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For most gourmands, not only in Croatia but also throughout the world, just the mention of mouth-watering truffles whets the appetites and brings a twinkle to the eye. Truffles are one of the world’s favourite delicacies, not only on account of their heavenly flavour, but also because of the mystery surrounding them – the “incontestable culinary kings” as the people of Istria refer to them.

There are numerous dilemmas related to the truffle. The first pertains to the method whereby they are gathered, as the truffle is hidden under the ground. Regardless of the fact that they are characterised by an exceptionally intensive scent it is impossible to locate them out of doors without the help of specially trained dogs.

Also, the truffle only grows in certain types of soil. In Croatia they can only be found on the Istrian peninsula where they flourish in the grey, clayish soil found in the Istrian interior, more precisely in the oak forest surrounding the town of Motovun and from Motovun northwards to Lanišce, along the Raša River heading southeast and in the environs of Pazin to the south of the peninsula. The people of Istria value in particular the white truffle, which is gathered in the autumn and is prepared as soon as possible upon its extraction from the soil. And that is why autumn in Istria and its small, specialised restaurants and rural farmsteads exude a special mood and atmosphere. This is true especially of the period from mid October to mid November when the Truffle days are held across all of Istria, a cornucopia of events that all have the same goal – to celebrate the unique Istrian truffle. During those thirty days the scent of truffles wafts from many plates, and visitors from all across Croatia and the world come to Istria to revel in the flavours of the world’s most famous aphrodisiac. The Truffle Days kicked off October 7th with a folk festivity in Sovinjak, a picturesque settlement in the Istrian interior from whose walls a striking view of the surrounding hills shoots out. The 14th incarnation of the popular “Tuberfest”, as the white truffle fair is known started that same day in the settlement of Livade, part of which is the selection of the largest and best looking truffle. The events in Livade continued over the coming days with agricultural products fairs, olive oil sampling and a truffle culinary festival. In November the Truffle Days move to the town of Buzet where on the 3rd and 4th the Flavours of the Buzet Region truffle weekend / gastro gathering is staged – an exhibition of truffles and other local products, an ethno and gastro offer, a course in preparing truffle-based dishes and a truffle “hunt” with accompanying cultural program. The Days will close in Livade where November 12th will see a festivity at the Zigante Restaurant to mark the 8th anniversary of the uncovering of the largest ever white truffle, which made it into the Guinness Book of World Records. For those who, in spite of it all, do not manage to come to the Truffle Days, here are a few restaurants whose quality the Istria County Tourist Board recommends: Zigante in Livade, San Rocco and Morgan in Brtonigla, Marino in Momjan, Igor and Malo selo in Buje, Pod voltom in Motovun and the Stara Oštarija, Toklarija and Vrh in Buzet.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

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Another luxury hotel was opened in June on the central Dalmatian island of Hvar, known as one of the sunniest Croatian islands, with an offer based on a rich spa offer.

The Adriana Hvar marina hotel & spa, as the hotel’s full name reads, is situated on the very Hvar waterfront and offers a view of the best known Hvar localities – the Cathedral of St. Stephen, the Arsenal, the main square and Hvar harbour. This is actually a newly-renovated facility operating within the Suncani Hvar hotel company, and which offers its guests accommodation in 50 deluxe rooms, nine classic suites and several spa-specific suites.

The hotel has received a high four-star rating, and along with the classic amenities it also offers a range of attractive additional facilities like a covered heated pool with seawater in which guests will be able to swim yearround. A restaurant has been opened on the hotel terrace, a classic bar and an attractive The Top sky garden bar whose luxurious design and unique setting will certainly become another favourite gathering place for the people of Hvar and their guests.

But the most attractive part of the offer is the new Sensori spa centre that offers numerous therapeutic and beauty treatments, massages and many spa programs like yoga and relaxing excursions into the outdoors. The centre stretches over three storeys with about 1,400 square metres housing all of the indoor and outdoor amenities.

The hotel offer is therefore for the large part based on the concept of wellness and spa, and that this is really a top level of quality is attested to by the fact that the Adriana, Hvar marina hotel & spa recently became a full member of the prestigious global group – The Leading Small Hotels of the World.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

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In its sixty years of operation Jadranka d.d. of Mali Lošinj has developed into one of the most successful hotel companies in Croatia. It was founded in 1947 by a decision of the People’s District of Mali Lošinj when the hotels Alhambra and Istra were allotted to its management, while the construction of the hotel Helios in Cikat and the hotel Punta in Veli Lošinj started in the 1960s. The hotel Bellevue was built at the end of the 1970s, and in 1977 the hotel complex Suncane uvale was opened which included the hotels Aurora and Vespera. Parallel to the hotel business Jadranka in the 1960s developed its camping offer and later went on to branch out into other activities, among which their property management activity is gaining in importance over the past years. Up to 2005 Jadranka d.d operated as a hotel and hospitality industry company, and then the Jadranka Group was founded in which Jadranka d.d. is the owner of three sister companies Jadranka hotels d.o.o., Jadranka camps d.o.o. and Jadranka trade d.o.o. Jadranka is also co-owner of the Lošinj Airport, and Jadranka Yachting, which has this year launched a charter operation with six new vessels in its ownership. Jadranka currently manages six hotels and several smaller villas, located in three separate and specifically positioned tourist zones and six out-of-accommodation hospitality industry facilities. It recorded about a half million overnight stays last year, with about 35 percent of the guests having stayed in Jadranka hotels more than once. In its camping sector Jadranka has a total of four caravan parks on the islands of Lošinj and Cres’ Slatina, Baldarin, Bijar and Cikat and given the seafaring tradition of the people of Lošinj, a project that aims to develop nautical charter tourism has been launched with foreign partners. Over the past sixty years of the development of tourism Jadranka has always nurtured the protection of the natural environment, respecting its cultural and traditional attributes. In this vein on the occasion of its 60th anniversary, instead of the customary letters of thanks and recognitions, it has donated funds to the Apoxiomen exhibit at the Museum of Lošinj. Apoxiomen is a unique statue of a Greek athlete dating to the 4th century BC, found on the seabed just off Mali Lošinj, currently exhibited at the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb. Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

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With the aim of renewing traditional heritage and putting it in the function of tourism, across all of Baranja, a region situated in the far north-east of the country, this year will see the launch of the renewal of ten new tourism projects.

One of the more fascinating of these projects is certainly the Ethno Street of Forgotten Times were intensive works are already under way. The street is located in the village of Karanac, in the very heart of Baranja, already known to the world of tourism on account of its attractive offer of rural tourism. This is the popular Baranja House, a rural homestead behind which the mentioned “street of memories” is being built. The owner of the Baranja House has decided to broaden the offer so that soon the street will feature traditional Slavonian “ambar” (corn storage sheds) with construction to start soon on a smith’s house of mud, and ice-house, a potter’s and carpenter’s workshop and a number of other “forgotten” things. Besides this project another old smithy will be opened in Karanac, which will certainly earn the village the epithet of a real Slavonian ethno village.

Standing out among the other tourism projects is the renewal of traditional wine cellars in the village of Gajic planina.

The most funds, however, will be invested into the renovation of the landing dock at the Kopacki rit Nature Park. Along with the landing dock an awning with a belvedere will be built on the site of the old Komarac restaurant, which will widen the existing tourism offer at Kopacki rit.

There will also be building going on in the well known Baranja rural tourism destination – the village of Bilje where there are plans to build a local style Baranja home, and the city of Beli Manastir will also “get” its first real Baranja ethno house.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

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