ZAGREB, 26 June 2021 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković attended a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of Slovenia's independence in Ljubljana on Friday, and in his speech he pointed out the ties between the two nations in history and at the time of their independence from Yugoslavia 30 years ago.

"Croatia and Slovenia are two friendly countries, and Croats and Slovenes are two friendly peoples. What divides us is a trifle compared to what binds us together," Plenković said, congratulating Slovenia on the 30 years of independence.

He said that on the same day in 1991 the parliaments of Slovenia and Croatia had taken crucial decisions that led to the independence of the two countries. He noted that after the fall of the Berlin Wall, other countries had also become independent, but that Croatia and Slovenia did not gain their independence peacefully. 

"Both our countries were the victims of military aggression, we both know what war is like," Plenković said. This fact binds Croatia and Slovenia even today as they both know what was happening then, he added.

Plenković said he hoped that the Slovenian presidency of the European Union in the second half of the year would be successful and that he was sure that Slovenia would make a significant contribution to this process with its knowledge and creativity. He stressed that Slovenia can count on Croatia as a partner and friend in this process.

The ceremony was also attended by the Austrian Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the foreign ministers of Italy and Portugal, and EU Council President Charles Michel.

In his address, Slovenian President Borut Pahor called for unity in diversity, for an end to political quarrels and for achieving "a third consensus" on how Slovenia should be developing over the next 30 years. He said that his country should develop through a smart and green strategy by strengthening plurality and dialogue in society. 

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

June 26, 2021 - A look at the 5th day of Zagreb Digital Nomad Week and the first digital nomad ambassador!

The announcement of Veronica Mulhall as the ambassador of 'Zagreb Digital Nomads' concluded the fifth day of 'Digital Nomad Week' on Friday, where the organizers Saltwater Nomads, Total Croatia News, and the Zagreb Tourist Board presented the advantages, opportunities, and possibilities of the Croatian capital for remote digital nomad work, reports Jutarnji List. 

In July, Veronica Mulhall will be the first ambassador - a digital nomad who will work and live in Zagreb for a month. 

"Congratulations to Veronica on this election, Zagreb welcomes her, and I think she will have a wonderful time in our city; that is, she will have great opportunities to find her new job office here. We will introduce her to everything that Zagreb has to offer digital nomads," said Petra Maršić Buljan from the Zagreb Tourist Board.

The 'Zagreb Digital Nomads' ambassador was preceded by three 'Digital Nomad Week' panels which analyzed future trends in the labor market, digital nomads as a solution to changes in the labor market, and Croatian policies in accepting and deepening global trends in teleworking.

Jose Alfonso Kusijanović

Before the panels, the participants were given a lecture by blogger and labor market researcher Albert Canigueral on the future of work.

"The future of work has three dimensions, the future of the job itself, the job and the fulfillment of business tasks or goals. Nomads are one of the solutions for the future of the workplace, and how far we have come in applying this way of working is evidenced, among other things, by the example of employers in the Swedish transport business who are committed to regulating the work of truck drivers from home," said Canigueral. He recalled the thesis of the famous sociologist Peter Drucker that the basic question of the labor market is not to find answers to the demands that arise but to ask a key question of the labor market.

After Canigueral’s presentation, the first three panels of the ‘Digital Nomad Week’ closing day entitled ‘Sustainable and Self-Renewing Destinations’ followed. In addition to moderations by Ron Tardiff, the director of the Zagreb Tourist Board Martina Bienenfeld, the director of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board Ana Hrnić, the author of numerous travelogues Anja Mutić, and the entrepreneur in tourism Daniel Lacko spoke about sustainable and self-renewing tourist destinations.

Ron Tardiff, one of the winners of the last Dubrovnik Digital Nomads in Residence competition, discussed Sustainable and Regenerative Destinations with a panel that included Martina Bienenfeld, CEO of the Zagreb Tourist Board. (Jose Alfonso Kusijanović)

Ana Hrnić pointed out that the tourist season in the pearl of Croatian tourism in Dubrovnik is currently under the strong influence of last year's consequences of the coronavirus and large restrictions in air traffic on Dubrovnik tourism, which, she warned, is an air destination. On the other hand, the Dubrovnik Tourist Board director pointed out that 2019 was a record year in terms of visiting guests for Dubrovnik tourism.

