Travel and Holiday

The first heavy working week after the summer holidays has produced a cornucopia of stories here in the western Balkans. Some are more serious than others, unless of course you live here, when they are all deadly serious. Here’s a roundup of a few of them.

Outside the old Yugoslav Fed. Parliament building in the Serbian capital they are rolling up the red carpet which had been unrolled to welcome representatives to the fiftieth birthday hit of the Non-Aligned Movement, which I’ve written about here. Serbia, which hosted the gathering, is not an affiliate, but never mind that. It finds it helpful to lobby over the Kosovo issue and for business.

In the aftermath of the meeting, Serbian papers are reporting that 2 countries which had hitherto been accepted to have recognized Kosovo, now say that they did not. Oman explains it just, sort of, um ah, kind of said it wanted Kosovo in the UN, but that’s different. The West African state of Guinea Bissau claims that recognition was held up in parliament.

Vuk Jeremic, Serbia’s foreign minister adds that a criminal investigation has started in one African country against a senior official. He said :

“There are founded suspicions that he received a bribe from an Albanian businessman from Kosovo so as to start the procedure to recognise Kosovo independence. If that investigation gives results we expect, this country will also withdraw its recognition of Kosovo independence.”

In the piece I wrote in this week’s print edition I noted that many nations find the Non-Aligned Movement’s conferences useful because they enable states to lobby and network. However in a stinging commentary (behind a paywall,) at Balkan Understanding Milan Misic, the Washington hack of the Serbian daily Politika, argues the entire shebang was mounted because Belgrade “needed something to lift its confidence”. It was just a show of nostalgia for all its participants argues Mr Misic and “dwelled on the past feats of the movement. “

At the meeting the ex-Yugoslavs all sat together. They’d better be cautious. Folk (especially Croatia’s Nova television) are asking questions. Why Ivo (Josipovic, the president of Croatia) was spending so much time with Boris (Tadic, the president of Serbia). 2 men of the same age, same background, same jobs, same Problems, what a scandal…

In the meantime, as some Croatian correspondents were obsessing about Ivo and Boris a tiny Croatian paper, the Makarska Kronika, appears to have a world-beating scoop, if true of course. In February I wrote about the close connections between the former Yugoslavia and Colonel Qaddafi. The press then wrote that his other half Safiya was originally Sofija Farkas, a Croat with Hungarian roots from Mostar in Hercegovina. According to the paper, Mrs Qaddafi has just been trying to buy land and property in Igrane on the Croatian Adriatic coast not far from Mostar.

Mrs Qaddafi and some of the family are now in Algeria. This summer the Balkan press has been full of stories of various celebrities in assorted stages of inebriation or strip, from Prince Harry to Beyonc, who have been holidaying in Croatia. Whether Mrs Qaddafi fits the profile the Croats want, I am really not sure, however if she is really a Bosnian Croat she has every right to a Croatian passport and therefore visa free travel through Europe.

On a rather more sombre note, Dimitar Bechev of the Sofia office of the Western european Council on Foreign Relations writes about the “protracted death of democratic Albania.” Debating about the political conflict that has paralysed Albania for the last 2 years he says that both Edi Rama, the leader of the opposition Socialists and Sali Berisha, the P. M. are the culprit. However Mr Berisha “must take the lion’s share.” He’s hell bent, says Mr Bechev, on gaining control over all of the Albanian establishments which still remain beyond his grip.

Why are standard Albanians happy to allow such de-democratisation? One reason could be that, unlike any other former Communist states, ordinary people see in the ECU nothing different from Albania. To the side, across the Mediterranean, is Italy, with its unique type of game-show politics ; to the south, over the mountain ranges, lies broke Greece. If this is what it means to be an ECU state, many Albanian baby-kissers can be excused for thinking they already live in one, or should qualify for membership.”

