Croatia Online - British Airways Abandoning Split Completely?

Today brought potentially disturbing news for air travellers to Split. There are strong rumours that, having discontinued winter flights this year, BA may be thinking of abandoning the Split - London route altogether. The question has been put to different parts of the BA organisation with answers varying from "undecided" to "no, not operating from Split next year". Many businesses in the tourist industry will be affected by this, not to mention ex pats and business travellers. When BA withdrew the winter flights after just a year of trying it out, we thought the decision was a little premature. If the decision to abandon Split altogether has been made then we find that one almost impossible to understand. British travellers to Split are increasing, as are the number of home owners in the Split area. Yes, the low cost airlines are increasing flights to Croatia (but Ryanair also dropped winter flights) but the whole area is developing as a tourist destination and definitely on the up - two new five star hotels in the last two years, many new good small and family run hotels being opened, better restaurants, etc. Just as Croatia moves forward to cater better for the tastes of British and other western European tourists, this seems to be a very backward step.

Whatever the reasons and final decision, BA needs to let people know soon. Visitors to Croatia are already beginning to plan their trips for next year and the uncertainty does no one any good.

Thanks to Nigel for tipping us off on the latest news. He has a vested interest as he runs a sailing school from Kaštela and is already taking bookings for next year. Clearly he needs to guide his clients on air transport and needs to know, along with many others, what British Airways are up to.

For more information on Nigel's sailing school go to http://www.sailingschoolcroatia.com/.

To help put some pressure on British Airways to reconsider or announce their final decision, go to http://www.britishairways.com/travel/ctclist/public/

Croatia Online - Drvenik Island, Near Trogir

Our roving reporters, Diane and Roger Brown, have been exploring again and it makes a nice change to hear someone else's "voice" on Croatia Online. Here's their report on a recent visit to Drvenik Island. Thanks to them for their eloquent prose and today's photo!

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Early in October Diane and myself decided to take advantage of the glorious autumn weather (t-shirts and shorts) and embarked on the old Jadrolinija Ferry "Losinjanka" from Trogir to Drvenik Veliki.

The Ferry edged away from the harbour wall in Trogir and made its way to nearby Seget Donji where it proceeded to load trucks full of building materials bound for for Drvenik Veliki and Mali. Veliki lies approximately five nautical miles south west of Trogir, so it is a short voyage, but, as the old craft glides sedately through the crystal clear waters of the Adriatic you are rewarded with panoramic views from the upper deck.

Arriving at Veliki we were reminded by a crew member to be back in time for the return trip - should we have missed the ferry we'd have been stuck until the next day, though there are more frequent sailings in the season. The trucks and passengers disappeared in various directions and we realised we were the only visitors so we explored at our leisure.

Off season it is a quiet and sleepy village with several bars and restaurants, and a small shop, that surround the picturesque harbour. There are several fascinating buildings and ruins from a bygone era. We encountered a few local people, who were very friendly, and we were accompanied on part of our walk by a local cat who decided to be our guide and seemed to like our company.

We sat and enjoyed a beer overlooking the harbour then visited the local store, where the lady made us enormous sandwiches, which made a very satisfying lunch.

On our return trip I spent most of my time on the Bridge chatting with the helmsman, who, was very friendly and provided a wealth of information. You will see from the pictures that although the vessel has undergone refits it still retains its original telegraph, voice pipes and compass, which are for decoration only.

The trip was a thoroughly enjoyable, no hassle experience and I nearly forgot!!! all for the princely sum of 10 kuna per person each way from Trogir.

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For a current timetable of ferries from Trogir to Drvenik, the easiest way is to contact Atlas Trogir - http://www.atlas-trogir.hr/ or Portal Trogir - http://www.portal-trogir.com/. It's a foot passenger service from Trogir but vehicles can embark, by prior arrangement, at Seget Donji.

If you're looking for a self contained apartment, near Trogir and Split, with all mod cons, easy access to the beach, and great hosts if you need them, check out Diane and Roger's website http://www.croatia-apartments.blogspot.com/.

