croatia are a delightful and easy way to augment your Venice trip with a jaunt to Istria or to hop over to Venice from your base in Rovinj, Porec, Pula, Rabac, Umag or Mali Losinj (which is actually in the Kvarner region). Beginning on April 18 and running until October 6, these passenger ferries whisk you over the Adriatic in comfort in a trip that lasts from about 2 1/2 to 4/12 hours. The frequency of the other ferries depends upon the season. The ferries run to some destinations daily in July and August. New this year is a route to Umag but only weekly in the high summer season. See more about ferries to Croatia
Check the schedules and book online:
Posted in Croatia Ferries, Istria, Porec, Pula
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February 17th, 2012
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Tags: croatia ferries, Istria, Kvarner, Pula, Rovinj |
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Valsabbion Restaurant
For years Valsabbion restaurant, just outside Pula, has been considered one of Croatia’s finest gastronomic restaurants, maybe even the finest. Part of the Valsabbion hotel, the restaurant was known for its creative, even daring dishes, a rarity along the Croatian coast where expertly grilled fish is usually enough to please the crowd. Yes, it was pricey relative to other local restaurants but the quality was superb. A similar meal would cost many times more in neighbouring Italy. What happened? In an interview, owner Sonja Peric remarked that the cost of running such a restaurant was extremely high and the profits were negligible. It seems that the local population does not have the financial means to support such a restaurant and tourists are too easily satisfied with a seaside inn serving inexpensive food.
It’s a serious blow to the Croatian gastronomic scene just at a time when Croatian food and wine is starting to attract international attention. Yes there are other restaurants in Pula but none, frankly, at that level.
St Blaise
Dubrovnik in February? But of course. In the beginning of February Dubrovnik denizens turn out in force to celebrate their beloved city. The occasion is the Festival of St Blaise (Sv Vlaho), the patron saint of Dubrovnik. Statues of St Blaise dot the walled city and of course there is the splendid Church of St Blaise at the beginning of Stradun. It was to St Blaise that fearful residents prayed during the bombing of Dubrovnik in 1991.
Before the official opening of the festival on February 2 there are several weeks of special concerts, plays and exhibitions centered on the theme of St Blaise. February 3 is the feast day of St Blaise and for the two following days religious and secular events mark the special connection of Dubrovnik with Saint Blaise.
Here is the schedule of events for this year’s festival:
Thursday, February 2, 2012
8:00 Commemoration of the Defenders of the City of Dubrovnik
Memorial Site- Boninovo Cemetery
8:30 A Millennium Photograph of Students and Employees of Dubrovnik Grammar School- author Šime Strikoman
Organized by Dubrovnik Grammar School
Banje Beach
9:00 Manifestation on the Occasion of “Bitter Orange Day“
Organizers: “Dubrovnik Orange” and “Deša – Dubrovnik“ Associations
Arcades of the Sponza Palace
10:00 Wine Feast
Organizers: Festa Dubrovnik, Chamber of Economy and Chamber of Crafts of Dubrovnik and Neretva County
Luža
14:45 Dubrovnik Brass Band Parade playing marches to mark the occasion with Cathedral choir
Stradun
15:00 The Banner of St. Blaise gathers the City Banners
In front of St.Blaise’s church
15:30 Ceremonial Opening of the Festivity of St. Blaise
In front of St.Blaise’s church
16:30 Ceremonial Session of the Dubrovnik City Council with the presentation of the civic awards
Marin Držić Theatre
17:30 Ceremonial Evening Holy Mass – Concert with Cathedral Choirs
Cathedral
20:00 “Candlemas Dinner“
Fort Revelin
Friday, February 3, 2012
6:00 Patriotic Hymn
Firing Gun Salutes by the Dubrovnik Musketeers
Great Pier in the Old City Port
7:00 Patriotic Hymn – Dubrovnik Brass Band
Stradun
10:00 Ceremonial Holy Mass, followed by a Procession
In front of the Cathedral
15:00 Linđo –National Dance
Organized by Association “ Dubrovačko Primorje Wedding Party“
In front of St.Blaise’s church
15,30 Banners pay Homage to the Cathedral, Bishops and Masters of Ceremony
16:00 Tombola / Raffle
In front of Luža
20:00 Saint Blaise and Dubrovnik – Music with Lyrics by Dubrovnik Authors
Organized by: Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra
Franciscan church
22:30 Prljavo kazalište/ Dirty Theatre Concert
Organized by Culture klub Revelin
Fort Revelin
Saturday, February 4, 2012
9 :00 Shabby Chic Technique Workshops
Organized by “Pitar/ Flower-pot” Association
Girls’ Hostel
19:00 First Concert in the Series ” The Music Salon“
Organizer:Art Organization “Sorkočević Quartet“
Saloča od zrcala (Salon of Mirrors)
19:30 Concert performance with students from Dubrovnik’s twin city of
Rueil-Malmaison
Organized by the City of Dubrovnik
Concert space in the former Salt cellar, Fort Revelin
20:00 Concert from the cycle “100 Concerts to the Memory of Armenian Genocide Victims “
Organizer: Komitas Quartet
Franciscan Church
21: 30 Dražen Zečić Concert
Organized by the City of Dubrovnik
In front of the Cathedral
Sunday, February 5, 2011
7:30 Patriotic Hymn – Dubrovnik Brass Band
Firing Gun Salutes by Dubrovnik Musketeers
Great Pier in the Old City Port
8:00 A Gathering of Banners
In front of St.Blaise’s church, Departure for Mount Gorica
9:00 Holy Mass on Mount Gorica
12:00 Return of the Banners to the City and Closure of the Festivity of St. Blaise
In front of St.Blaise’s church
