July 21, 2019 - Just over a year after the incredible success of Croatia's team and fans at the World Cup in Russia, how is Luka Modric's birthplace taking advantage of such an amazing free gift? The view from Zadar.

Zadar, this time last year.

The birthplace of one of the hottest names on the planet - Luka Modric, captain of the tiny country which dared to dream, and reached the World Cup Final. 

It wasn't just the team, it was the fans and THAT shirt. Croatia was as hot as the sexy men and women who make up its population. As a tourism country, was there a greater gift?

Sixty BILLION article views mentioning Croatia. Incredible. The 2019 season was assured, a statue of Modric was assured, and Croatian tourism was going to cash in like never before. 

If only Croatia was not located in the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism. Google Trends documented 'the World Cup effect' a year later. 

The concept of branding football with tourism was obvious, surely? I felt motivated to write an article on the very subject. 

I didn't understand. This was the party as Luka Modric came home a year ago.

World Cup celebrations as they once were. 

There were even more gifts. It was almost as though a higher being was guaranteeing that Croatian tourism could not fail. At some point during the World Cup, a video emerged of a 5-year-old Luka Modric herding goats as the wolves circled. I don't know much about Luka's childhood, but to be fair he knows less about mine. His family is from the small village of Modrici close to Zadar, and they sounded like a very traditional Dalmatian village family 

I was having a Croatian tourism promotion orgasm at the prospects of what the Kings of Accidental Tourism could do with this, but here was my foreplay.

Welcome to Zadar, the birthplace of Luka Modric. Bring your kids to play football in the streets where he learned to become a World Cup star. All in a nice welcoming mural like they used to have for other Croatian heroes (see lead photo). 

Come and discover the Mediterranean as It Once Was and visit the village where Luka was born. Perfect selfie material, away from the crowds. And while you are there, why not learn more about traditional village life and cuisine with our special tour?

Zadar is pleased to host a Luka Modric World Cup kids tournament in the streets where he honed his skills. Contact us here for more information. 

Come and meet Luka's teacher and classmates, and learn how good he was at school. 

The Luka Modric goat herding experience for the kids. Pay a little extra, and add some wolves for a truly authentic experience. 

Looking for a Luka shirt as a souvenir? Zadar is full of them.

Except not quite. A Zadar friend told me tonight how shocked he was that you couldn't even buy a Modric shirt. 

I contacted the Croatian National Tourist Board to ask them for more information about how they capitalised on the World Cup gift. Here is what they had to say:

Looking at the World Cup and how the CNTB (HTZ) used this to promote Croatia, the CNTB used social media channels and UGC (user-generated content) to amplify the impact of the win both prior to, during and after the World Cup, especially with the tourism ambassadors video which starred numerous players from the Croatian National football team, which had had both great organic reach and engagement. We also had real-time campaigns across Twitter – where the CNTB had engagement higher than that of other countries, where we capitalized on real-time interaction with fans, Facebook video and posts across markets that used the aforementioned video in shorter vignettes to promote tourism products such as gastronomy, nature, active tourism, cultural tourism, etc. The Croatia Feeds campaign utilized the success via paid promotion on digital channels landing on the CF platform via the following link.

There was also over 24 hours of live broadcasts through Instagram during the World Cup. The video was also picked up and shared by 9gag, Lonely Planet and reshared by numerous other pages and individuals. Croatia also took advantage of the unintentional trampling of AFP photographer Yuri Cortez to extend an invitation to visit Croatia, which resulted in great PR and media coverage both in Croatia and abroad both prior to and during his visit to Croatia.

I have to confess the article on Croatia Feeds WAS rather good. The author's style was vaguely familiar. 

But my immediate reaction to myself was that it sounded that the job of the Croatian National Tourist Board was now over promoting the World Cup. Surely it was just beginning?

Jebiga, what do I know? A few years ago, I was persuaded to dress up as Alfred Hitchcock to celebrate the content of the filmmaker's 1964 assertion that Zadar had the best sunset in the world. It was a cloudy day and I looked a little more like Churchill, but the event was a success. And the idea has never been repeated. How hard would it be to dress up a Hitchcock lookalike at Greetings to the Sun and charge a euro a time for those beloved selfies?

But the overnight stays keep on growing. 

