Travelfood

It is my joy to write about my favorite country! It is difficult to say clearly what makes Croatia better than the other countries, but it is easy to give examples. What about authentic, sunny islands in clear-blue Adriatic sea, the irresistible Dubrovnik, delicious food, low price level, the light reflected from white cliffs, the functional infrastructure, the service level or the friendly attitude of the locals with a hint of pride? When we bought a package tour to Split without pre-notice about the hotel, we worried ourselves when noticing that we were transported away from Split by hydrofoil. The next day we found ourselves in the paradise of the tiny Jelsa village on Hvar Island.

The Dalmatian coast goes along the Makarska Riviera, a band of small fishing villages with rocky beaches, all the way to Dubrovnik, a beautiful city with orange-colored brick roofs on white buildings. Before Dubrovnik you cross a small piece of land that belongs to Bosnia-Hercegovina and that is the only Bosnian land connection with the Mediterranean. Dubrovnik is filled with tourists and for those who want to avoid them, there are lots of Dubrovnik-looking less crowded towns along the coastline. The capital Zagreb is also beautiful but perhaps not one of the most well-known in eastern Europe.

Croatian food is delicious. If you visit the islands, you eat of course a lot of fish, but how come the grilled fish is so much better tasting in Croatia than in other parts of the Mediterranean where it is also delicious? In Dubrovnik I tasted the black risotto, which gets its color from octopus ink, but also the meat of the octopus is tasty. We also had grilled lamb chops and cevapcici, which is a dish of small flavored minced meat skewers. For dessert we usually had a glass of local Prosek fruit wine.

We travelled to Croatia for the first time about ten years after the devastating Serbian war. The war did apparently not affect Croatia as much as Bosnia-Hercegovina, but for example the city walls of Dubrovnik had several visible cannon hits and we saw one-legged war veterans in the towns. At least then we felt that the Croatians looked forward and that they viewed good relations to tourists and other countries as a good thing. On one hand it is a pity that Croatia is in the shadows of Greece and Italy as a tourist country, but on the other hand it is still a sleeping, interesting tourism giant, which is waiting to be one among the most respected.

Croatia, Europe, food, travel, travel experiences