Dubrovnik - Croatia >>> BLOG

The lure of the city of Dubrovnik is obvious to anyone traveling along the Croatian coast.
The shelling of the city in 1990s shocked the world, but it has bounced back vigorously from those dark and dangerous days. Replacing the honey-colored terracotta roofs with matching tiles was problematic, and today's visitor notices a patchwork of colors while walking around the city walls.. Shells struck almost 70 percent of the buildings in the old town -- all in all, there were over 300 direct hits -- and with the restoration completed, architects have turned their talents to fortifying the city's handsome structures.
Dubrovnik has regained most of its original grandeur, and the M/Y Monet allows its passengers enough time to explore the city with English speaking guides.
Comparisons with Venice are inevitable. In the Middle Ages, Dubrovnik's sophisticated diplomacy created a fully independent city-state that rivaled Venice's wealth and its vibrant maritime trade.
Today, tourists dine on lobster, freshly caught, attend symphony concerts under a brilliant blue sky or simply sip strong coffee at the local Starbucks, a sidewalk cafe, observing the non-stop colorful passing parade. The local public relations machine boasts that the sun shines over 2,500 hours a year (whatever that suggests), but Dubrovnik is an eye-opener even in inclement weather.
A few hotels are being constructed creating what is dubbed a "Dubrovnik Riviera." Fortunately, there are no mega-resorts of the Miami variety or sprawling tourist settlements, as there are on other parts of the Croatian coastline.
Thus, mass tourism has been discouraged for the moment and individual travel is so much more rewarding.
However, in the summer months, large cruise ships drop thousands of passengers into the city, and there is always a chance that in the years ahead, Dubrovnik may just take on the role of an Adriatic theme park. During this winter, the city fathers are paying attention to fortifying its structures to withstand the numerous earthquakes that have ripped through the area for centuries.
Just 10 years ago, a milder quake destroyed a number of homes, reminding the inhabitants of the precariousness of this fragile town of immense charm.
Poetry is truth in its Sunday clothes, and a host of poets have been inspired by the Dalmatian coast, which lures visitors by the dozen each summer. One lyrical local axiom proclaims, "I know paradise now -- I know Hvar." Not unlike Dubrovnik, Hvar is a city devastated by the war.
Here, the entire area takes time out for its afternoon siesta. Hvar is a screen behind which the creatively poor and the wealthy can escape and be given their modicum of privacy.
There are no paparazzi, fans or autograph seekers. Film stars and tycoons arriving on their splendid yachts are given a wide berth and left to their own devices. It is the Dalmatian coast at its best and certainly more worthwhile during the off shoulder season.

For more information on Croatia, please visit www.croatia.hr

Posted by Tomi at 01:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Celebrating Christmas has been a prominent festivity among Croats dating back to the ninth century when Croats accepted Christianity.
Due to different geographical and historical influences varying Christmas customs have developed over the centuries such as variations in carols, sayings, dishes, and decorations.
When travelling through Croatia at Christmas time, you will hear different carols and be offered a wide variety of foods, but all Croats will wish you a Merry Christmas in the same way— 'Sretan Bozic' TRADITION
On St. Lucy's Day (December 13), the mother of the family plants wheat grains in a round dish or plate and are left to germinate.
By Christmas Eve the sprouted grains are around 8 inches tall and are tied in a red, white and blue ribbon which represents the Croatian trobojnic.
On the 6th of January a feast is held for the Three Kings.
The Croatians believe that the braking of bread is a symbol of Eucharist.
The children of Croatia don't receive presents from Santa Clause as we do, but receive gifts from different Saints depending on where they live, for example if you live northern and central Croatia you traditionally receive gifts from St. Nicholas and if you live in southern and north-eastern Croatia you traditionally receive gifts from St. Lucy.

RELIGION
For the Croats, Christmas is a time of Spiritual Celebration not as a time of giving relatives and friends gifts.
During the time of Christmas, the Croats celebrate by having many feasts to celebrate and remember the history of the Croatian Christmas.
The Croatian people have great respect for their beliefs and traditions, which makes their religion so important to them.
As a custom in most Catholic countries most people don’t eat meat on Christmas Eve but instead eat fish and other unrelated meat products.