My ultimate fantasy for the Kingdom of Accidental Tourism is that one day the focus may shift from statistics to content. 

To learn more about Zadar, check out the Total Croatia Zadar in a Page guide. 

July 12, 2019 - A meeting of minds between the Financial Times and the late, great Anthony Bourdain, who concluded the same thing 8 years apart - Croatia is the next big foodie destination

“This is world-class food, world-class wine, world-class cheese. The next big thing is Croatia,” enthused the late chef Anthony Bourdain when he first visited the country in late 2011. “If you haven’t been here, you’re an idiot.” Bourdain’s surprise at the gastronomic riches of Croatia was perhaps understandable. For thousands of years, the region had it all: salt production along the coast, started by the Liburnians well before the 1st century BC, plentiful fish from the clear waters of the Adriatic, a climate ideal for wine production, and olive oil that was prized above all others. In the 1st century AD the Greek epicure Apicius suggested adding bay leaves, cypress root and salt to Spanish oil so that it tasted more like the Liburnian version.

And so begins an excellent and in-depth piece by the FT, which came to exactly the same conclusion as Bourdain after his infamous visit to Croatia in 2011. You can read the full article here.

Whereas Bourdain travelled the whole coast for his No Reservations programme, the FT focused on one small region - the area around Zadar. Highlights included a visit to iconic winemaker Alen Bibic, the tuna farms of Ugljan, the cheese, olive and lamb heaven that is the island of Pag. On Pag, leading boutique hotel and restaurant Boskinac even held a foodie event in honour of Bourdain. 

So many different high-quality gourmet experiences in one tiny part of Croatia. And yet enough to get the Financial Times waxing lyrical. 

Croatia's gourmet tourism potential is huge. With 130 indigenous grape varieties, including the original Zinfandel, several very distinct regional cuisines, and the Mediterranean Diet inscribed as intangible UNESCO heritage on Brac and Hvar, gourmet tourism and income should be somewhere in the region of that in of France, Germany, Italy or Spain. And indeed, the small private agencies, such as Culinary Croatia, which are offering high-quality gourmet tours, are doing great business. 

And yet... 

Despite being proud of the original Zinfandel hailing from Dalmatia, one of the most important wine regions in this part of Europe, there is no wine road for Dalmatia. An example of how seriously the authorities are taking the potential of this great 12-month tourism opportunity. 

I heartily agree with Bourdain and the FT, and sincerely hope that the tourism chiefs wake up to the opportunity. 

Learn more about Croatian food in the dedicated Total Croatia food guide. 

To get a flavour of the diversity and celebration of food in Croatia, check out 25 natural gourmet festivals around the country.

 July 9, 2019 - British media report on a 'nightmare' flight from Manchester to Zadar, full of drunk, rowdy and even vomiting passengers - 3 arrests have been made. 

 The party season is well and truly underway, and The Daily Mail reports on a Ryanair flight from Manchester to Zadar, which had a large number of drunken Brits heading to the Hard Dance Festival on Zrce Beach on the island of Pag. 

 The British paper reports that Aneta Zukow, 24, and boyfriend, Piotr Nesan, 32 were on the flight with Zukow commenting:

'It was like being in a jungle with wild animals,' she said. 'It was hell on earth. It was the worst flight of my life. It was absolutely appalling

"The only way I can describe it is like being in a nightclub without the music 10,000ft above the ground."

The flight was delayed from Manchester due to the behaviour of the clearly drunk passengers, one of whom managed to vomit in the aisle before passing out. Seatbelts were largely ignored by many as the cabin crew were far from in total control. Croatian police were waiting when the flight when the plane landed in Zadar, and three passengers were arrested. Lots more detail, quotes and photos in the link to the Daily Mail above - I will leave you with the video below. 

The issue of drunk Brits surfaces every year in Croatia these days, and Zrce Beach and the town of Novalja has been at the centre of much of the story. 

In 2017, the Mayor of Novalja, Ante Dabo, accepted an invitation from the BBC to film a reality show about young British tourists in Novalja, called The Brits are Coming. He professed himself satisfied with the results for the promotion of his destination when I asked him about it at a conference in Zagreb in 2017. Judge for yourself - below is one of the BBC highlights from one episode.  

