Lifestyle

August 1, 2022 - Twenty years a foreigner in Croatia. Part 17 of 20 Ways Croatia Changed Me in 20 Years. An introduction to Croatian justice and a hobby that will take up a lifetime in this beautiful land - getting sued by a State institution. "Finally you became a local. What took you so long?" "Now you can get citizenship. You finally became a Croat after 18 years." I used to think that the British had the best sense of humour in the world. To be fair, our humour is pretty good. And, as an aside, below is a…

ZAGREB, 1 August, 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Monday that the government will react and decide on fuel prices every Monday if necessary. "We are continuing to work for the benefit of citizens and the economy. We will be agile and adaptable and, if necessary, we will introduce new measures every Monday during government conference calls," Plenković said during a visit to the southern town of Imotski. During a conference call on Monday, the government capped the price of petrol at HRK 12 per litre and the price of diesel at HRK 12.80 per litre as of Tuesday, while a litre…

August 1, 2022 - Prices are rising, and they vary a LOT across Croatia. We are looking for volunteers to join the TCN cost of living checker community initiative. Are you in? We live in very uncertain times - pandemics, wars, and economic slowdown. Things seem to change every week, including prices. Rising inflation is sadly a global reality, and the imminent introduction of the Euro to Croatia will also have an impact. There are other factors too, such as the tourist season, where some supermarkets inflate prices in the peak months to maximise profits. So just how much are…

August the 1st, 2022 - We've explored the infamous J word and the equally infamous P word, and as we make our way through the alphabet (in no particular order, might I add) in our swearing in Croatian series, we need to look at a letter that is just as diverse and creative as both J and P, the glorious letter K.  K is the first letter of the word kurac, which, unlike the letter P which focuses entirely on the female sexual organ, focuses on the male one. And, just like the P word, swearing in Croatian and using…

August the 1st, 2022 - Croatia isn't known for its high speed, uber efficient train network. In fact, it's quite the opposite, and it doesn't really seem as if anyone quite knows what to do about it. A Zagreb-Split train was recently delayed, one of many of late, by 134 minutes in total. We've recently had stories about a train driver simply deciding not to turn up to work, leaving passengers waiting around for far longer than they should have, and one about an employee falling asleep on the job, causing issues for yet another train. Will it ever get…

August the 1st, 2022 - The Croatian 2022 tourist season is succeeding in pushing GDP and spending up, but with the German stagnation still ongoing, things on that front continue to remain a valid concern from a very important market for the country. As Morski writes, thanks to the excellent Croatian 2022 tourist season so far, spending and consumption back in June continued to grow on an annual basis for the seventeenth month in a row: retail sales increased by 3.8 percent, and at the same rate, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (CBS) shows, industrial production also increased,…

August the 1st, 2022 - The Groznjan jazz programme has succeeded in gathering together generations of jazz music lovers from a multitude of different countries from all across the world. As Morski writes, exceptional cooperation between participants of various educational programmes and their mentors, along with top-notch knowledge and great talent have been woven into the foundations of the International Cultural Centre of Croatian Musical Youth under whose auspices jazz programmes are being held in Groznjan, which is fondly referred to the smallest jazz metropolis in the world. The Groznjan jazz programme, Festival Jazz is Back! BP, the Summer Jazz…

ZAGREB, 31 July, 2022 - The art of preparing Neretva eel brudet, or brodetto, and the art of building and navigating traditional boats in the Kvarner region of the northern Adriatic have been added to the Croatian Register of Cultural Properties, the Ministry of Culture and Media has announced on its website. Eels and brudet are inseparably connected with the way of life of the people in the Neretva river valley of southern Croatia and are part of their identity. Neretva brudet belongs to the Mediterranean family of simple dishes based on locally available ingredients, and today, with eels in shorty…

ZAGREB, 31 July, 2022 - A new "hospital" for griffon vultures, with an indoor and an outdoor enclosure for intensive care, has been opened in Beli on the northern Adriatic island of Cres as part of a project to enhance the capacity of the Beli Rescue Centre for Griffon Vultures. The value of the project, which includes the necessary diagnostic and laboratory equipment, is HRK 888,000 (€117,300), of which HRK 755,000 (€100,000) was allocated by the European Union, while the rest came from the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund. The newly-renovated facility will be of great assistance to young vultures…

ZAGREB, 31 July, 2022 - This year, 4,000 people in Croatia can apply for adult education vouchers, and so far over 2,200 applications have been submitted and 1,762 have been granted. This measure was launched on 1 April, and both employed and unemployed persons can apply for vouchers. A total of 2,221 persons have done so by the end of July, the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ) said in response to the query from Hina. The HZZ is conducting the voucher-based adult education scheme together with the Labour Ministry. So far, 1,762 vouchers have been granted, 459 applications are being processed, and…