"In 2019, we took the first steps to ensure the long-term sustainability of Dubrovnik tourism, limiting the number of cruiser arrivals in the city port," said Ana Hrnić. Martina Bienenfeld reminded that the Zagreb tourist offer in 2020, in addition to COVID-19 and lockdown, also faced a devastating earthquake.

"I must emphasize that we have not given up our efforts to prove that we are still 'alive' as a tourist destination, and we have done many great projects and campaigns since the beginning of the pandemic. I want to remind you that Zagreb changed, and we do not give up with new stories, new projects, highlighting some of the projects such as Pimp my Pump, Mali Zagreb and Triptych. When it comes to the sustainability of the city's tourist offer, we try to prove that Zagreb is not only the capital of a beautiful tourist country but a great place to live and work," said Martina Bienenfeld.

Tanja Polegubić, organizer of Zagreb Digital Nomad Week, moderated a panel consisting of Petra Maršić Buljan from the Zagreb Tourist Board, Paul Bradbury from Total Croatia News, Dalibor Kovačević from Raiffeisen Bank Hrvatska, and Matthew Parsons from Skift. The theme was Future of Work Trends and Croatia's Global Standing. (Jose Alfonso Kusijanović)

The first panel was followed by a conversation between the moderator of ‘Digital Nomad Week’ Michael Freer, and Mandy Fransz, the founder of the company ‘Digital Leap’ for Digital Transformation.

"I heard about Croatia as a digital nomad destination, came here, and was convinced that Croatia provides a lot of events, but also opportunities for community development, which I consider the most important part of my job," said Mandy Fransz.

In the second panel, moderated by Tanja Polegubić from Saltwater Nomads, Petra Maršić Buljan from the Zagreb Tourist Board, Paul Bradbury, CEO of Total Croatia News, editor of the Skift portal Matthew Parsons and Dalibor Kovačević from Raiffeisenbank. This was followed by a presentation by Dean Kuchel, who introduced himself to the participants as a nomadic lifestyle ambassador.

Jan de Jong (Digital Nomads Association), Nikolina Pejović (Hrvatski Telekom) and Tanja Polegubić (Saltwater Nomads). (Jose Alfonso Kusijanović)

The last panel of the fifth day featured Jan de Jong, an entrepreneur who initiated the digital nomad visa in Croatia, Kristina Grbavac from the auditing company KPMG, Branka Bajt Hrvatski Telekom, and Hermes Arriaga Sierra from Impact Hub.

Asked by panel moderator Michael Freer how he came up with the idea to initiate the introduction of digital nomad visas in our country, Jan de Jong said that at his first participation in a conference on Croatian tourism, he faced the question of how to make Croatia a year-round tourist destination. The answer to the latter question, Jan de Jong, as he said, was given in the texts of Paul Bradbury on the portal Total Croatia News.

In the third and final panel, moderated by Michael Greer, Branka Bajt from Hrvatski Telekom, Kristina Grbavac from KPMG, Jan de Jong from DNA Croatia, and Hermes Arriaga Sierra from Impact Hub discussed about DNA Croatia, Policy, and Connecting a Global Community. (Jose Alfonso Kusijanović)

"In Paul’s texts, three words shone on me, digital nomad tourism. Then I started to promote this concept in my public speeches, finding great support from the followers of my speeches, but, very soon after, almost all major media in the country," said de Jong, revealing that after they received support for the development of digital nomad tourism from the Croatian Government, i.e., the Office of the Prime Minister. We managed, de Jong, concluded that Croatia becomes one of the top ten countries in the world with a visa for digital nomads. De Jong continues to implement his idea through the DNA Croatia association.

Paul Bradbury, Total Croatia News CEO, talks to Dean Kuchel, who spoke about Community Building, and Israel's Ambassador to Croatia, Ilan Mor. (Jose Alfonso Kusijanović)

"One of the DNA Croatia association goals is to extend the visa from the current six-month residence permit for digital nomads. We also want to simplify the procedures regarding the taxation of digital nomads," announced Jan de Jong.

Meet one of Friday's keynote speakers, Albert Cañigueral, one of the Dubrovnik nomads-in-residence and recently appointed to lead the Catalan Government's Transparency and Open Data, division. Albert will be focusing on the topic of the day, the future of work.  

