Italy - Italia

La Vita i Bella, LA DOLCE VITA


Capital City: Rome

Population: 59.9 million (fourth-largest in the EU)

Currency: Euro

Languages: Italian

Geography

-Borders: France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia

-Sardinia and Sicily are the two largest islands in the Mediterranean

-The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican are enclaves within Italy

-Italy is prone to natural disasters. In 2009, extensive flooding, forest fires, lethal landslides and an earthquake near the city of L’Aquila cost more than 300 lives.

Landscape: Mount Etna (on Sicily) is the largest active volcano in Europe; Mount Vesuvius is the only active volcano on mainland Europe (the only one to have erupted in the last 100 years). It was responsible for the destruction of Pompeii and the deaths of up to 25,000 people in 79AD; it has not erupted since 1944. When it erupted in 79AD, the eruption sent ash flying as far away as Constantinople (Istanbul), the sun was blocked out and the sea was sucked away and forced back by a tsunami.

Rivers: Italy’s largest river is the Po

Mountains: 75% of the Italian peninsula is mountainous; the Alps - a section of which are the Dolomites - form Italy’s Northern boundary, while the Appenine Mountains extend from North to South

Part of EU?: Yes, Italy was a founding member in 1957 (Italy was also a founding member of NATO)

Prime Minister: Silvio Berlusconi


SILVIO BERLUSCONI

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was born in Milan, and is the longest-serving Prime Minister of Italy (he has held the position three times, currently since 2008). He is the richest Italian and one of the richest men in the world (worth 6 billion). He owns A.C. Milan (his own party is named Forza Italia - Go Italy! - after a chant sung by AC Milan supporters), several media channels, newspapers, and over 150 other companies. He is a successful businessman, seems a lot younger than his 72 years (due in part to plastic surgery), and in good health; when he was attacked in 2009 by a statuette-wielding protestor, he got right out of the car to wave to the crowd, despite having a bloodied face, to show he was okay.

Berlusconi has been accused of fraud, tax evasion, mafia collusion, having relationships with young women, hiring prostitutes, has been involved in sex scandals. People say he influences the media because he owns most of it; comedians who have made fun of him have never appeared on tv again. The Economist is always after him and to make matters worse, he isn’t the most eloquent fellow: when Obama became President, he complimented him on his “suntan”. In 2009, he was shouting out “Mr. Obama! Mr. Obama!” and the Queen turned around and shhh’d! him.

-There are 20 different political regions in Italy (including Umbria, Tuscany, Sardinia, Sicily, Piedmont, Lombardy, Calabria)

-Italy is a member of the G-8, and it is in a good economic position today, although the country entered a recession twice in the past decade. Italy doesn't have many multinational companies, rather it has purely Italian companies.

-In recent years, voters have been disenchanted with the government, citing corruption, debt,
influence of organized crime; the government has swung back and forth over the past few years
from centre-left party under Romano Prodi, who had to resign again in 2008, and centre-right
Berlusconi


QUICK HISTORY

Legend has it that Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus, who appear in mythology as the twin sons of the God of War, Mars but were raised by a she-wolf so they were feral creatures, very in touch with nature. They stood on 2 hills and a swarm of birds flew over Romulus’ head, signifying that he should be the first King of Rome, so Romulus killed his brother, named himself King and named the city after himself. He stole a bunch of women from neighbouring tribes, and conquered other territories and populated Rome.

By around 500 BC, a number of groups shared Italy. The Greeks were on the Southern Coast and Sicily; the Gauls were in the North; The Etruscans, from somewhere in Turkey, ruled Central Italy for a while. They were a tribal group, very spiritual, with a fondness for architecture (and wine!).

In around 55BC, Julius Caesar and his triumvirate came to power. They conquered the Gauls and invaded Britain. Caesar was a dictator, and heavily centralized the bureaucracy of the republic. But by the first century BC, as Rome got bigger and expanded overseas, this system stopped working, and a series of revolts against the Roman government began. Spartacus, a slave, led an uprising against the Patricians. Spartacus was one of many Gladiators (some 40,000 of them) who plotted their escape from slavery. They didn’t win, but their uprising was an inspiration to others. The trouble continued for decades, eventually leading to the assassination of Julius Caesar by a group of Senators hoping to restore the normal running of the Republic.

