Lifestyle

December the 6th, 2022 - The 6th of December 1991 is a date which has burned itself into the eternal memory of the City of Dubrovnik and has become as much a part of its long history as Saint Blaise or Marin Drzic. What do you think of when you think about the 90's? Maybe you think of the then mobile phone giant Nokia and the phones that could break concrete if dropped, or Haddaway's eternal question about what love is. For many it was a happy time, a time of good music, technological advancement and anticipation of the turn…

December 5, 2022 - For the fifth year in a row, Hanza Media and the Gradonacelnik.hr portal selected the best cities in five categories based on detailed analysis and with two special awards, Smart City and Eco City. This year, Vukovar won the title of the best Croatian city in the categories of education, youth, demography, and social policy. Ivan Penava, the mayor of Vukovar, attended the award ceremony in Opatija on December 1. "According to FINA data, competent ministries, and specialised agencies, Vukovar is constantly at the top of numerous rankings in Croatia according to various parameters, from investment in…

December the 5th, 2022 - Ever heard of Gheg (or sometimes Geg) Albanian? It's one of the two main varieties of the Albanian language, the other being Tosk. Spoken in the Northern and Central parts of Albania, as well as in Kosovo, parts of Montenegro, Macedonia and Serbia, it has over three million native speakers. What does that have to do with Istria, you may ask? Let's get to know the now extinct Istrian-Albanian language a little better. We've looked into the three main dialects which make up modern standard Croatian as we know it today, Shtokavian, Kajkavian (and Northwestern Kajkavian)…

  There is something inexplicably appealing about astrology, especially at this time of the year. We ask the stars how rich, loved, and healthy we will be (or not) in the coming one. But what if you let your sign choose the next bottle of Croatian wine? Fun is guaranteed! Aries (March 21 - April 20) Bold, passionate, stubborn. Your fire nature gives you no time for ordinary things in life. Definitely go for a Babič! Autochthone from Šibenik and Primošten area, this red wine variety will seduce you with its velvety tannins, black fruit aromas and Mediterranean herbal notes.…

December 4, 2022 - A journey back in time with Marko Loncar to examine the religion of the Old Slavs. Just as it happened in other corners of the world where people of Egypt, Sumer or even Nordic people created their own system of beliefs and shaped them into a universal cosmogony and theogony, thus trying to give an explanation to the world and life that was, in those early stages of human development, just revealing to them, old Slavic tribes followed in those same footsteps and provided a unique explication to the fundamental existential questions consequently creating a system…

oNovember 30, 2022 - A delightful evening of art, music and culture in Zagreb on Saturday, as academic sculptor Pero Jelisic held a private exhibition of his work  One of the many joys of living in Croatia is that every day is different, and there is often a surprise around every corner.  The plan for last Saturday evening was relatively simple - the long-awaited opening of Advent in Zagreb, once more restored to its pre-pandemic glory. There was palpable excitement from the little ones. A friend suggested I make an appearance at a private event he was attending. And so…

November the 28th, 2022 - Have you ever heard of any Balkan-Romance languages other than Romanian? Unless you happen to be a linguist, the term is probably somewhat alien to you, especially given the fact that the languages spoken across much of the region (but not all of it) are Slavic. Let's get better acquainted with the sparsely spoken Istro-Romanian language. We've explored many of the dialects, subdialects and indeed languages in their own right as some linguists consider them to be which are spoken across modern Croatia. From the Dubrovnik subdialect (Ragusan) in the extreme south of Dalmatia to…

November 27, 2022 - On Friday the 25th of November, I had the pleasure of attending the concert of the year and enjoy the legendary conductor Andre Rieu's performance with his Johann Strauss orchestra. The concert took place in Arena Zagreb, which was completely sold out for this event. The performance in Zagreb was part of the Andre Rieu 2022 World Tour, which included concerts in South America and all over Europe. Andre Rieu and the orchestra This 73-year-old Dutch King of the Waltz is best known for his performances with the Vienna Philharmonic Crchestra for their New Year concerts.…

November the 27th, 2022 - As we head towards the final month in which the kuna will remain the country's official currency, many Croatian exchange offices are counting their final few weeks of business operations. Many will close their doors forever as of January 2023. As epodravina/Sonja Badalic writes, as of the first day of 2023, the kuna will be sent to the history books with so many of the other pre-euro currencies which were once legal tender in the Eurozone. Euros will then take their place in our wallets, bank acounts, and of course - in our sock drawers. The…

November 24, 2022 - Last week's hearing in the ongoing lawsuits against TCN CEO Paul Bradbury from the Croatian National Tourist Board included two witness cross-examinations. One shared his thoughts about the experience on LinkedIn.   The first comment I saw on a thread about the trial from Zoran Pejovic was 'Kafkaesque.' Zoran and I have known each other for a decade and he is what I consider to be one of the true tourism visionaries in this country, particularly in the luxury tourism sector. It was no surprise that he also appeared in the article in the Croatian media which…