Tourist Board Director Martina Bienenfeld on Zagreb Digital Nomad Week, Ryanair, Tourism in Pandemic

Want to be a Zagreb Digital Nomad Ambassador and live in the city for a month between July and December? 

For the latest news and features on digital nomads in Croatia, check out the dedicated TCN section. 

June 26, 2021 - The celebrated Croatian doubles team of Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić have won the ATP tournament in Eastbourne after beating the American-British duo Rajeev Ram - Joe Salisbury 6-4, 6-3 in the final on Friday.

In the Eastbourne International final match that lasted an hour and three minutes, Mektić and Pavić served four aces, and the rivals made three double faults. The Croatian duo also never lost their serve, and Ram and Salisbury lost theirs 3 times, writes Gol.hr.

This was the ninth final this year for Mektić and Pavić and the 7th ATP tour title. 

"I am very happy with the title here after everything that has happened recently, getting ill in Paris. We are very happy with the way we came back, very fast, very quick. We found good form [this week]," Mektić said for ATP Tour.

“I think we played an excellent match. We have played them three times and they are always tough matches. It goes back to a few points, we saved a couple of break points, and they didn’t," added Pavić. 

The Croatian duo is now 42-6 in their first year together.

Kontaveit and Ostapenko in the women's final

At the same time, the finalists in this same tournament in the women's individual competition are known. Estonian Anett Kontaveit will play against Latvian Jelena Ostapenko.
Kontaveit secured a place in the final after her rival in the semifinals on Friday, Italian Camila Giorgi, handed over the match in the first set.

There were no indications that Giorgi had any problems until the score was 4-5, but then she said she was injured and could not continue the match.

It was the end of a great week for the Italian, the 75th tennis player in the world, who eliminated fifth seed Karolina Plišková and first seed Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka on her way to the semifinals.

Ostapenko reached the final by defeating Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina, who eliminated Serena Williams 6-4, 6-1 in the Roland Garros final this year.

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE. 

June the 26th, 2021 - The Hvar Health Centre construction project is set to continue with an aim to offer healthcare services and protection to not only the residents of this wildly popular Dalmatian island, but also to all of its many visitors.

As Morski writes, a working meeting on the improvement of primary healthcare services and the development of health tourism on the island of Hvar was held on Friday, June the 25th, at the Hvar Theatre.

At the meeting, designer Baton Arifi presented the Preliminary design for the construction of the Hvar Health Centre, which received a positive opinion from the Ministry of Health back in May this year, and defined common interests in improving primary healthcare and health tourism development on Hvar.

The Hvar Health Centre's construction is planned on a part of the land owned by the Republic of Croatia, with a total area covering ​​2.3 hectares, on which the Hvar Health Centre and its accompanying facilities should be located, as well as a spa hotel with a polyclinic and a rehabilitation centre. This would ensure the primary healthcare of the inhabitants of the Hvar Town and the specialist consular healthcare of the inhabitants of the entire island. These facilities are an added value to the development of health tourism and the provision of comprehensive healthcare for all residents and tourists on the island of Hvar.

Minister of Health Vili Beros emphasised the importance of the recently held talks and planning for the improvement of health tourism and noted that the Government of the Republic of Croatia, together with Split-Dalmatia County, recognises the need to improve the quality of healthcare services on offer. He reiterated his support for the project of building the Hvar Health Centre, thanking Minister Nikolina Brnjac for accepting the cooperation and wishing all those involved successful work.

The Minister of Tourism and Sport, Nikolina Brnjac, presented plans for the development of sustainable tourism with an emphasis placed primarily on health tourism, the benefits of which will be particularly prominent in the post-pandemic period. She emphasised the importance of planning for the sustainable development of the destination and expressed satisfaction that the project preparation was achieved in synergy between the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Tourism and the City, emphasising that Hvar is an ideal destination for such a project.

The fact that Hvar is a perfect place for investments in the development of health tourism was pointed out by the prefect Blasenko Boban, adding that in addition to health tourism, one should definitely invest in the potential for the development of sports tourism, for which Hvar has historical and climatological predispositions. Referring to the difficulties that the county and the Health Centre have in maintaining the required level of healthcare required due to a lack of professional staff, especially on the islands, the prefect expressed satisfaction with the development of the Hvar Health Centre project and announced the support of the County in all further implementation.