A few weeks before allowing the BBC series, the results of which he was satisfied with, he was quoted in the British media:

"I have mixed feelings of sadness, bitterness and responsibility as a mayor of this town who is deceived and humiliated by barbarism and the unskilled portion of the young English guests."

Does Croatia want or need this kind of tourism? No.

Are the Brits involved a disgrace? Absolutely. 

But if you don't want that kind of tourism, why agree to a BBC series which specifically targets them? It was obviously a very effective promotion.

To learn more about the gorgeous island of Pag, check out the Total Croatia Pag in a Page guide. 

After a sunny and hot day on most of the Adriatic, Monday evening was marked by a new wave of instability; a summer storm that sparked from Istria to Zadar, Split to Makarska, reports Dalmacija Danas on July 9, 2019.

Zvonimir Barišin

After 10 pm on Monday evening, the sky raged with lightning and thunder from Zadar to Split, which was followed by a sudden downpour of rain and hail with powerful gusts of wind. 

Thankfully, while its intensity felt much stronger, this quick change in weather failed to damage much of anything.

According to Pljusak.com, as much as 21 liters of rain per square meter fell in Plano near Trogir, causing some flash floods. In less than an hour, Split welcomed 13 liters of precipitation per square meter. Murter welcomed 12 liters, followed by Omiš and Zlarin, Stobreč, Miljevci, Vodice and Dugopolje (11 liters). 

Danica Venus Sičić

The heavy downpour also created quite a mess on the roads, as many drivers opted to pull over and wait for the thunderstorms to pass. Temperatures in this area also dropped up to 5 degrees. 

Zvonimir Barišin

Around midnight, thunder clouds hit Zabiokovlje, and a new storm line formed across the Zadar archipelago, which was just an introduction to new, more pronounced thunderstorms over the next two days. 

Thus, in the parts of the Adriatic, over 40 liters of rain per square meter will fall on Tuesday and Wednesday, and localized thunderstorms will hit throughout the day.

You can see a compilation of footage from the storm in the Split area, recorded by members of the Crometeo team.

The cold front will cool much of Croatia over the next two days, though temperatures will heat up by the end of the week to a comfortable 28 to 29 degrees Celsius. 

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

July 7, 2019 - How do big resorts minimise the inevitable environmental projects that tourism brings? A look at the approach from Falkensteiner Punta Skala, a little north of Zadar. 

One of the most intriguing tours I have seen on my rounds along the Croatian coast this summer was during a stay at Falkensteiner Iadera in Petrcane, near Zadar.  

The resort, the largest successful foreign investment on the Croatian coast and opened in 2011, lies on an idyllic peninsula free of neighbours in around 15 hectares of land. That sense of space and greenery and immersion in nature is one of the first and lasting impressions I had on my first visit a couple of years ago. Falkensteiner, in an effort to protect and preserve this divine slice of Dalmatian heaven, engaged international experts to come up with a complex eco-friendly structure to minimise the ecological footprint of the resort. And that unusual tour is a look 'behind the scenes' at how Falkensteiner does it. 

You can view our plant, technical rooms and other areas that are normally closed to the public under the guidance of a trained professional. Our team at the front desk is available for registrations and information.

I didn't have time to do the tour this time, but will on my next visit, but I was sufficiently curious to research the subject a little further. As some hotels are championing their environmental credentials by stopping the use of plastic straws (bravo!), the system put in place by Falkensteiner is fascinating, and it largely contributed to the resort being one of three initial hotels and resorts to be awarded the UPUHH Superior Sustainable Hotel Certificate for its efforts in sustainability and environmental protection. 

Of particular interest was the use of water in the resort. A water treatment plant supplies the resort with the water needed for daily use on the holiday peninsula and generates energy for heating and cooling. In addition, a completely organic purification system helps to preserve the environment. 

Water pump: Seawater is pumped out of the sea and into the plant at a constant temperature.Water pump: Seawater is pumped out of the sea and into the plant at a constant temperature.

Energy generation: The seawater is used for cooling (in the summer) and heating (in the winter) in the hotels and the apartment complex. This reduces the need for fossil fuels.

Desalination system: Part of the seawater is desalinated using an osmosis system and can be used as drinking water. The remaining water is diverted back into the sea.

Purification system: Wastewater is cleansed using a completely organic purification system and is stored with the collected rain water and the greywater from the swimming pools. The impotable water is then used for flushing toilets and for watering the gardens.

