Croatia Online - Driving To The UK

For those of you contemplating travelling to the UK from Croatia by car, for the first time, there are a few things you need to know.

We followed the recomended Michelin Route via Zagreb, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Holland and France. Our Top Five Tips and Comments are as follows:

1. Most Outrageous Rip Off - Slovenia

Following in Austria's footsteps, Slovenia decided to introduce a vignette system earlier this year. Though Austria's €8 for a 10 day vignette originally seemed a little expensive for not more than a couple of hours of motorway, it now seems excellent value for money compared to Slovenia's massive €35. This is "justified" on the basis that the minimum period is 6 months but it's patently obvious that it's just a racketeering scheme to extract money from tourists taking the through route. Adding insult to injury is the fact that Slovenia's roads, particularly the through route, are so diabolically poor. The "motorway" that takes you to Austria's excellent roads lasts for about 10 minutes and before that it took us 2 hours to do 20 kilometres through Maribor, on a pot holed single lane road, that had roadworks in the middle, forcing it into just one lane for two traffic flows from opposite directions. Slovenia has had billboards around for some time saying it's improving its roads. By the time it gets around to it, we expect them to be able to afford to pave them with gold!

2. Navigation - Outskirts Of Liege

With a decent map and the Michelin route planner it's all pretty straight forward as long as you have the main towns you are heading to firmly in your head (and it pays to remember a few of the smaller ones too). The one exception to this seemed to be Liege in Belgium, where we were expecting to see a sign to Brussels but saw everything else but, and made a couple of lucky and adrenalin filled last minute guesses at the motorway intersections. So just to be on the safe side, work out where you're not heading to as well, when you get near Liege.

3. Night Driving

If you want some easy night driving, do it in Belgium. The motorway surface is not as good as elsewhere but, until you get near the coast, the motorway is well lit pretty well all the way.

4. Overnighting

Yes it's fun to amble around the country side and discover hidden gems but if your mission is to get home as quickly and as rested as possible then it's hard to beat the motorway hotels in Germany at around €59 per room. They're almost invariably accompanied by a decent restaurant, bar and other facilities, and normally have modern, clean, functional and relatively spacious rooms.

5. Driving Tactics and National Features

You can tell which country you're in by the general demeanour of the drivers, as well as the marked change in landscape.

Croatia's motorway is notable for its stark mountains, empty motorways (unless you pick the wrong weekend) and mostly foreign drivers, particularly in summer.

Slovenia is notable for its bad roads, traffic jams and extortionate vignette. The demeanour of the drivers I would guess is very patient!

You know you're in Austria by the sudden change to lush green scenery and faster drivers but not too much in the way of congestion or lorries. The roads are particularly good - marked by an absence of roadworks and a long tunnel that takes you swiftly and painlessly underneath the large town of Graz.

Germany, particularly as you head further into it, is the real challenge and you need to decide whether you want speed or relaxation. Most of the motorways are just two lanes and full of lorries (no tolls as in France for example), and though maximum speed limits have now been introduced, many Germans still live in the good old days of no limits. So you need enormous concentration over several hundred kilometres and spend as much time looking in your mirrors (for a car that's come from nowhere) as you do looking forward (amongst other things to judge, when you need to pull out to avoid getting boxed in behind a concentrated lorry convoy). Scarier still are the roadworks around Frankfurt - narrow lanes with walls on either side - if you stay on the inside lane you'll be stuck at slow speeds for a long time; if you dare to pick the outside lane you'll be going faster than is comfortable with a lorry 6 inches away on one side and a metal or concrete wall 6 inches away on the other side!

So it's a relief to get into Belgium where drivers seem sedate compared to their German cousins, and what was a slow speed in Germany now seems to leave everyone standing.

Today's photo is of the roadwork sign in Maribor, Slovenia. By the time we reached it we had been stuck in a traffic jam for an hour and a half - no accidents; just roadworks.

Sretan put!

And she wore Thakoon...