Dr. Dino Caric gave a brief overview of the activities of the Government Commission for the implementation of the Hvar Health Centre project, and Dr. Armin Ernst briefly presented the work and goals of Steward Healthcare International in Europe, as future partners in the Hvar Health Centre project.

For more, follow our dedicated lifestyle section.

June the 26th, 2021 - The ongoing coronavirus pandemic hasn't aided Croatia's long-standing demographic crisis, and now facility openings are in question this summer as the Croatian tourism sector lacks as many as 5000 employees despite the easing of epidemiological measures.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, the Croatian tourism sector and its many companies are facing a huge problem of a lack of workers, which is why it is even questionable as to whether some facilities will bother to open their doors this season, primarily hotels. Every large tourist company is currently short of several hundred workers, as was unofficially learned.

As many claim that there ''are no people to be had'' here at home on the Croatian market, because a good part of the seasonal workers have fled to secure employment in other sectors due to the pandemic, all hopes are unfortunately now being placed on foreign labour, primarily workers from outside the European Union, ie from neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

This is where a new problem arises, because the procedure for obtaining a work permit for third country nationals sometimes takes up to a month, and the needs of the Croatian tourism sector are now measured in mere hours. As has been found out from the Ministry of the Interior, there are currently almost 5,000 applications for work permits being processed, meaning that very many jobs are vacant and urgently waiting for workers.

"There was a situation for which no one can be blamed, until recently employers couldn't know how many staff they'd need, what the situation would be with the pandemic and measures, and the workers had to cope with all that. Procedures that normally take several months now need to be resolved much, much more rapidly.

The lack of workers is currently the biggest challenge facing the Croatian tourism sector, and we're trying to find the best solutions together with the institutions in order to speed up those procedures, ie loosen all instruments for hiring foreign workers, to open all facilities for which we have demand,'' said Veljko Ostojic.

Ideally, the procedure from receiving the application to obtaining the actual work permit should take a maximum of seven days in the modern day. However, although the obligation of the labour market test has been abolished for the Croatian tourism sector, which helps mildly, the system hasn't yet been prepared or equipped to perform all the prescribed moves in such a short time.

As is known, the Law on Foreigners, an update to which entered into force on the 1st of January, abolished quotas for the employment of foreigners (third-country nationals from outside the EU), but employers are still obliged to ask whether there are such workers already present here on the Croatian market before hiring third-country nationals.

Therefore, the employer first conducts a labour market test themselves, and the Croatian Employment Service (CES) is obliged to submit the results of the labour market test to the employer within fifteen days at the latest. If it is determined that there is no Croatian worker who meets the employer's requirements for employment, the employer may apply for a residence and work permit for a specific third-country national.

Fortunately, tourism is recognised as an activity with deficient occupations, and there is no obligation to carry out a labour market test. Employers have been given an advantage here, but this still isn't enough, because there are still procedures to go through.

As explained by the Ministry of the Interior, after submitting an application for a residence and work permit, they determine whether the third-country national poses a threat to public order, national security and public health, or whether the third-country national is banned from entering and staying in Croatia or the Schengen area (of which Croatia isn't a part), as well as whether or not they have submitted the prescribed evidence that they haven't been convicted of criminal offenses in their home country.

The deadline for deciding on the application for a residence and work permit is fifteen days from the day of submitting the proper application, during which the CES determines whether or not all of the conditions for giving a positive opinion for employment have been met, and the Ministry of the Interior determines whether the conditions for issuing a residence/work permit have been met.

As has been learned from the Ministry of the Interior, by June the 21st, they had issued 7003 residence and work permits for the tourism and catering business. Of these, 1232 licenses were issued for new employment, 980 were extensions and 4791 were for seasonal employment in the Croatian tourism sector.

At the same time, by the 21st of June 2021, 11,740 applications for residence and work permits for tourism and catering activities had been submitted, which also included applications for new employment, extensions and seasonal employment.

In other words, almost 5,000 employers' applications are still stuck in this long, drawn out process. For comparison, back in pre-pandemic 2019, 20,000 foreign workers were employed in the Croatian tourism sector, and the employment process started in February at the latest.