In 29 BC, after a long struggle, Julius Caesar’s nephew Octavius defeated his rivals (Antony and Cleopatra) and declared himself Emperor Augustus Caesar; the Roman Empire was born. Rome gained territory in Britain, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

This Pax Romana (time of peace) ended when the last great Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, died in 180 AD, and then a series of economic instability, barbarian invasions, domestic issues, combined with a lack of strong leadership, led to the decline of the Roman Empire and by the fourth century AD, it eventually split into two: The East thrived, becoming the Byzantine Empire, based out of the newly-built capital Constantinople, (now Turkey), while Rome, capital of the West, declined.

For the next thousand years (The Dark Ages), Italy stagnated and broke apart into a series of city-states, with Rome (the centre of the Catholic Church) the most powerful.

RELIGION

After the death of Jesus, the apostles started to travel, and found themselves in Rome. From as early as the 1st century, the Church of Rome was recognized as an authority because it was believed that the Apostles Peter and Paul had led the Church there. Roman and Catholicism are now synonymous, but the early Catholics in Rome were persecuted (by Emperors such as Diocletian) because they did not adhere to many of the pagan Roman practices.

Finally, the Romans could not fight the rise of Christianity any longer. It was recognized as a valid religion in 313 AD, and Emperor Constantine made it the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380 AD. The bishops and popes steadily rose in power.

Until 1054 AD Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism were branches of the same body. The slow process of separation was encouraged in 330 AD when Emperor Constantine decided to move the capital of the Roman Empire to the city of Byzantium (Byzantine Empire, modern-day Turkey) and called it Constantinople. When he died, his two sons divided their rule, one taking the Eastern portion of the empire and ruling from Constantinople and the other taking the western portion, ruling from Rome.

In 1054 AD a formal split (East-West Schism) occurred when the Pope in Rome excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople, who in turn excommunicated him.

The Crusades were a series of religiously sanctioned military campaigns designed to reclaim the Holy Land (Jerusalem). They were waged over a period of nearly 200 years, between 1095 and 1291. They were bloody, but they allowed for goods and knowledge to be brought into Italy from abroad.

The Church at the time influenced the development of western art, Renaissance Artists, and music (Catholic monks developed western notation, leading to the rise of European classical music).


RENAISSANCE ITALY

Things didn’t pick up again in Italy until the 14th Century AD, when cities such as Florence, Venice, Milan and Pisa became centres of trade, and the influx of wealth and contact with other nations turned Italy, once again, into Europe’s premier centre of culture. This was the Renaissance period.

Tuscany is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance movement; no surprise, as it is also the birthplace of Dante Alighieri ("the father of the Italian language"), Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo (who inspired the term Renaissance Man), Galileo and Botticelli. During the Renaissance, the fields of art, literature, politics, science, exploration (Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo were around during this time as well) and fashion introduced Italy and Europe to the rest of the world.

Several factors contributed to the Renaissance, and many of them were not nice.

Italy had been in the Dark Ages ever since the East (Ottoman Empire) had taken over from Rome as the centre of power in Europe, and the Renaissance helped bring it back into the light. Due to the fall of Constantinople at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, Greek scholars and texts came into Italy during this time.

The Crusades, whilst bloody, had led to increased trade and knowledge coming into Italy (textiles from North Africa, Asia, etc.). Marco Polo also brought back knowledge from his travels, as did Christopher Columbus.

The Black Death had wiped out a third of Europe's population, so the reduced population was much wealthier, better fed, and had more money to spend on luxury items. Additionally, the collapse of two major banks in Italy cleared the way for the Medici to rise to prominence in Florence, and they became the Patrons of the Renaissance, allowing a burgeoning Italian art scene to flourish.

Catherine de Medici, as well as three Popes and Lorenzo the Magnificent, patron of some of the most popular Renaissance art, held power in Florence at the time. (The Sforza family was their Milanese counterpart, commissioning Milan’s Castle Sforzesca and parts of the Duomo). The Medicis married strategically, and were thewere powerful in Florence from the 14th - 18th centuries. They had three popes, politicians, the Queen of France, and later members of French and English royalty.