FOODS
On the night of Christmas and other such feasts, the Croatians indulge food such as stuffed cabbage, sarma, turkey with zagorje noodles, purica, smlincima, suckling pig, odojark, Dalmatian pot roast, pasticada, walnut roll, orahnjaca, poppy seed roll, makovnjaca, fritters, fresh bread or badnji kruh.
When all the main courses have been finished off, they sit down for their dessert that varies from many things; however, the most common is the fig cake.
On Christmas Eve Croatian people cook up dishes such as:

Cod fish – Bianco and biudetto
Bakalar- Bijeli I Biudet
Smelts and salted sardines
Girice I salane srdele

And on the night of Christmas they cook meals like:
Stuffed cabbage
Sarma
Turkey with zagorje noodles

PRESENTS
Although gifts are given on Christmas day, this is not the main gift-giving day for Croats, who view Christmas day more as a holy day of spiritual celebration.
Children in Croatia receive gifts from saints, depending upon where they live. In southern and north eastern Croatia, St. Lucy traditionally brings gifts to children, while in northern and central Croatia, St. Nicholas brings gifts.
The celebration of St. Nicholas Day (December 6) as the main gift-giving holiday of the Christmas season stems from the European Catholic church. In North America and Western Europe, the Evangelical church transferred this tradition to Christmas day, transforming St. Nicholas into Santa Claus.
Although Croatia has also adopted the tradition of giving gifts on Christmas day, these gifts are said to be brought by the baby Jesus.
According to Croatian tradition, on the eve of St. Nicholas Day, children polish a pair of boots and place them on a window sill for Saint Nicholas to fill; however, what they are filled with depends on how well behaved the child has been.
Children are reminded that instead of candy, fruit and gifts, their boots could be filled with switches, which may be put to use! The Christmas festivities officially end on the Epiphany, when priests visit their parishioners to bless their homes. Families take down Christmas trees and decorations on that day as well.

Posted by Tomi at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dubrovnik is the spiritual, cultural, artistic and inspirational symbol of the artists. Numerous museums and galleries reveal a portion of its rich History and glimpses of the present.
The theatre emanates with the spirit of the most famous Dubrovnik playwriters; Marin Držić, Ivan Gundulić and Ivo Vojnović.
Music reaches perfection through performances held in the Dubrovnik churches and atriums by the orchestras. The most important cultural event is the over fifty year-old Dubrovnik Summer Festival.
Open-air theatre performances, concerts, recitals and happenings with world-famous personalities are held throughout the forty-five days of the festival.

Folklore and music ensembles perform in front of the Church of St. Blaise at the end of August.
Sundays, many inquisitive passers-by are drawn towards the picturesque Croatian national costumes, songs and dances.

Dubrovnik guests are entertained by open-air concerts performed by brass bands and majorettes, and in the typically unique Dalmatian manner, by vocal ensembles.
The Dubrovnik climate in spring and autumn ensures the enjoyment of these open-air Sunday shows.

During Dubrovnik winters, visit the numerous galleries and become acquainted with the works of old masters, and with that of contemporary Dubrovnik, Croatian and international artists.
Weekly, concerts are held by musical ensembles, including chamber concerts and concerts with notable soloists and conductors.

The Christmas and New Year holidays are filled with traditional "caroling" through the city streets and houses, while in Dubrovnik attand the Midnight Mass in one of the city's churches.
New Year's Eve on Stradun is an agenda that is definitely not to be missed, with its ignited atmosphere and endless entertainment, and the countdown and fireworks streaming down the Bell Tower.

Dubrovnik for the Feast of Patron saint St. Blaise in a special manner tribute to the saint that has stood watch over Dubrovnik for centuries.

Right after the festivities of patron saint St. Blaise begins the Carnival time and close on Whit Sunday that denotes the begening of the Lent and the preparation for Easter.
At carnival time no one in Dubrovnik can be bored or depressed.
For " when the Latins go creazy", the whole world goes after them... in the past, the festivities seen in the neighboring non-Christian Bosnia and Herzegovina as the days when " the Latin go creazy "...

Posted by Tomi at 04:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dubrovnik, Croatia -- Limping noticeably, Kate Bagoje leads me across the bustling market square outside her office.
There's something she wants to show me on the baroque facade of St. Blaise's Church, named for Dubrovnik's patron saint.... ...."There," she says, pointing to a pockmark. "And there. And there. And there, and there and there."
They're divots from bullets fired by Serbian soldiers from the hillside above Dubrovnik while they laid siege to the walled medieval city.
But the fact that Bagoje had to point them out was a testament to the remarkable job she and her team of international restoration experts have done to repair the damage from the thousands of mortar shells, rockets and machine-gun bullets that rained down on the UNESCO World Heritage site for five months in 1991 and 1992.

Last week marked the 10th anniversary of the Dayton Accord, which formally ended the brutal and often sadistic spasm of violence resulting from the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia.
Evidence of the war -- abandoned, roofless homes, weed-covered debris piles -- remains visible throughout the Balkans like an open wound, but Dubrovnik's medieval Old Town stands whole and, to the casual eye, almost untouched.

