Month: October 2007

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Articles Croatia

Croatia Camping

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Croatia has been called “Europe’s number one camping destination,” but what motivates people to forego the comforts of home during their warm weather vacation?

To understand the appeal of camping in Croatia, you have to know something about the pleasure that can come from self-sufficiency; or at least, the illusion of self-sufficiency.

Croatia’s campgrounds are not outback shanties or wilderness survival huts. For the most part they are recreation centers with tetherball, tennis, beaches, barbecues and swimming. But it still feels like you’re honing your survival skills when you sleep outside, cook for yourself and live off the land in between trips to the campground grocery store.

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Croatia

Street collapses in downtown Zagreb

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The bottom came out from under a house on Krupska street in downtown Zagreb recently, leaving nine people homeless, and forcing 61 to evacuate, but causing no casualties.

Excavation for the construction of an underground parking garage caused the collapse. Croatian news source Javno reports that the city company ran out of money during the project and left the garage incomplete.

Several days ago tenants noticed water running under the building and felt tremors, and alerted the city. They said technicians arrived to shut off the water but didn’t look into the cause of the problem.

Police are currently warning passerby away from the area because of the possibility of cranes used in the construction collapsing into the 17 meter deep hole.

Tremors from the construction began at 2 am and the houses were evacuated at noon. Shortly after the evacuation was completed, the house collapsed into the hole.

Zagreb mayor Milan Bandic arrived on the scene shortly after the collapse and was confronted by angry tenants who claimed they had already reported feeling tremors to the mayor and city but that they did nothing. Evacuated tenants will be placed in a hostel until they can make other arrangements, Bandic instructed tenants to take only what they could carry and not to loiter in the street.

Photo from www.javno.com

Categories
Edinburgh Places to Go

Deacon Brodie’s Tavern

brodieLeave it to a pub to glorify an 18th century burglar in such a way as to turn the pub into a tourist attraction and the burglar into a celebrity.

Deacon Brodie’s Tavern on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile gets its name from a former resident of the city, a cabinet maker and city councillor who rose to the rank of deacon of his guild. Deacon William Brodie was a respected member of society, rubbing elbows with Edinburgh’s upper crust as he also fitted their cabinets with locks.

This level of access apparently gave him the grand idea that since he was installing and repairing the lock mechanisms he could easily make copies of the keys while he was at it. Brodie then embarked on a second life, a nighttime life, of a burglar. Certainly, part of the allure of the burglary was the excitement of potentially being caught, but Brodie also had developed something of a gambling habit – and the goods he stole helped to fund his addiction.

Brodie’s double life is said to have inspired the famous tale of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” but even if that’s a stretch Brodie’s real-life adventures are interesting enough on their own. Deacon Brodie’s Tavern showcases both sides of Brodie’s existence, one on either side of the pub’s sign hanging over the front door. You’ll see the “By Day” Brodie on one side, and the “By Night” Brodie on the other – complete with bag of stolen loot.

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Croatia

Plitvice Lakes Photos

The beauty of Plitvice Lakes is hard to describe until you’ve been there. It’s like an adrenaline rush to your imagination. A “lushness” worthy of Eden. (Like “Fern Gully,” for any children of the 80’s out there.) Water pooling, rushing, sweeping down rock faces; a deluge of delight, gushing through lava tubes. I now give you my best attempt at inspiring you to make the trip to Plitvice. The real thing is ever so much better.

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Articles Croatia

What’s this I hear about Tourist Tax?

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Croatia recently began to enforce a little known “tourist tax,” so it seems it’s time to un-turn the blind eye this Logue has adopted and start letting travelers know that they are under a legal obligation to register and pay a euro per day for the duration of their stay.

Croatia still loves its tourists. The economy depends largely on the dollars that drive down from Europe and fly in from all over the world each summer. But there is a business side to this love-affair and in an effort to protect travelers from foul play, excessive rates and subpar accommodations, the tourism bureau requires hotels and other establishments to report that they are housing someone each night.

The thinking goes that requiring hotels, hostels and private renters to register their guests will keep the tourist business from slipping to the opportunistic renters: non-professionals with an extra bunk bed somewhere in their house that they would be happy to let you sleep in for some extra money. It may seem like Croatia is trying to squeeze every last dollar from you on your trip, but remember it’s for your own good. Wink.

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Categories
Edinburgh Places to Go

Museum of Childhood

childhoodTravel has a way of bringing out the kid in everyone – diet and curfew be damned! You get to let loose your inner child and do just as you please for the duration of your holiday. Which is why a visit to the Edinburgh Museum of Childhood is so perfectly appropriate.

Located right on the Royal Mile, the Museum of Childhood is chock full of toys and other items children have found interesting for generations. It was originally opened in 1955, and was the world’s first museum to focus on the history of childhood. Then Edinburgh Town Councillor Patrick Murray thought it would be a good idea to open such a museum, and the museum’s continued success seems to have proved him right! Today, it’s billed as “the noisiest museum in the world,” which could be a selling point or a deterrent, depending on who you are.

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