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Articles Croatia

10 Croatia “Fun Facts”

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Everyone loves little bits of trivia. You can commit them to memory for small-talk at parties, or use them to bring up your upcoming vacation among friends and coworkers. (“Your dog likes chasing tennis balls? That’s interesting because I’m going to Croatia and Croatian Goran Ivanisevic won Wimbledon in 2001 playing tennis.”) Here are 10 little and not-so little known facts about Croatia. Use them wisely.

1. Dubrovnik, (an independent state at the time) was the very first nation to formally recognize the United States as a nation when it declared independence from Great Britain.

2. The White House was built out of Croatian stone, from the island of Brac. This same stone had been used to build Diocletian’s Palace in Split.

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Articles Croatia

RyanAir pulls a fast one

ryanair_airport_plane_1096264_l.jpgThe blogs were abuzz last summer when RyanAir, the Irish no-frills, low-fare airline announced service to Istria from London’s Stansted Airport. This would not only allow travelers to get from the U.K. into northern Croatia for next to nothing, but it would also provide a link for Croatian businesses to establish relationships with London clients.

Recently however, RyanAir announced that it will be withdrawing its flights connecting Croatia with London at the end of October, and in fact canceling all flights out of Stansted Airport because of an increase in the travel tarif from 6 to 11 British pounds. Controversy comes with the fact that RyanAir received half a million pounds for five years of their flights and under the terms of the contract are not required to return any of it, despite only completing one year of the contract.

RyanAir’s year round flights to Pula three times a week was expected to extend the tourist season and bring in more money to Croatia’s economy. Losing flights like this would really pull the rug out from under Istria’s tourism industry, except that RyanAir’s typical clientele lack the purchasing power to drive any real upswing in the economy. Not only that, but the tourism infrastructure of Pula and Zadar are not equipped to host any more travelers than they already receive.

Most airlines serve Croatia during the high-traffic summer months and then send their fleet elsewhere sometime in the fall. Airlines experience 80-90% occupancy during the April through October busy season; winter brings about 70% occupancy to the flights.

RyanAir will be transferring its fleet to compete in the high-profit Spain market with British Airline Easy Jet.

The very hurt-sounding Nacional magazine has the full-story on RyanAir’s break-up with Croatia.

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Edinburgh Places to Go

St. Giles Cathedral

gilesSt. Giles Cathedral is not only Edinburgh’s most important church, it’s also the most important church in all of Scotland. It’s also sometimes called the High Kirk of Scotland, and is considered the place where the Presbyterian church was founded.

The church is dedicated to St. Giles, the patron saint of cripples and lepers, and the oldest parts of the structure dates from the early 12th century. John Knox, the founder of the Scottish Protestant Reformation and the Church of Scotland, preached at St. Giles from 1560 until his death in 1572, which is what helps to give the cathedral its current status as Scotland’s most important church. A statue of Knox is inside the church near the west end.

There are several interesting stained glass windows in St. Giles Cathedral, although the windows from the medieval era did not survive. Most of the windows worth mentioning are from the 19th and 20th centuries and depict both religious scenes and also non-religious things – like Scotland’s favorite poet, Robert Burns. The church’s organ is also worth noting, although it’s a recent addition (1992), because of the glass panel in the back that lets you see the instrument’s inner workings.

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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

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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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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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Articles Croatia

Empowering Croatian Vacations

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The folks over at smartertravel recently listed a fall Croatian vacation as one of ten “empowering trips for women” in a feature. Highlighting Croatia’s relaxed atmosphere and the red roofs that add charm to Dubrovnik’s coastline, the women-only trip hosted by Sights and Soul begins with in-depth cultural immersion and a lesson in the historical context of the area. Further educational and enriching activities—the kind that you’d talk about during a job interview—are scheduled, but eventually the trip does head out to several of Croatia’s islands where travelers can cut loose with some wine tasting and quality beach time.

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