It's only when you walk the city ramparts and look down on the red tile roofs that you begin to comprehend the scale of the damage.
More than 500 buildings -- 70 percent of the total -- sport bright new roofs.
Back on ground level, if you look carefully, you can see pieces of new stonework that haven't yet weathered to match the old.
Here and there, you encounter a statue missing an arm or a constellation of bullet marks on the side of a church, but overall Dubrovnik is in very good shape, all things considered.

Estimates of the damage range from $50 million to $600 million, depending on whether you count the newer part of town outside the walls.
The money has come from Croatia; UNESCO, the United Nations organization charged with protecting World Heritage sites; and nations all over the world, including private organizations in the United States.

As you ride the shuttle bus in from the airport, 12 miles down the coast, you pass through the scene of some of the most vicious fighting.
But today, new hotels and vacation villas are sprouting up everywhere as the Dalmatian Coast regains its prewar status as Europe's latest seaside glamour spot.
As the bus rounds a final bend, you're met with the gasp-inducing view of the old city that has left generations of writers scrambling for superlatives.
All George Bernard Shaw managed to come up with was the rather lame "heaven on earth." But David DeVoss nailed it nicely, describing it as "rising from the rocky coast like an Adriatic Camelot."

On my visit last year, I checked into my hotel -- which, like most in Dubrovnik, lies outside the city walls -- and hurried off to meet Bagoje, who led the restoration effort.
As I passed through the Pile Gate, I paused between the inner and outer walls to read a big plaque.
"Damages caused by the aggression on Dubrovnik by the Yugoslav army, Serbs and Montenegrins, 1991-1992," it says in five languages above a detailed map of the Old Town. Dots, triangles and red squares indicate various forms of damage, and well over two-thirds of the buildings are marked.

"There was no military purpose at all for what they did," Bagoje said as she welcomed me into her office in a 15th century palace. "They wanted to destroy our culture, our heritage and our history."

Her home outside the city walls took two direct hits, one while she was in it. Fourteen years later, she still walks with a limp from her injuries.

Bagoje, her colleagues and representatives from UNESCO began work on the restoration early in 1992, not long after the bombardment began.
Three times during lulls in the shelling, she went up on the city walls to photograph the damage. "I could have been shot," she said. "I was so stupid then."

Under cover of darkness, she eluded the Serbian naval blockade to sail out of the harbor in a small boat and investigate quarries on tiny islands near Korcula.
The only way to match the stone perfectly, Bagoje explained, is to get it from the original quarry.
Those sites had been abandoned, but she had better luck on the island of Brac, which supplied some of the high-quality limestone for Dubrovnik and, as all Croatians know, for the White House in Washington.

Posted by Tomi at 03:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia.
Following World War II, Yugoslavia became an independent communist state under the strong hand of Marshal Tito.
Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before occupying Serb armies were mostly cleared from Croatian lands.
Under UN supervision the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998.

Economic Overview:
Before the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the Republic of Croatia, after Slovenia, was the most prosperous and industrialized area, with a per capita output perhaps one-third above the Yugoslav average.
The economy emerged from its mild recession in 2000 with tourism the main factor, but massive structural unemployment remains a key negative element.
The government's failure to press the economic reforms needed to spur growth is largely the result of coalition politics and public resistance, particularly from the trade unions, to measures that would cut jobs, wages, or social benefits.
As a result, the country is likely to experience only moderate growth without disciplined fiscal and structural reform.

Basic Travel Information:
Croatia is a moderately developed nation in transition to a market economy. Facilities for tourism are available throughout the country, and the Adriatic coast is an increasingly popular tourist destination.

Travel Requirements:
A passport is required for travel to Croatia. A visa is not required for U.S. or some European passport holders for tourist or business trips of fewer than 90 days.
See the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for more information.

Official Name:
Republic of Croatia local short form: Hrvatska

Capital City:
Zagreb

Population:
4,390,751

Language:
Croatian 96%, other 4% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German)

Ethnic Groups:
Croat 78.1%, Serb 12.2%, Bosniak 0.9%, Hungarian 0.5%, Slovene 0.5%, Czech 0.4%, Albanian 0.3%, Montenegrin 0.3%, Roma 0.2%, others 6.6%

Religion:
Roman Catholic 76.5%, Orthodox 11.1%, Muslim 1.2%, Protestant 0.4%, others and unknown 10.8%

Currency:
Croatia kuna (HRK)

Climate:
Mediterranean and continental; continental climate predominant with hot summers and cold winters; mild winters, dry summers along coast.