I can't imagine the expense of putting in such a system, but it is obviously a long-term investment which will pay off with the better protection of the natural goodness that attracts people in the first place. 

One of the attractions of the Falkensteiner resort is that it is largely car-free. On arrival, park your car in the centralised garages and then roam and enjoy the beautiful natural setting. The resort has also been very welcoming of the electric vehicle revolution, and there are four Tesla charging points. 

Falkensteiner Iadera was a very popular two-night stop on the 2018 Nikola Tesla EV Rally, when around 50 Teslas and other electric vehicles spent a relaxing 48 hours in Petrcane. 

As with other hotels trying to improve their sustainability and reduce waste, from this season, Falkensteiner Punta Skala no longer uses disposable plastic, and its recycling system has been enhanced so that now everything is recycled. 

And while I am sure there is still much more that can be done, it is encouraging to see some hotel groups taking the lead in protecting the environment and natural beauty that makes the Croatian coast so special. 

To learn more about the Falkensteiner Punta Skala resort, visit the official website. 

While hotels and private apartments are both rife along the Croatian coast, particularly in Dalmatia, there's still room for another type of tourism which until now has sort of ''kept its head down'' - camping.

While camping has of course always existed and been made possible in Croatia, particularly in rural Istria, it hasn't been something that has had much investment or effort put into it until quite recently, with the emergence of the popularity of glamping and other takes on it.

Falkensteiner, which has been present in Croatia for a long time now, has bitten the bullet and opened the doors (or unzipped the tent, rather), to Dalmatia's first five star camping facility in a historic city.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes on the 4th of July, 2019, this new and ambitious project is worth a massive nine million euros, according to a statement from the company which is promising lovers of camping and the outdoors a truly unique camping concept.

In Zadar, otherwise the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city, the popular Falkensteiner Group has now opened the very first five star camping facility in Dalmatia, which will be open all year round.

"With this unique location in the city centre, guests can expect exceptional design, excellent cuisine including vegan meals and dairy and lactose free meals, top quality and friendly personal service, and the professional care of children at Falky Camp.

There is also a Wellness Spa with saunas, relaxing massages, facials and body treatments, and special showers for an exclusive spa experience, an outdoor bar, an outdoor pool and a separate children's pool with two water slides, entertainment for kids, lots of sports and attractions for teenagers and lovers of active living, modernly equipped sanitation, a hybrid vehicle charging station, a sea view restaurant, and all pets are welcome,'' they say from Falkensteiner.

Falkensteiner Premium Camping Zadar is located within the Falkensteiner Borik Resort, it consists of 369 spacious and fully equipped units, which include 269 lots (parcels), 87 mobile homes, and 13 glamping tents. The camp is designed in accordance with sustainable development, and is also devoted to the green concept and to the proper recycling of waste.

Follow our dedicated travel page for much more.

Zadar Airport recorded their strongest month yet in June this year, which is also reflected in the results for the first half of the year, when almost 300,000 passengers, or an increase of 38 percent, traveled through Zadar Airport compared to the same period last year, reports 057info.hr and Poslovni.hr on July 3, 2019.

In June alone, Zadar Airport recorded flights by 746 aircraft, which is about 170 more than in May this year, and based on the announcements for the summer flight schedule, these positive trends are expected to continue in the other summer months.

The most significant contribution to Zadar’s growth is Ryanair, which has cooperated with Zadar Airport for the last 12 years and has introduced a record summer flight schedule with new destinations such as Berlin, Cologne, Dublin and others. In addition to these cities, other carriers will connect Zadar this summer with Hamburg, Nuremberg, Prague, Belgrade-London, Krakow, Poznan, Milan and Eindhoven, which are all new destinations this year.

Zadar Airport is also developing cooperation with other low-cost air carriers, including Eurowings, easyJet, and Iberia Express, which, as part of the Iberia Group, will link Zadar with Madrid twice a week until the end of August.

About 100 passengers were on the Iberia Express inaugural flight from Madrid to Zadar on Tuesday, and flights are expected to be close to full capacity until the end of the season.

"With the introduction of Zadar as a new destination, Iberia Express begins operations on the Croatian market," said Zadar Airport, repeating that this year, they expect a total of 700,000 passengers or 100,000 more than in 2018.