If you want to know how to get to Drvenik by yacht - where to moor or anchor, etc - check out our sister site which has details of our book the Croatia Cruising Companion

Croatia Online - Elections in Croatia

Tomorrow, Sunday 25th November, is election day in Croatia and all signs suggest it's going to be a close run thing. HDZ, (Croatian Democratic Union - right wing), is the party in power at the moment, led by the current Prime Minister, Ivo Sanader. SDP (Social Democratic Party - left wing), and the next biggest party, held power prior to HDZ's current term and have a young new leader, Zoran Milanović who won the leadershio elections after the death of Ivica Račan from brain cancer in April.

Following the European trend towards the centre ground, there's not too much that separates the two parties now but, certainly amongst the older generation, and those who were most caught up in the Yugoslav war (1991-1995), HDZ symbolises the nationalist liberators and SDP the communist Yugoslavs of old. Feelings still run high in many areas and there was a big furore when one of the cities that suffered greatly in the war, realised that its favourite venue had hosted a private party for SDP recently. The staunchly HDZ city, that was heavily attacked in the war, did not seem to accept the view that the venue's commercial approach to renting its space was reason enough.

There doesn't seem to be much of a dividing line between the two parties on the main issues and there is much speculation that a close vote could end up in a cross party coalition. As with this term of government by HDZ, quite often some of the smaller parties, such as the Peasants' Party and the Pensioners' Party, can wield a disproportionate amount of power. The following links will give you a more detailed analysis:

http://www.dtt-net.com/en/index.php?page=view-article&article=3459
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8950c66a-99f0-11dc-ad70-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1

Watching the run up on Croatian TV it's been interesting to note that, in Croatia, they don't seem to do party political broadcasts as such. Instead they run advertisements in the commercial break along with the soap powders and Coca Cola. We'll try and find out whether this depends entirely on money or there's some "fair" allocation of time. During the high profile Croatia v England football match on Wednesday, prime time for ads, the interval was full of a number of ads for HDZ including the Croatian football captain (and Goran Ivanišević, the Wimbledon champion and several other sportsmen) expounding Dr Sanader's talents and urging voters to put their cross by HDZ. More extraordinarily, another much run ad shows a number of European leaders, including Bertie Ahern, saying what a good bloke Dr Sanader is and appear to be urging voters to choose him. Tony Blair was filmed talking to him but uniquely didn't provide a eulogy. Odd that it seems ok to mix government and politics like that and we wonder if the leaders who spoke, knew of the purpose? If so, the first meeting with a different leader might be a little embarassing!

The ad theme/slogan for HDZ is "idemo dalje" which we assume is intended to mean "let's go further". An alternative translation, according to my dictionary is "let's become more remote" which perhaps both Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher might have pinched if it had been around earlier. SDP's slogan is "Tim" and we felt we'd better look this up as well, in order not to mislead readers by assuming it was the new leader's nickname. It's difficult to get a grasp of the full essence of the meaning from the dictionary which suggests either "so much the..." as in "tim bolje" (so much the better) or (sport) "team". With so many sportsmen appearing in ads for Dr Sanader, it's not easy to see where the SDP is going to get a full olympic squad from.

Today's photo is from the Nato exercises that took place in Croatia this September - if there is a coalition, both parties are agreed on the importance of joining NATO and the EU so an "idemo dalje tim" would be able to go further on that.

New York Magazine Look Book

Bergdorf's window on 57th street celebrates the release of New York Magazine's "New York Look Book: Gallery of Street Fashion" It contains just a few of the hundreds of photos taken of the stylish and stylishly outrageous New Yorkers during the past 3 years. The magazine has become well-known for its weekly feature of ecclecticly-clad city folk and has included shots of celebrities such as Parker Posey, John Waters and Helen Mirren.
Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

Parker Posey, photo from Nymag.com

For a great book of street fashion photos from around the world, check out Nylon's "Street: The 'Nylon' Book of Global Style"

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

Croatia Online - Ireland To Slavonia On Čiovo Island

Konoba Timun is doing its best to provide winter entertainment on Čiovo Island, near Trogir. Normally all the bars and restaurants close after the busy summer season but Timun is breaking the mould in this area and we wish them every success. A few weeks ago they held an Irish night; this Saturday 24th November is Slavonian night, again with "traditional" food drink and entertainment at reasonable prices. Their website is http://www.konoba-timun.hr/ but unfortunately it doesn't have details of the events. It's definitely happening though, from around 8pm, so if you're in the Split area be there or be square! Perhaps ring Timun on 021 888 106 if you want to confirm timings and prices.