“We're in constant contact with representatives of associations representing the interests of employers, in order to detect possible challenges faced by employers, as well as to find possible solutions to these challenges within the legal possibilities.

The Ministry is taking measures to resolve these requests as soon as possible, given the increased number of requests submitted for the employment of third-country nationals, especially in the field of tourism and catering.

In addition to the activities undertaken by the Ministry, as well as the CES, the precondition for resolving these requests as soon as possible is on the side of the employer. Because requests that aren't submitted with complete documentation require additional time from officials, which ultimately affects the period of resolving requests submitted with complete documentation,'' they point out in the Ministry.

For more, follow our business section.

June the 26th, 2021 - It's well known that the waters can get murky in Croatia when it comes to construction, permits and concessions, and as many as 1574 Croatian facilities claim to boast ''private beaches''.

As Morski writes, the very rightly raised voices in the public about one arrogant man from Drvenik Veli who sold the story to his guests from the Czech Republic that he has a private beach - still aren't subsiding. There can be no notion of a private beach in Croatia, so the nerve of those owners of various Croatian facilities claiming they boast one is quite incredible indeed.

That being said, it is obvious that he's far from the only one who understands that the beach in front of his house is a private one. Namely, it isn't foreign to Croats to attach the option to have a private beach when reserving a property they own and rent out to tourists on the likes of Booking.com, writes Index.

One single little cursory glance at this famous platform for online accommodation reservation shows that Croatian facilities often register a private beach with their listings. So, when the accommodation units are sorted on the Booking.com page specifically according to the term "private beach" - a fascinating number of 1574 Croatian facilities comes out.

It's worth mentioning that the text description written next to some facilities doesn't specifically state that they have a private beach, although the facilities are sorted by this parameter, but some explicitly advertise that they truly do have a private beach, and they mention the term private beach with restaurants, parking or free WiFi.

As it already goes on sites and platforms like this, the overall figure should be taken with a grain of salt, but to think that so many owners of Croatian facilities are so ready to lie so easily about something they simply cannot possible have to naive foreign tourists is quite astonishing.

However, we don't need Booking.com to conclude that, it's enough to have a wander along the coast and see that there are houses by the sea whose owners have built some stairs, so they think that the whole beach belongs to them.

Let us also recall the words of maritime property expert Goran Vojkovic, who wrote an article for Index about the recent ''private beach'' situation in Drvenik Veli.

The sea shore isn't under any sort of ownership and you're free to use it for common purposes. Swimming, sunbathing, swimming, fishing from the shore, whatever you want,'' read his words on the matter.

“Now, of course, the question arises - can someone have a concession for a beach and have that beach for the exclusive use of their camp or hotel (or charge an entrance fee). In principle, yes they can. However, such a concession must be listed in the public register - that list is available at http://servisi.fina.hr/regkonc/index.do (or you can just Google the " [Croatian] concession register").

However, there are very few such concessions for beaches in Croatia. The complete exclusion of general use costs quite a bit of money and most of the even the most notorious hotels have concluded that they won't bother to ask for concessions - they'd rather let everyone interested use it and make money in another way, by offering drinks or additional facilities. In any case, if someone claims to have a concession and as such you can only use a part of the coast - you need to have proof of this and you can also check for yourself. We repeat, there are very few of them, even the beaches in front of five-star hotels are usually public beaches,'' explained Vojkovic.

As for Booking.com, let's say that out of the total number of 1574 Croatian facilities with a so-called ''private beach'', 886 of them refer to apartments, and 95 are hotels. The rest refer to tourist resorts, camps, cottages or villas.

For more, follow our business section.

June the 26th, 2021 - The Split Airport reconstruction project has received the Croatian Cemex construction award, among other praiseworthy projects from both Dalmatia and Kvarner.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, the Split Airport reconstruction and extension of the passenger terminal, the Castua Pentagon office building from Kastav and the New City Stairs from Ploce are the winners of this year's Cemex Construction Award in the Republic of Croatia.

The three winners of the local pre-competition will represent Croatia's construction achievements over the last three years at the global Cemex Architecture Award, which is to be held this November in Mexico.