Courtesy of Getty Images

"An Obama Fashion Bump" by Susan Saulny

Appeared in the New York Times August 13, 2008

Photo by Sally Ryan for The New York Times

Of course there are people dreaming about the presidential inaugural ball in January, two couples in particular. But one dreamer is not a usual suspect.
“I definitely see a light color and something kind of fitted in the torso and fuller in the skirt,” said Maria Pinto, a longtime designer and Chicago native, her thoughts turning to the dress Michelle Obama, a longtime friend and client, might wear if her husband is victorious in November. “I bet every American designer has fantasies of what she’d look like.”
Some more than others. Though she is not Mrs. Obama’s exclusive dressmaker, Ms. Pinto, a designer known for luxuriant evening wear, is a favorite of Mrs. Obama, who wore buzzed-about Pinto creations when her husband announced his candidacy and on the night of the notorious fist-bump before his speech claiming the Democratic nomination, among other occasions.
As Mrs. Obama’s fashion presence has risen, so has that of Ms. Pinto, a former Geoffrey Beene assistant. After 16 years in the business, she opened her first boutique Tuesday night in the arty West Loop, near downtown Chicago. Was the timing fortuitous?
Ms. Pinto said the shop was in the works for at least a year. “We’re not Balenciaga, we’re not Gucci,” she said, “so it’s great that there are women that are free thinkers that come to us and help us establish the brand.”
Ms. Pinto, 51, fluttered about in a white strapless cocktail dress from her label adorned with sequins and ostrich feathers. Her guests — art patrons, models and business executives — numbered in the hundreds. (A high-collared alpaca coat for $2,300 garnered much attention.)
But the woman responsible for the recent fanfare was absent, as Mrs. Obama was with her family in Hawaii. “She loves what I do, and I’m lucky for that,” said Ms. Pinto, whose pieces up to now have been sold nationally in department stores like Barneys and Saks Fifth Avenue.
She met Mrs. Obama a few years ago through a friend. “Michelle came in just like everyone else and said: ‘I need a few dresses. I need a suit for work,’ ” Ms. Pinto said.
While she does point out things Mrs. Obama might like, Ms. Pinto said she has never dressed her for events. Of the purple dress worn the night Mr. Obama claimed the nomination, Ms. Pinto said it was not planned. “Michelle is not scheming like her wardrobe should make certain points.”

Croatia Online - Biograd

Biograd, close to Zadar, doesn't always get a good press but it has much to offer if you're looking for a family beach holiday with plenty of activity. It has a huge stretch of tree lined pebble beach, packed with every conceivable stall and facility you could want - fast food, cocktail bars, souvenir shops, helter skelter, paragliding, massage tent, childrens activity areas, banana rides, tennis courts and the list goes on. Past the helter skelter in the background of today's photo, is a smaller sandy beach and another activity area.

The hotel choice has been dominated, to date, by Ilirija who have three large hotels in poll position facing the pedestrian area and beach. They may, externally, remind you of Yugoslavian holidays of yesteryear but Ilirija have an ongoing program of quality improvements so, inside, they're modern and well equipped. They've also added the popular Lavendar bed bar where you can lounge in the shade and watch the world go by and there's plenty of nightlife around the pool area and at Pocco Locco's, on the beach. If mass tourism is not your style, this year there are two new three star family run hotels - Mai Mare and Hotel Palma - the former a short walk from the beach, the latter slightly further from the beach. All these hotels provide good value for money and there are plenty of apartments to let as well as some other hotels, some of which could do with modernising.

As for restaurants you're spoilt for choice - Guste on the sea front by the ferry has long held the cachet for the best fish in town though reports suggest competition is increasing, Casa Vecchia and Mamma Mia, on the main town peninsula a little away from the sea, vie for the title of best pizzeria though it's hard to beat Casa Vecchia's courtyard, full of established trees. For something a little different, seek out Konoba Bazilika, by the 11th century ruins of St John The Evangelist's Basilica or Konoba Cotonum, which has a Roman and a Dalmatian menu. For classic Dalmatian food in a great setting try Konoba Vapor.

Part of the reason for Biograd's sometimes luke warm press is its unfortunate history. It used to be the crowning place for Hungarian kings but was demolished twice, once by the Venetians and a second time by retreating Turks. That means there's not much in the way of cultural sites to visit. However it's difficult to beat it's location - there's Zadar for a bit of culture, Sv Filip i Jakov for tradition, Croatia's largest lake, Vransko Jezero, for nature, and more national parks a little further afield. Plus the Kornati islands are in easy reach as are the islands of Pašman and Ugljan.

The beaches are pretty packed in the high season but if you want entertainment for young children and a good value beach holiday, Biograd compares well with eg Vodice and Borik near Zadar.

A Truly Stylish Cat- Andre Benjamin in Florence

Photo from The Sartorialist

Croatia Online - Animal Welfare in Croatia

Dog (and cat) lovers in Croatia will be pleased to know that there is an organisation in Osijek called "Life" that is making great strides into animal welfare and doing more than its fair share to find homes for stray and abandoned dogs and cats.

We know as well as anyone, what a big responsibility dog ownership is but it is immensely rewarding. If you are living in Croatia and can honestly take on a dog or cat "for life" then why not consider offering a home to one of "Life's" residents? If you can't take on a dog or cat then perhaps a donation to assist with the work done by the organisation?

Full details, in English and Croatian, are on the website - http://www.zivot.hr/.

Follow this link to find our previous postings on what to expect for your existing canine friend in Croatia - http://croatiaonline.blogspot.com/2007/06/croatia-online-dogs-life-in-croatia.html

Croatia Online - Split

We've had some mostly very postive feedback from our last posting on the problems of staying "legal" in Croatia. For those who want to see exactly what the current law says, go to http://www.mup.hr/1266.aspx. However, moving on from the legal quagmire, we were contacted by Oliver Komadina, a native of Split who is currently studying in Germany. Oliver has solved his home sickness problem by blogging about Split and has built an impressive site with plenty of helpful facts, tips and information. Go to http://www.split-guide.com to read more and many thanks to Oliver for getting in touch.

Today's photo is of Split's sandy beach, Bačvice.