:: Croatia Blog ::

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?

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?

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?

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?

The Regent Esplanade Zagreb – one of the symbols of the hotel tradition and quality of the Croatian capital – recently received two valuable recognitions for quality: the Superbrands status and logo and the International 5 Star Diamond Award.

The Superbrands status – whereby the international organization of the same name recognizes brands that achieve a higher quality than its competition – has given the Regent Esplanade the right to use the Superbrands logo in marketing campaigns and promotions.

The other international recognition – the International 5 Star Diamond Award, was awarded to the Esplanade by the members of the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences, part of an exclusive network of professionals in the luxury hospitality industry sector.

They base their evaluation of top quality on marks for complete service, offered luxury, the quality of the surroundings, the relationship towards the guest, the culinary experience, cleanliness and the most important criteria – hospitality.

The Esplanade was constructed in 1925 to provide top class accommodations to passengers on the renowned Orient Express running on the Paris-Istanbul line. After a complete reconstruction in 2004 this 209 luxury room and suite hotel has operated as the Regent Esplanade Zagreb.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

Mystic stories, fairy tale settings, indigenous food and fascinating events that along with thematic happenings offer excellent possibilities to meet with the local inhabitants – this is all just a small part of the interesting story of tourism in continental Croatia – the country’s central region presented in the latest image brochure from the Croatian National Tourist Board.

The Palace With a View brochure – featuring an offer based on tradition, natural beauty and new tourism trends – features the tourism value of several of Croatia’s continental counties: Bjelovar-Bilogorje County, Karlovac County, Sisak-Moslavina County, Varazdin County, Medimurje County, Krapina-Zagorje County, Koprivnica-Krizevci County and Zagreb County and is a synthesis of their rich natural and cultural heritage.

Under the moniker “A Walk Through the Year” – today’s reader and tomorrow’s guest – will get to know this truly fascinating region in all seasons of the year and also through mythology, customs, beauty and attraction.

Spring, summer, autumn and winter – each season is coloured with “its own colours”, to which is added the specific ways of life, customs and myths – in short, a real wellspring of experiences that are a real draw for tourist visits.

Are you interested in a tale of a miner’s garden, a witch’s dance, the imaginative depiction of Croatian fairy tales, do you want to literally live the ancient stories of Croatian legends or enjoy a wealth of scents and flavours? Do you want to experience the unexplored regions near Zagreb, get to know the wealth of the fertile Moslavina valley, give your eyes a rest in the stunning scenes of green Zagorje, Prigorje and Medimurje, enjoy the baroque image of the city of Varazdin or the mystical legends that still “live” in the environs of Karlovac and Ogulin – all this is but a small part of what Central Croatia offers by way of tourist attractions. The experience would not be complete if the tourist offer did not include the rich offer of wines and cuisine – along with the quality wines of this area there is also ecologically produced health food the flavour of which will – just like this entire region – take you back to a somewhat already forgotten time. The hospitality is, of course, also evident in the wealth of accommodation on offer in hotels and private estates, always in the right measure of professionalism and sincere welcome.

If you want to head out into this, to many tourists still unknown, part of Croatia take some time to read Palace With a View. The 120-page brochure has been printed in 120,000 copies and in eight languages – Croatian, English, German, Italian, French, Hungarian, Slovene and Czech.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

A new tourism project was recently launched in Istra called Parenzana – Route of Health and Friendship in the frame of which is the Parenzana Code Kit guidebook, which offers an intriguing game for all tourists with wanderlust, a desire to explore and for adventure.

For a start a quick reminder of what the Parenzana is – an old railway track from the early 20th century that linked Trieste, Kopar and Porec, passing through much of the Istrian interior. The railway has now been completely overgrown, but the route passing through luxuriant wilderness, right next to many Istrian towns and old fortifications will take tourists on an adventurous trip to unusual places that offer a primeval experience of places and people, incomparable to the traditional form of tourist sightseeing of the usual destinations.

The Parenzana Code Kit is an exploratory and enigmatic guide book through which, step by step, parts of the fascinating mosaic of the past and present of Istra and the highlights of the Parenzana are revealed. Concretely, it is a volume of maps with directions on how to orient oneself along the Parenzana and information necessary to break the code. The maps are numbered and the basic assignment is to discover the proper order they are to be read in order to solve the Parenzana Code.

The code covers the area from Buje to Vižinada, and tourists can head out on foot, by bicycle or car to solve the enigmatic code, all with the help of the maps, and depending on the mode of transport one can solve the riddle in a day or more.