After a one-year break due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the 30th Cemex Building Award will be held this year, and the Croatian representatives will participate in it for the 12th time. The most successful Croatian architectural and construction achievements, such as the Split Airport reconstruction project, will compete in two main categories, the category of Infrastructure Buildings and the category of Public and Commercial Buildings.

While the Republic of Croatia has its representative in the competition for special awards, those for sustainable construction and special social value.

"The first impression that passengers get about any destination is its airport, and the new building of Split Airport is very transparent and designed in such a way that from every point of view, it is associated with flight. Every space that the passengers pass through offers them a new type of experience, a new moment that they can look at, photograph or comment on, with constant and uninterrupted contact with the local environment - with the sea, Trogir, Kastela, Split and in the background with Kozjak.

This introduces passengers in the best possible way to what awaits them when they arrive in the heart of Dalmatia,'' said Ivan Vulic, one of the authors of the architectural solution of the passenger terminal of Split Airport.

For more, follow our lifestyle section.

26 June 2021 - One TCN intern interviewed four young French people who recently moved to Croatia about their everyday life, impressions, and preferences here. A look at how French youth live in Croatia. 

They came to Croatia for different volunteering projects regardless of coronavirus pandemic, but likely would recommend their new abode to fellow countrymen as a good place to survive quarantine. The luckiest of them Mathias (26) got a chance to arrive in Split in February 2020, Axelle (22), and Clemence (22) joined him nearly a year later. Mathilde (23) came to Zagreb sometime between this period, in September 2020. 

Is the weather similar to Nice?

The climate is continental – low temperatures in winter and high temperatures in summer. “In Zagreb, there is often a fog during the winter,” Mathilde shares.  Thick fog looks unusual for newcomers and from time to time creates true ‘Silent hill’ views in Zagreb country. “It’s not windy, but you don’t see the light of the sun during two months,” she continues.

On the contrary, Split is a windy city, however, even during the winter the sun shines a lot. There are winds in France, Mathias notes. He fails to find a French analog to the well-known Split ‘bura’, a cold north-west wind that long till 10 days in winter. But there is ‘mistral’ wind in France, similar in the name and effects to Croatian ‘maestral’ that comes to Split from the north-east in summer.

If you’re sensitive to weather, you’ll probably feel winter winds in Split. Summer winds will help you. The wind cools the atmosphere, thus summer heat is handled easier in the Dalmatia. Axelle and Clemence who came to Split for spring and summer characterize the weather solely as perfect. Both moved from the northern part of France and began to enjoy sunbathing here.  Mathias compares the climate in Split with Nice. “Similar in many senses… Apart from the landscape – there are more islands and mountains in Croatia,” he said.

Is air-con needed?

My French respondents almost don’t use air conditioning. Mostly they don’t have a need for it. Axelle actually doesn’t know whether there is any air conditioner in their office. The office is situated on the first floor, it’s cool there. As for apartments it’s normally equipped with air conditioning systems. However, girls in Split are satisfied by shade from the inner yard of their house. During the summer, they just open windows wondering for what purpose these double shutters are designed. They’ve never met such a design in France. Mathilde doesn’t use the air conditioners for ecological reasons. It pollutes the atmosphere a lot.

Why do you apricot jam in a croissant?

Young people are usually simpler with food. Two of them are vegetarians, but they easily adapted to Croatia. “In France, we consume a lot of cheese,” Axelle claims. You can buy some basic cheese here like Emmental, you can buy soft cheese like mozzarella and feta. Mathias who isn’t a vegetarian, but a foodie confirms that fact.  “There is a huge lack of French cheese .” You’ll survive, but you’ll miss cheese. “I need cheese in my life,” Axelle says and goes to buy it without looking at brands.

On the plus side, there are many fresh vegetables in Croatia. Mathilde enjoys visiting open markets – you can talk, practice Croatian, create links with people, and support local producers. And prices are cheaper than in the supermarket.  Furthermore, the open market challenges your traditional tastes. While as in supermarket you’re guided by familiar names on the shelves, open market encourages you to improvise and try something new. Clemence started to eat much more vegetables in Croatia. Mathias who also visited the fish market has enriched his nutrition with seafood.