For the fifth year in a row, Iberia Express has been declared the world's best low-cost airline by the FlightGlobal consulting agency.

Iberia Express will fly on this route twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays until August 31st. The departure from Zadar is at 21:35, and arrival to Madrid is 20 minutes after midnight. The return flight from Madrid takes off at 18:20 and arrives in Zadar at 20:55.

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

World-famous rock star Jon Bon Jovi (57), founder and frontman of the mega-popular arena rock and glam metal band Bon Jovi, continued his Croatian vacation in Zadar with his family,  - wife Dorothea Hurley, son Romeo and friends for dinner at the oldest restaurant in Zadar, 'Niko', reports Slobodna Dalmacija on June 20, 2019.

Fortunately, other diners at Niko were utterly unaware that one of the biggest rock stars of today and icon since the early 1980s was among them.

Jon Bon Jovi, whose real name is John Francis Bongiovi, behaved spontaneously and discreetly, as an ordinary tourist. Some guests realized who was among them only when he left and when he agreed to take photos with the owner of the restaurant, Erik Pavin, and his staff.

Bon Jovi’s group was delighted by the fish specialties they tried, and the famous singer fronted the entire bill. 

Upon leaving, Bon Jovi thanked Pavin, who hoped for his return one day. 

The singer replied: “I’ll be back here soon, very very soon.”

Pavin gifted the group a beautiful platter of cheese from Pag before they traveled back to the Zadar harbor where their yacht was anchored. 

Jon Bon Jovi is currently cruising the Adriatic on the luxury yacht "Rarity”, with which he has already visited the Greek island of Santorini, as well as Cavtat, Dubrovnik, Korčula and Hvar. "Rarity" is 55-meters-long and costs between 240,000 and 270,000 USD per week to rent.

The captain of the yacht is Toni Brok, originally from the island of Ist, whose inhabitants have a long tradition of sailing luxury yachts around the world. Most of the crew is also from the Zadar area.

It is therefore not strange that the “Rarity" sailed to Ist before the group went to Zadar. On Ist, Bon Jovi met with Inter Milan goalkeeper Samir Handanović and former basketball player Jasmin Hukić, who had a one-season stint at Cibona.

Jon Bon Jovi’s Adriatic cruise now continues to the northern Croatian islands.

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

June 29, 2019 - Rita Ora will perform in Zadar this summer! As Zadarski.hr learned exclusively, the mega-popular singer will hold a concert in Zadar on Friday, August 30 at Sports Center Višnjik. It will be an outdoor concert which will allow over 10,000 spectators.

“Mega popular international pop star Rita Ora will perform in Zadar this August! The concert of the British singer and songwriter, whose songs are loved worldwide, will be held on August 30 in Višnjik and will surely impress her many fans in Croatia as well as the visitors in Zadar and its surroundings. The organizer of the concert is ŠC Višnjik, the co-organizer is the Tourist Board of the City of Zadar, and it is held under the patronage of the City of Zadar," said the organizers.

In addition to Zadar, Rita Ora will perform throughout Europe this summer to promote her new album Phoenix. She has so far held concerts in Paris, Milan, London, Oslo, and Stockholm, and as part of the same tour, has visited Asia, America, and Australia where thousands of fans welcomed her.

Rita Ora is famous for hits like ‘Let You Love Me’, ‘Anywhere’, ‘Your Song’ and many others, which are regularly at the top of the music charts. Ora even made history when her single ‘Let You Love Me’ became her 13th single to enter the TOP 10, which was a new record for an artist on the UK charts. That same song also entered the official Top 40 list of the most played songs of 2018, while four of Ora’s singles made the Biggest 2018 Airplay Records chart.

Her new album, Phoenix, has already seen an incredible 330 million plays in the UK alone. Her last five hit singles have over a billion streams on Spotify around the world. Her hit 'Your Song' has over 352 million streams, which makes it her biggest hit in Europe. 

Other international hits include 'Lonely Together', a collaboration with the late musician, DJ and producer Avicii, 'Anywhere', 'For You' and 'Girl', each achieving great national and international success.

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

June 22, 2019 - The amazing journey of seven generations of one Italian family and their 200-year Luxardo Maraschino story from Zadar to Italy. 

If you think doing business as a foreigner in Croatia is difficult these days, imagine being an Italian business owner in Zadar in the 1940s. 