Not as dramatic, but still, alarm bells have started to ring in Montenegro too. Thomas Roser, of the Austrian daily Die Presse has written about the crop of attacks on vehicles belonging to Vijesti, one of the nations main dailies. 4 have been torched in the last few months. Zeljko Ivanovic, the paper’s handling editor claims that the media situation in the country is appalling and so the attacks are messages from people hooked up to orgainised crime which in Montenengro have always been believed to overlap with political interests that “they are stronger than the state” and thus Vijesti’s reporting about issues like this is pointless. Who cares about the global economy when you can worry about media freedom in Montenegro. Watch this space, writes tagza.com.

The first Sep weekend on the Makarska coast is in the marking of the first September shifting of guests with a seriously larger number leaving than coming. On the state road D8 today there are no big traffic blockages, and driving is done in shorter damaged lines without jams and constraints. It is the same on the lines Makarska Vrgorac and on the Duci street estanovac to the highway. The ferry on the line Makarska Sumartin sails still only today according to the seasonal schedule and boarding is done without waiting as well as on the line Drvenik Su263;uraj on the island of Hvar.

You certainly know that Makarska is an interesting Croatian visitor centre of Makarska Riviera, located in the guts of Dalmatia, widely known for its natural and climatic traits, rich cultural and historical heritage and also heterogeneous visitor offer and kind hosts.
Besides enjoying the sun, untouched nature and sea and different attractions the offer includes supreme accommodation in top quality flats, studio residences and rooms.

Considering its geographical position Makarska is and ideal starting position for many expeditions to neighboring places, regardless of whether You make a decision to visit the islands or some of the places with different natural and cultural beauties as well as rich holiday maker offer.
There is not any place in the whole Mediterranean area with a such wealthy and conspicuous contrast of the sea and coastal area and Biokovo Mountain that stands vertically above the whole town of Makarska and represents an unrepeatable mixture of the sea, greenery and vertical stone cliffs.

In just one day You can both lie agreeably on the beach and in the afternoon enjoy rememberable sunset and stunning view of the Middle Dalmatian islands and entire Riviera from the slopes of the proud mountain.
People having an interest in an active sort of vacation can enjoy an enticing offer of plenty sport programs with different chances on the beach, in the city, on the Mountain as well as in the neighboring places.

Folk from Makarska are known as good and kind hosts, the town itself is famous for its cultural, sport and entertaining manifestations and is also well generally known as a favored centre.
This implies that here You will find an excellent choice of standard gastronomy, home-produced food and drinks served in trattorias, konobas and other consents Makarska is feted for.

For the reason of glorious climate conditions and terrains many sportsmen train and prepare themselves here and even a larger number of people visit us because of our rememberable entertainment, many banquets and other events.

On the Makarska bus station there are smaller crowds in the departure of guests on lines towards further away destinations for which extra tickets are needed.
Similarly, according to information from the hoteliers which are accommodating more than 12,000 guests and the post-seasonal business is continuing with costs lower than 10 to fifteen percent in relation to the top of the season and with basically occupied accommodation units, as well as information from traveller offices, the summer on the Makarska coast continues with more than 26,000 guests which are generally foreigners.

Makarska, according to the words of the director of the tourist office, Davor Glavine, close its eight month business activities with 107,095 traveller arrivals and 727,684 realized overnight stays. Re last year, the arriving of guests was 13 % more, and the realized overnight stays was 11 % more than in the first eight months of last year, added Glavina.

In hotels Makarska which are also continuing with their post-seasonal business activities, they’re usually working with occupied accommodation capacities, asserted this morning the director Joko Lelas, and they’re also satisfied with the effect during the last eight months. In the hotels of Hotels Makarska, there were 157,376 tourist overnight stays realized which was the plan of the hotel company. Especially good business was done in Hotel Meteor, where by the end of August, 67,446 overnight stays were realized, added Lelas and announced quality business activities of the hotel in the continuance of the post-season,writes tagza.com.

Croatia is poised to become one of the hottest short-haul destinations of the year. Lonely Planet tagged its coast region of Istria as one of its top visits for 2011, and that’s just one of many stops in this cheap, outside-the-eurozone country.