Food prices in Croatia are lower than in France. However, moving here you should configure your expectations correctly. Prices are lower, but not really low. And, of course, this isn’t about imported items. As a result, Clemence eats less ‘Nutella’ here. Hopefully, it was not a huge loss. Mathilde praises Croatian pastries, whereas she loved French pastries as well. ‘Burek’ is a universal pleasure; it has vegetarian options with cheese or spinach. ‘Burkifla’ or ‘strudla’ are a nice choice for the sweet tooth. The only stuff you should be careful with is a croissant. In Croatian bakeries, they often offer croissants with apricot jam (‘marelica’) and French often describe its taste as disgusting. Just clarify on a cashier that you want a normal croissant!

Wine is wine, if you do it in France, you’ll probably die!

Apart from croissants with apricot jam, one more strange thing the French can occasionally order in a cafe is coffee with cold milk. It’s better to specify what kind of milk you want – hot or cold, because during the summer season Croatian cafes often serve coffee with cold milk as in southern Europe. Axelle came from northern France and never expected to have something hot ordering a coffee. Otherwise, typical for the Balkan region ‘Turkish coffee’ is rarely found in modern Croatia. Expats including my respondents from France don’t like it. “First 2-3 sips are ok, but next you feel this nasty coffee ground…”

A coffee drinking culture must be attributed to the advantages of life in Croatia. You can take one coffee and stay for 3 hours. “You can’t do it in France. If you stay more than an hour, it’s anticipated you will order one more coffee or another drink,” Axelle explains to me. And it’s not only about the economics of cafes. In France, you sit in a cafe for half an hour and then go back to your business. In Croatia, there is this chill way of life. You drink a coffee, chat, and sunbathe, and don’t hurry. Croatians consume a lot of coffee. When it’s too much for Clemence and Axelle, they switch to beer. Mathilde hates coffee, however still has a lot of Croatian friends. She drinks hot chocolate. She misses 'churros’ to hot chocolate.

Mathias spent enough time both in Split and Zagreb and would prefer Zagreb cafes and bars rather than Split ones. Such places have more variety, events, and different peoples there. Mathilde who is been living in Zagreb for almost a year doesn’t attach importance to it. She’s not a huge bar lover. She settles for ‘Antibar club 44’ where she holds her French evening with students. Axelle and Clemence also have their favorite place to drink in Split. In ‘Tri volta’ there is no crowds or fancy drinks as ‘ice coffee’ or ‘Aperol spritz’, but the location and atmosphere are great.

In public drinking beyond bars and its terraces, the biggest surprise for the French was a way of drinking wine. Croatian youth usually dilute wine. Red wine plus coke has the special name ‘bambus’. White wine is diluted by sparkling water. Both kinds of wine can be watered down. This practice has a simple explanation: diluting enhances the taste of cheap wine that youth usually buy. Also, this practice is known in Italy and Spain, but not in France. Wine is wine, Axelle claims emotionally. “If you do it in France, you’ll probably die!” Clemence echoes.

Let me pay for anything!

Nobody from my young respondents spends much money on entertainment mainly because of plenty of outdoor activities. Mathias became a true expert in hanging out with people in Split. This activity requires only being at the right place at the right time. That is late in the evening on Matejuska pier and after midnight on Ovcice beach. Girls prefer Matejuska, because the public is more varied there. Youth and locals gather on Ovcice beach. In fact, Axelle and Clemence once visited the Croatian party where they were the only foreigners. It was not bad, however, it’s certainly easier to start a conversation as the majority speaks English.

Axelle shares that she would like to visit the ‘Froggyland’ museum in Split. Till the moment she didn’t manage it. With Clemence and other friends, she also tried to go to the cinema, but finally, it was ‘sold out’. Split actually discourages finding these kinds of entertainment. When you have leisure time, go straight to the beach, read a book in the shade, relax, run along a coastal line – there are so many easy ways to enjoy in Split. Mathias concludes that museums didn’t impress him and the cinema was normal. You can watch original American or French movies with Croatian subtitles.

Mathilde has succeeded to go to the cinema about 10 times. Interested in art she visited several museums in Zagreb. She’s visited once a classical concert at the Croatian National Theater. It’s a pretty good cultural gathering, although Mathilde recognizes that she would have better if it were not for the language barrier. She doesn’t go to the cinema or museum spontaneously, only when friends invite her. A pleasant surprise is that an inviter pays. Croatians are very welcoming and open people, thus you often fall into situation “Let me pay for anything!”