Last week's incredible culinary celebration, Festa Days, on the Kornati island of Zut brought together an array of Michelin star and top Croatian chefs, as well as an array of fascinating people. Sitting at dinner, I found myself next to a very charming Italian man named Filippo, and in order to break the ice, I asked him to introduce himself and tell me something interesting about him.

And so began a truly fascinating event - in addition to the wonderful 10-course dinner which you can read about here. 

Filippo told me that he was part of the seventh generation Luxardo family, which once was the most important name in the Zadar (or Zara, as the former Dalmatian capital is called in Italian) maraschino business, until the family business was nationalised by Tito in 1944, and the family, along with all Italians, was forced to flee, although at least two members of the family lost their lives. 

It was a far cry from the success of the Luxardo company over the previous century after the first Luxardo, Girolamo, arrived in Zara as a businessman in 1817, where he became the consul for the Kingdom of Sardinia in the Austro Hungarian Empire. The interest in the indigenous marasca cherry of Girolamo and his wife, Maria Canevari, led to them perfecting a Rosolia Maraschino, a cherry liqueur produced in Dalmatia since medieval times. In 1821, he founded the distillery which would define his family's fortunes for the next six generations, and within 8 years, he had obtained an exclusive 'Privilege' from the Emperor, recognising the Luxardo Maraschino as a superior product.  

Its fame grew quickly, and by 1839, there are recorded reports of the Luxardo Maraschino being used as far away as New Orleans. 

Business was very brisk, and the next generations helped to expand it. In 1913, the family built a modern distillery on the Zara waterfront, which became the factory and family home. It remains one of the iconic buildings of the city, but these days is home to the Maraska company, which is also producing maraschino, after the Tito confiscation. It is thought that the Luxardo distillery was the largest one in Europe at the time. 

The end of World War I brought the city of Zara within the boundaries of the Kingdom of Italy, and some 85% of the population at that time were Italian, and Luxardo was the most important distillery in the country. 

But change and disaster were just around the corner. 

Allied bombing destroyed much of Zadar in World War II, including the distillery, but much worse was to follow, as Tito's Partisans took control of the city after the Germans withdrew in 1944, and it then became part of Yugoslavia.  Italian property was seized and Italians were forced to flee, while many, including two members of the Luxardo family, were killed. 

And that, by rights, should have been the tragic end to a story of more than a century of family enterprise and global success, but this was no ordinary family. The last surviving brother, Giorgio, together with members of the fifth generation of the family, decided to rebuild the entire business in the village of Torreglia, an Italian village at the bottom of the Euganean hills in north-eastern Italy. 

With the help of a botanist professor from the University of Florence, land ideal for the production of marasca cherry trees was found, and the rebuilding process began. 

Marasca trees were brought over from Zara, and working with the Florence professor, a selection process began, which resulted in the Marasca Luxardo, which is smaller and juicier than other marasca cherries, and which is also more suitable for industrial use. 

With the international network of customers and contacts, it was not long before the famous Luxardo name was on the top shelves of quality bars around the name. A growing demand for the Luxardo Maraschino Originale has led to an expansion of  Marasca Luxardo orchards in Italy. 

Today, the company has a range of high-quality spirits and liqueurs and exports to an impressive 86 countries. It is still owned and run by the family, and the 7th generation Luxardos are doing a fantastic job taking the company into its third century soon. The Luxardo company will be 200 years old in 2021.

And why was Filippo even on Zut? A range of Luxardo spirits and liqueurs were the main attraction at the impressive cocktail workshop which was a popular component of this outstanding event. I really enjoyed meeting him and learned a lot during the evening, in addition to my ignorance about his family story. I was a little skeptical, for example, when he told me that the Italian region of Piedmont produces some of the best rice in the world. The conversation was taking place as Hrvoje Zirojevic's mussel risotto with Pag cheese rind was being served. I asked the waiter if he could find out where the rice was from that Zirojevic had chosen for one of the best dishes of the night. 

"Italy, Sir."

There is a VERY charming YouTube video telling the whole story of the Luxardo journey, above, told through the eyes of three generations of the family, and including some great historical photos. 

To learn more about Luxardo and its products, visit the official website. 

To learn more about Zara, check out the Total Croatia Zadar in a Page guide.