Here’s our list to do and see, including standard toy-making, a sea and sun-powered music and light show, traditional Greek fields, Roman marvels and lighthouse stays on remote islands. Not to mention one thousand miles of rocky coves and pine-fringed beaches.

1. Inside these walls

One US internet site recently named Dubrovnik the third most romantic place in the world, after Buenos Aires and Bora Bora, but ahead of Paris and Venice. This beautiful ‘city of stone and light ‘, between the Adriatic and the Dinaric Alps, was battered during the Balkan war of the Nineties.

Restorers pieced it together virtually to the state of its glory days : the newer orange terracotta tiles are the only actual clue as to where the bombs slid. The well preserved, mile-long 14th Century ramparts are among the best in Europe. The pedestrian-only old city within is brim-full of medieval, renaissance and baroque treasures, as well as designer shops, trattorias and galleries.

2. Truffles and bikes

Istria stands apart at the top of Croatia, close to Trieste and Venice. Forsaken Planet describes it as ‘toned down Tuscany’. There are lots of easy beach-holiday options on Istria’s shore ( it’s the same all down Croatia’s long, crinkly coast, and more than 1,000 islands ).

Or you could escape to the region’s green interior, where narrow roads spiral up to remote medieval hill cities and hamlets. Stay in a BB and eat in restaurants under chestnut trees. Cycling vacation firms offer routes over well-signed paths, while they whisk baggage to the following stop. This is prime truffle country : try them in omelettes or stirred into wild boar croquettes.

3. Light symphony

Sea and the sun combine to give an expert music and light performance on the promenade in Zadar, the pretty and important city now served by budget flights. The Sea Organ is 35 pipes of different lengths, diameters and angles built into the steps over that the Adriatic washes. The tide pushes air down the tubes to supply a haunting and unpredictable symphony.

Architect Nikola Basic has added Greeting To The Sun, a glass circle set on the quay at the exact point on the waterfront from where you see what is alleged to be the planet’s most wonderful sunset. Photovoltaic plates (a sort of solar energy panel) absorb energy by day and produce a show of dancing lights by night, and enough power to light the whole quay.

4. Hand-carved heritage

There’s a heart-warming alternative choice to heavily produced, and you’ll be able to find it in the area of Hrvatsko Zagorje, north of Zagreb. They have been making toys by hand here for ages, applying simple talents that never died out. The men carve 50 kinds of toys from locally produced willow, lime, beech and maple, and the ladies decorate them in ecologically friendly red, yellow and blue paint.

Unesco has put this admirable calling on its World Intangible Cultural Heritage List. Best spots to see toymakers in action are Marija Bistrica and surrounding hamlets. Other Croatian cultural customs are two-part folks singing in the coastal regions, and lacemaking in Pag, Lepoglava and Hvar.

5. Fields of dreams

There’s a new, and extraordinarily old, reason to take the short ferry trip from Split to wondrous Hvar, the longest of the 1,000 Croatian islands. Unesco has just made the island’s Stari Grad Plain an international heritage site, recognising it as the best saved ancient Greek landscape in the Mediterranean. Greek settlers started farming here 2,400 years ago, and nothing has really changed in the quiet routine of cultivating grapes and olives on the same parcels of land marked out by the original Greek surveyors.

You can walk or cycle thru this eternal horticultural grid, divided by traditional walls, dotted with beehive-shaped stone shelters. One other thing to do on Croatia’s islands is hire a lighthouse residence (www.lighthouses-croatia.com).

6. Split – the difference

Croatia’s prodigious Roman remains are one of its many attractions. Split, with budget flights from the United Kingdom, is a good short-break location at any point of year. There’s the rare thrill of staying in a boutique hotel or house within the 1,700-year-old walls of Roman Emperor Diocletian’s massive palace.

Dress your best and take a turn on the Riva, the promenade along the Adriatic to the pine-forested spur park. Just 20 miles away is another marvel, the well-preserved city of Trogir, with lovely Venetian buildings on a pre-Roman street plan as reported tagza.com.