Adventure tourists will certainly find this very interesting, and along the 123 kilometre route they can get to know some of the most attractive places in Istra: Buje, Motovun, Grožnjan, Oprtalj, Završje and Kostanjice. The project will be further developed and the opening of a small Parenzana Museum in Livade is in the works, as are ethnological workshops and cycling races. A DVD is being produced with 3D effects of the train passing, cycling maps as is other promotional material and the installation of information and road signs.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

By the end of the year four new low cost air carriers will open flights to Pula Airport. These are the German companies Germanwings and TUIfly, the Hungarian air carrier Wizzair and the Danish Sterling. Direct connections to Pula are currently maintained by three low cost air carriers that operate during the peak tourist season – the Irish company Ryanair which links Pula to London and Dublin, Norwegian Air Shuttle and the Scottish Fly Globespan. These three companies will run their last flights to Pula in this season at the end of October.

The airport – at which tourists whose destinations are located across all of Istra – is only a few kilometres from the town of Pula, into whose historical edifices and cultural monuments three thousand years of history have been built.

With its recognisable antiquity period amphitheatre, the sixth largest in the world, which plays host to numerous cultural events and performances by artists from around the world, Pula has found its place among interesting cultural destinations. In the direct vicinity of the town are the Brijuni islands with their national park, only three kilometres from the mainland coast. Distinct by its specific types of flora and fauna, and archaeological excavations that bear witness to the settlement of ancient civilisations, Brijuni National Park is also the site of top class cultural and sports events, congresses and meetings. Near Pula, that has fast road connections to all the towns of the Istrian peninsula, there are also other attractive tourist destinations interesting at any time of the year.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

Croatia is a destination for faith tourism with a number of shrines, visited each year by millions of pilgrims. In the direct vicinity of Zagreb is Marija Bistrica with its shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary, where pilgrims have been coming for over 300 years now. The first written documents relating to Marija Bistrica date from back in the year 1209, while the worship of the Mother of God of Bistrica started in the 16th century when a statue of the Virgin Mary became known by its miraculous healings and answered prayers. Nowadays the shrine consists of St. Mary‘s church, the open-air church of the Blessed Aloysius Stepinac and the remarkable Way of the Cross – the Calvary. Marija Bistrica is also the heart of Croatian honey and gingerbread making.

In Ludbreg, a small town in the Podravina region not far from the Baroque town of Varaždin is the unique shrine dedicated to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus. The Ludbreg parish of the Holy Trinity is mentioned in historical sources in 1334, while the church itself was constructed in 1410 – it was a year later that the priest leading holy mass noticed true blood in the chalice and notified the Vatican of the event. Ludbreg was proclaimed a shrine in 1512 by Pope Leo X.

In the heart of Split-Dalmatia County, in Solin, the Virgin Mary has been worshiped from as far back as the 6th century. The Croatian Queen Jelena built a basilica there in the 10th century with naves and four-cornered columns in which the coronations of Croatian Kings were then held. In Sinj, the centre of the Cetina region, is the shrine of Our Lady of Sinj, of which it is believed that she was crucial in the 1715 victory over the Turkish army. Ever since then this triumphant battle has been marked every year by the renowned chivalric tournament – the Alka of Sinj. In the environs of Knin is the shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Biskupija, in the foundations of which five churches are to be found, dating from the period of the Croatian kings from the 9th to 11th centuries. The area was a religious and church centre in the medieval Croatian state.

On Rijeka‘s Trsat is the ancient shrine to the Mother of Mercy, the Mother of God of Trsat, which is arrived at by a climb of 561 steps. The church of the Mother of God of Trsat was built in 1419. Later Croatian Ban (vicegerent) Duke Nikola Frankopan I built a larger church, in which Franciscan monks have lived since 1453.

The youngest shrine in Croatia is that dedicated to St. Joseph in Dubovac near Karlovac, proclaimed in 1987.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

In Dubrovnik the new Rixos Libertas hotel will open its doors bythe end of the year featuring 315 luxurious rooms and suites. Itwas built at the site of the former Libertas congress hotel. The hotel, which is a mere 15 minute stroll from the old Dubrovnik historic core, has an interior floor space of 45 thousand square metres and offers a stunning view of the sea. Besides luxuriously appointed rooms, a congress centre has been built in the hotel withnine halls and a total capacity of 1,200, while a wellness and spa centre stretches across two floors of the hotel. A casino, night bar, two kindergartens and shops will operate in the hotel, and guestswill also have five bars and three restaurants at their disposal. This new Dubrovnik hotel is a part of the Rixos hotel group thatpools eight hotels with six thousand beds in four countries.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?