Terrain:
Geographically diverse; flat plains along Hungarian border, low mountains and highlands near Adriatic coastline and islands.

Posted by Tomi at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dubrovnik is simply spectacular, with limestone buildings topped with red tile roofs set against a deep blue sky and sea.
While the walls are a main attraction, the Old Town has different European architectural styles among its churches, synagogue, palace and houses. Why Go:
Dubrovnik is on Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast, at the very southern tip of this boomerang-shaped country.
Carefully restored after bomb damage during Croatia’s war for independence in the early 1990s, Dubrovnik’s baroque architecture, enclosed in a massive wall, is a key reason for visiting the city.
You can easily stroll through the Old Town (Stari Grad) in a day, leaving the rest of your trip to explore the beautiful nearby beaches, islands and villages.

When to Go:
Tourists descend on Dubrovnik particularly in the high season of July and August, when the weather is hot and dry, most festivals are occurring, and the sea is balmy.
Winters are mild and rainy. September and October still have good weather but fewer tourists.

What to See
The main attraction in Dubrovnik are the 2 km-long city walls. Enter by Pile Gate, where you can get up to the top of the wall.
The walls are interspersed with towers, forts, and gates.
The large Minceta Tower is the most impressive fort while Fort Lovrijenac offers a spectacular view from its cliff-top vantage 37 meters above the sea.
The wall walk is open daily from 9 am – 6:30 pm, and it takes about an hour to complete the entire wall route. Information: +385/20 425-942; fee: 15 kn adults/ 5 kn children.
Enter the Old Town (Stari Grad through Pile Gate (Vrata od Pila), which leads to the pedestrian throughway known as Stradun.
As you begin walking, you'll see on your left side the Renaissance Church of St. Savior followed by the Franciscan Monastery.
On the right side is Onofrio's Great Fountain.
Stradun is intersected with many small streets where you can find shops and restaurants with outdoor seating.
Stradun itself buzzes with people, street musicians, cafes, and shops. It ends at Luza Square, where the colorful area includes the Sponza Palace and St. Blaise's Church.
Turning to the right on Pred Dvorem is Dubrovnik's most important architectural building, the Rector's Palace. The beautiful arches and sculpted columns of this Gothic-Renaissance building should not be missed.
There are 17 churches in Dubrovnik so if you had to choose one to visit, the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is a natural choice.
It has roots going back to the 7th century but its current form is a beautiful Baroque structure.
Located south of the Rector's Palace on Kneza Damjana Jude 1, its Treasury (Riznica Katedrale) has an excellent display of icons, art, and church relics (tel: +385/20 411-715; open weekdays 9 am to 12 pm, and 3 pm to 7 pm).
The Synagogue (Zudioska 5, tel: +385/20 321-028) is Europe's second oldest synagogue and the oldest Sephardic synagogue.
Open only by request, it continues to function as a place of worship.

What to Do
Dubrovnik’s location by the sea draws water enthusiasts, from sun bathers to more active types. You can swim, fish, sail, and dive in a truly magnificent setting.
The sea also provides good eating, and the local people provide the cuisine. Nearby islands provide picturesque villages, wine and nature areas.
Divers claim that the Adriatic Sea is a top place for a beautiful diving experience.
The Diving Club of Dubrovnik offers equipment rental, guided excursions, and classes.
Beaches near Dubrovnik consist of public and private ones; the latter usually belong to hotels.
The most popular public beaches include Banje, a pebble beach with a view of the Old Town.
Another pebble beach is St. Jakov, located on the eastern edge of the Old Town.
A sandy beach is Lapad Beach, right at Lapad Bay. At each beach, you can rent umbrellas or get refreshments.
Stop in at the Aquarium (Akvarij) where you can cool off while looking at undersea creatures (D. Jude 2, tel: +385/20 427-937; open: 8 am - 8 pm, entrance fee: 15 kn, children 10 kn).
The Summer Festival starts the evening of July 10th and lasts until August 25, offering programs that include dance, music, theater, folk performances and more.
Dubrovnik’s mild nightlife includes several bars and clubs.
For dancing, try the Latino Club (Brsalje 11, near Pile Gate). Open Thursday, Friday, Saturday from 10 pm - 4 am.
Or listen to music at the Troubador Hard Jazz Cafe (Buniceva poljana 2, tel: +385/20 323-476), located not far from the Cathedral.