Unfortunately we weren't able to attend the Irish night but heard from our friends that an excellent time was had by all - Guinness, good food and then a few informal lessons in Irish dancing from Irish Maiden who's website says they are Croatia's first and only Irish Dance Troupe and we've no reason to doubt that. Based in Zagreb, with a troup led by an Irish man but mostly made up of deft footed Croatians, Irish Maiden runs classes, competitions and performs throughout Croatia. Visit their website http://www.irskistudio.com/ for more information.

Thanks to James for today's photo. Apparently he was to busy enjoying himself to take a photo of the guests participating!

Croatia Online - Learning The Croatian Language

Not an obvious picture to represent serious studies of a difficult language but obviously these students of the Croatian Language School (CLS) found time to enjoy themselves. The picture was taken at CLS's new summer school in Losinj, a beautiful town on an island in north Croatia, where CLS combines learning the language with finding out about Croatian cuisine. Readers who were interested in our previous posting, on the first vegetarian restaurant in Split, may also be interested to know that CLS's top Croatian cook, Mladen Marušić specialises in vegetarian and macrobiotic cuisine but includes all types of traditional Croatian cooking in his courses at the summer school.

You can read more about Mladen on CLS's website - http://www.easycroatian.com/ - in the newsletter section you'll find his recipe of the month; click on one and you'll find a fascinating interview with him on the varied subject of Croatian Cuisine.

CLS run a number of immersion courses in Croatia in the summer and have a permanent school in London. The website and newsletters are a mine of information on all things Croatian and you can also download a phrasebook from the site.

In the latest newsletter you'll find an interview with Croatia Online's Editor, Jane Cody, about the new Croatia Cruising Guide that she has co written with John Nash. See our sister blog for more information on this Croatia Cruising Companion - Dalmatian Coast and Islands

If you're looking for a great holiday whilst learning more about Croatia and Croatian, visit CLS's website for more details on its summer courses - http://www.easycroatian.com/

Croatia Online - Vegetarians Now Very Welcome in Split

Things seem to be happening fast in the Split area at the moment. Now, as far as we are aware, Split City has its first and only macrobiotic and vegetarian restaurant. Not before time but it's a bold move for the entrepreneurs that set up Makrovega and they deserve to do well. I can't say we stumbled upon it - though it's very close to the Riva and Marmontova, Split's main shopping street, it's in a deserted residential square and, even when you get close, it's not so obvious that there's a great new restaurant there. Fortunately we were tipped off by an informed local and had great pleasure in taking her to lunch to try it out. We both chose the vegetarian menu of the day at 50 kunas, which consisted of an extremely tasty vegetable soup, followed by a delightfully presented plate of mushroom pasta, rice (with extras and sauce) and a delicious and crispy cheese filled spring roll. The macrobiotic menu reads the same but the ingredients differ in some cases. We both left feeling we'd had a huge lunch.

Makrovega's chef, Vjeko, hopes that Makrovega can help locals and visitors alike advance in their quest for healthy lifestyles and that similar restaurants will open up in the area. Croatia Online's editor certainly has room to improve on a healthy lifestyle. Whilst enjoying vegetarian dishes, she doesn't normally seek out vegetarian restaurants, which are anyway hard to find in Dalmatia. This is certainly a place she would return to for a healthy, good value and enjoyable lunch rather than just because of its niche placing. International and other visitors, already much further down the road in their vegetarian and macrobiotic diets and lifestyles, will finally believe that Dalmatia is embracing different cultures and ways of life as well as increasing the amount of culinary choice on offer. We think enlightened locals will take to it too for its tranquil ambience, good food and the fact that it offers something just a bit different.

It's no smoking throughout and there are no alcoholic drinks on the menu but you can try a variety of organic teas, barley coffee, juices and a range of other drinks. The website, currently being updated and due to have English pages soon, has a map on how to get there which you'll need! Contact details and information as below:

Makrovega

Address : Leština 2

Telephone: 021 394 440

Website : http://www.makrovega.hr/

Open: 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday; 9am to 4pm Saturday

We wish Vjeko and his colleagues every success - the Dalmatians can sometimes be very traditional, particularly when it comes to food. It takes courage and vision to break the mould and I'm sure there have been plenty of shaking heads advising that such a venture might not work. We think it will!

For those that visit Croatia by boat, don't forget to check out our sister site - Croatia Cruising Companion - Dalmatian Coast and Islands