Their wealth and influence initially derived from the textile trade, and when they took power of Florence,  they created for an environment where art and humanism could flourish, thus inspiring the Renaissance. Artists at the time only made their works when they received commissions in advance, which the wealthy Medicis were able to provide.

The most significant addition to the list over the years was Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), who produced work for a number of Medici, beginning with Lorenzo the Magnificent, who was said to be extremely fond of the young Michelangelo, inviting him to study the family collection of antique sculpture. Lorenzo also served as patron to Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) for seven years. Pope Clement VII commissioned Michelangelo to paint the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel just before the pontiff's death in 1534.

In addition to commissions for art and architecture, the Medici were prolific collectors and today their acquisitions form the core of the Uffizi museum in Florence.

After Lorenzo's death, a Dominican Friar, Girolamo Savonarola, rose in power. He hated the excessive luxury of the Medicis, and ordered many works of art to be destroyed in the "Bonfire of the Vanities" in 1497. The following year, he was burned at the stake in the same location as his bonfire.

The Medicis remained in power, with two 16th century popes, but were unable to stem the advance of the Reformation and eventually their power declined, but their legacy and contribution is still painted all across Florence.


MODERN ITALY

Things in Italy were carrying along fine, but not spectacularly, until the 20th century.

In 1919, a politician named Benito Mussolini launched a movement that called for the restoration of Italy as a great power. In 1922, impatient with electoral politics, Mussolini led his supporters, known as Fascists, on a march on Rome to seize power directly through a coup. Spooked, the Italian king did not put up a fight and allowed Mussolini to become supreme ruler of Italy.

Mussolini spent the next twenty years consolidating power and building up the Italian economy, calling himself Il Duce (‘Leader’) and dreaming of leading a new Roman Empire. When WWII broke out, Italy remained neutral at first, but once it appeared through the Fall of France that Germany would win, Mussolini eagerly joined Hitler, a fellow Fascist and longtime ally, in the war effort and rushed to invade Greece, the Balkans, and North Africa. Overextended and unprepared for such a large-scale effort, Italy quickly found that it could not maintain its military position and had to ask Germany for help. Before long, Mussolini saw himself losing control of his overseas possessions, and eventually his very own country to the Allies. Abandoned by a disgusted Hitler, Il Duce and his mistress were captured and executed by Italian partisans.

After the Second World War, Italy abolished the monarchy and declared itself a republic. With the strong support of the United States, Italy rebuilt its economy through loans, joined NATO and the EU and today, Italy is one of the most prosperous and democratic nations in Europe.

ITALIAN CORRUPTION


The government might be focusing too much on fighting crime and not enough on fighting corruption.

United Nations and European Union studies indicate that Italy's crime rates are below the European average. Rome is safer than London, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam. But Italy is one of the worst offenders in Europe when it comes to corruption, and cases of corruption in Italy have increased 200% since 2008. On a scale from 1 to 180, Sweden, New Zealand and Denmark are at the top, with Iraq, Myanmar and Somalia at the bottom. Italy comes in at 55.


SICILIAN MAFIA ("COSA NOSTRA")
 
The Casa Nostra originated in 19th century Sicily, led by families who ran their own territories, protecting their business interests again feudal land owners who intimidated poor employees into working for low wages. They were Italian Robin Hoods.

Mussolini cracked down on Cosa Nostra, and that is when many of them fled abroad to America and beyond. When Fascism fell after WWII, they slowly made their way back into Sicily where, today, it is estimated that the Sicilian Mafia costs the Sicilian economy more than €10 billion a year through protection rackets. 80% of Sicilian businesses pay protection money to Cosa Nostra; monthly payments can be up to €5,000. Cosa Nostra is estimated to have about 100 clans, with a total of at least 3,500 to 4,000 members. Most are based in western Sicily, almost half of them in the province of Palermo.

There are reports that the Forza Italia party has links to Cosa Nostra. Cosa Nostra controls about 80% of the cocaine trade in Europe. In recent years, it has deliberately murdered judges, priests and children. Palermo's Falcone-Borsellino Airport is named after two such judges.

While America has glamorized the Mafia in movies, Italians recognize that they are criminals, and no one outside their social class would aspire to be one.