Shopping
Europe's oldest pharmacy is in Dubrovnik, dating from 1318. The Franciscan Pharmacy is located on Stradun, just inside the Pile Gate.
Here you can find a unique souvenir or gift for under 10 USD, such as lotions and creams made from medieval recipes.
For other shopping, there are shops lining Stradun and Od Puca where visitors can buy clothing, wine, and embroidered linens.
Gundulic Square has a farmer's market daily except Sunday.
The bookstore Algoritam (Placa 8 (Stradun), tel: +385/20 322 044; fax: +385/20 322 043; E-mail: dubrovnik@algoritam.hr has a solid selection of English-language books, located in the Old Town. Open Monday-Friday from 9 am-8:30 pm and Saturday 9 am-3 pm.

Getting There and Getting Around
You can get to Dubrovnik by car, bus, ferry, and plane but not train.
Cilipi Airport is 18 km (11 miles) from the city center.
For intercity buses, the main bus terminal (Put Republike 38, tel: +385/20 357-088) is a 25-minute walk to Pile Gate.
You can drive to Dubrovnik but there is limited parking in the summer. Many visitors take ferries, which run between cities on the Adriatic coast and also to islands near Dubrovnik.
Once you’re in Dubrovnik, you can get around easily by foot or by bus, of which there are seven lines that take you through the city.

Posted by Tomi at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As much as the Davis Cup is the largest (134 countries) annual international team competition, it is also probably the world's longest sporting marathon.
Nine months to the day after they began their quest in Carson, Calif., against an American team featuring Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi, Croatia won the 2005 Davis Cup yesterday when Mario Ancic defeated Slovak substitute Michal Mertinak 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-4 in the fifth and deciding match of the final at Bratislava... Monday, December 5, 2005 At the conclusion of a season plagued by injuries and withdrawals in the men's and women's games, it was appropriate that once more it was the on-court product that saved the day.
While the visiting Croatians were strong favourites playing on a medium-paced indoor surface, it took a fifth match to end a weekend full of intrigue.Cr
Most of it centred on the No. 2 Slovak, Karol Beck, a last-minute pullout in the opening singles on Friday. His substitute, veteran Karol Kucera, was beaten decisively by Croatian No. 1 Ivan Ljubicic before Slovak leader Dominik Hrbaty knotted matters 1-1 by defeating Ancic in four sets.
Beck also withdrew from Saturday's doubles, a match Ljubicic and Ancic won 7-6 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (5) over Hrbaty and Mertinak.
Supposedly, Beck had a knee injury, but speculation was rampant that he had tested positive for a banned substance after Slovakia's semi-final win over Argentina in September.
Croatian captain Niki Pilic was quoted as saying he had heard it was for marijuana.
By International Tennis Federation protocol, players testing positive are not named until a tribunal hearing is held. Any matches Beck had played and won would have been voided if he was later sanctioned for a positive test.
The storybook ending for the Croatians was for Ljubicic to cap off a perfect Davis Cup year by winning the fourth match against Hrbaty yesterday. The world No. 9 was undefeated in 2005 (seven wins in singles and four in doubles) and hoped to equal John McEnroe's 12-0 record from 1982, the only time that has been done since the advent of the 16-country World Group format in 1981.
Though he failed, losing to Hrbaty 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, Ljubicic actually did better than McEnroe because three of the American's wins came in matches after the best-of-five match ties (series) were decided, "dead rubbers" in Davis Cup parlance. All of Ljubicic's 11 wins were in "live rubbers."
In a year when injuries have been so prominent, it was apt that a health-issue figured in what was the final day of a long season. "I had a really stiff neck when I woke up this morning," Ljubicic said yesterday. "It was a really hard decision [to play]. I wasn't fit and I thought about giving a chance to [teammate] Ivo Karlovic. But in the end, I was thinking I deserved a chance to play. I almost made it."
Ljubicic hit his first serve extremely well but, said he had trouble with returning serve, shots on the run and second serves, because he couldn't toss the ball high enough because of his neck.
Ancic, ranked No. 22, had not won a 2005 live rubber in singles for Croatia, but in the fifth match, he was too much for Mertinak, a 26-year-old journeyman ranked No. 129.
Croatia, only 14 years independent from Yugoslavia, is the 12th country to win the Davis Cup in its 105-year history.
Pilic became the first to captain two countries to victory. In 1988, 1989 and 1993, the native of Croatia led Germany to titles.
National hero and 2001 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic did not play, but was on the four-man team and will have his name engraved on the trophy.
The culmination, barely two months from the start of 2006 competition on Feb. 10, of this year's event featured impassioned support for both sides inside the 4,100-seat Sibamac Arena.

Posted by Tomi at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)