Where is the name of the bus stop?

Croatian hospitality is one of the reasons to make traveling your hobby here. Mathias and Axelle recall the other reasons. Croatia is a comparatively small country, most destinations are easily reached. There are a lot of historic towns, wonderful nature places. Islands aplenty stand alone. “You go on the islands and suddenly feel like you are in another county on vacation. I like island vibes!”  Axelle and Clemence visited Vis together loved the nature of the island-geopark.

Zagreb is a student city in Croatia. There are more students and more expats as well than in Split, therefore society seems more liberal and open-minded. Varazdin looks like a typical Central European town. Pula is pretty boring during the winter, but nice in summer, Mathias lists his travel within the country. “I’m not a fan of Slavonia. This is not a region for tourists, except Vukovar, maybe, for those who are interested in history. It’s good to visit when you live in Croatia for a long time,” he says.

Split is a very special story. Mathilde surprises by its closeness to mountains and sea. French who constantly live in Split loves it for a combination of historical heritage and daily dynamic life. “Diocletian’s palace is a miracle, Clemence tells. I like to go for a walk there. And now after many walks, I can say that I really know it.” Axelle stresses one more advantage: “A lot of sights are situated next to Split – Solin, Klis fortress, etc.” Omis, a tiny city with rocks is suited for hiking, meanwhile, there are enough hiking places just by the way from Split to Omis.

In regards to transport within the country Mathias’s used to prefer trains in France. A train as a comfortable and ecological means almost doesn’t exist in Croatia. It’s a disadvantage. But my French respondents quickly learned how to deal with buses. They usually travel by bus. The fact that bus stops in Croatia have no names was a little challenging for the first time. Axelle remembers how she was checking her way on Google maps. “It just takes some getting used to. In France each stop has a name.”

Could you, please, write down the name of this movie in Croatian for me?

“I don’t see any difference in culture between France and Croatia,” Mathilde states. The point is that the French consider ‘culture’ as a broad concept, barely the same that ‘civilization’, i.e. Croatia relates to the same European Christian civilization as France. Looking in-depth Croatian culture is not well-known in France.

Axelle purposely read about Croatia before coming here to have basic grounding. After 4 months in Split she knows, for example, Split raised pop-diva Severina. Clemence listens to rapper Nucci. Although he’s from Serbia, his music can be related to the ‘Balkan turbo-folk genre. They would like to know more popular songs, movies. etc. Croatians are glad to recommend some good stuff, but a problem is that they pronounce names in Croatian, and it’s difficult to catch and to remember too.

'Pomalo’

My respondents note the obvious visual difference – there are only white people on the streets. Society is more homogeneous. Dress is more homogeneous as well – no brassy, no sexy. “Don’t distinguish yourself,” the Zagreb expat concludes. Otherwise, Mathias and Clemence report that in Split people care about appearances much more, than in cities of France. Clemence is used to seeing fancy girls with big sunglasses and other attributes in Split every day. “Even on Monday morning… Once I was walking down the street in my probably worse-than-usual, after-party look. These girls looked at me really oddly…” she remembers.

Streets are cleaner in Croatia. It’s clean in France, Axelle stands up, but you can see some trash from time to time. Croatians are not taught since childhood to sort the garbage, to recycle as much as it’s done in France. “From the first glance they seem less informed, but in real life they’re more concerned,” Clemence shares her observations. Streets are safer too. “I feel really safe here. I have no fear,” French girls from Zagreb and Split agree in this. In France, you’d better go in a group of 2-3 girls together at night. And anyway somebody will impose a conversation, follow you. In Croatia, you can calmly be alone on a street at any time.

In memory of their blissful stay in Split two of my respondents and one more French girl did tattoos with the Croatian word ‘pomalo’. It’s literally translated as ‘slowly’, ‘quietly’, ‘little by little’. “Our tattoos mean more than literal sense. I mean more when I say ‘pomalo’ Clemence explains. ‘Pomalo’ commonly used to describe a Dalmatian/ Croatian mentality in one word: ‘take it easy’, ‘don’t rush’, ‘with pleasure’, ‘relax’, ‘hello’, etc.

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