In November 2007 Sicilian police reported to have found a list of "Ten Commandments" in the hideout of a mafia boss. They are thought to be guidelines on how to be a good, respectful and honourable mafioso.

-No one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it.
-Never look at the wives of friends.
-Never be seen with cops.
-Don't go to pubs and clubs.
-Always being available for Cosa Nostra is a duty - even if your wife is about to give birth.
-Appointments must absolutely be respected.
-Wives must be treated with respect.
-When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth.
-Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or to other families.
-People who can't be part of Cosa Nostra: anyone who has a close relative in the police, anyone with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and doesn't hold to moral values.


ITALIAN FASHION

From the 11th-16th centuries (during the Renaissance), Italian fashion, just like other Italian art, was at its peak - although some might say its most important contribution to fashion was made during the height of the Roman Empire, when the bikini was first invented. During the court of Louis 14th in the 1600s, France took over as the fashion capital of Europe, but Italian fashion designers have made a comeback (the Italian School vs. French Haute Couture).

Today, the big names in Italian fashion are Armani, Valentino, Versace, Dolce and Gabbana, Roberto Cavalli, Prada. Milan is considered the World's Top Fashion Capital, and Rome is 4th.

CUSTOMS: 67% of single Italian men stay at home until they marry (But even the number of marriages has fallen - with 257,880 couple tying the knot in 2003, less than half of the number in 1971). Italy is projected to actually lose 10 percent of its population by 2050, possibly a consequence of not leaving the home.


ITALIAN FOOD

-Italian meals usually consist of no fewer than 3-4 meals (an antipasto, a primo piatto, secondo piatto, insalata or contorno - vegetable side dish-, and finally the dolci and an aperitif.

-Local specialities abound, such as pesto in Liguria (Genoa and the Cinque Terre), pizza in Naples, bolognese sauce in Bologna, risotto in Milan;

-Italy is also the leading European country for organic or biological foods with some 50,000 farms committed to growing produce by natural methods without the use of chemicals.

-Coffee and espresso are widespread; cafe con leche; gelato; panna cotta

-Peroni is the national beer


ITALIAN WINE

The Etruscans and Greeks were cultivating wine long before the Romans arrived, but the Romans really advanced the industry, creating barrel-storage and bottles. In AD92, an Emperor actually had to destroy some vineyards to make room for food cultivation.

Today, Italy is the largest producer, exporter and consumer of wine in the world; it makes 1/5 of wine worldwide, and there are over 1 million vineyards under cultivation and 6 billion litres produced. They recently beat the French for the first time in a decade.

Italians drink 59 litres per capita, compared to the 7.7 per capita consumed in the States. Wine is cultivated in all 20 Italian regions, such as Chianti from Tuscany, Barolo, Montepulciano, Pinot Grigio,


ITALIAN PEOPLE

Explorers: Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo

Artists: Donatello, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael

Writers: Virgil (wrote The Aeneid), Dante (wrote The Divine Comedy in the 14th century); Petrarch (who invented the sonnet), Machiavelli (The Prince);

Scientists/Inventors: Gallileo; the inventors of the radio and the telephone; Frank Zamboni invented the Zamboni

Musicians: Verdi, Puccini, Rossini, tenor Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocellio, Eros Ramazotti; Mussolini

FILM: Sophia Loren, Roberto Benigni (Life is Beautiful)

SPORT: Italy’s football team is the second-most successful team in the world, with four World Cup victories (including the last one, in 2006); Turin hosted the 2006 Olympics; sports are often incorporated into popular festivals, like Il Palio in Siena and the Venice regatta.

GLADIATORS: They were often slaves who were forced to fight.


QUIRKY FACTS

-The first paved streets in the world were in Rome: in 170 BC, Julius Caesar banned all vehicles during daylight hours because of traffic jams

-Roman gladiators were the first athletes to endorse products

-Roman Emperor Caligula appointed his horse to a senate position

-Roman statutes were made with detachable heads so new heads could be put on as leaders changed

-After poor performances, Roman commanders would kill every tenth Roman soldier, giving rise to the word ‘decimate’

-La Sapienza University in Rome is the largest university in Europe,184,000 students

-Italy is the 5th major tourist destination in the world

-Italy has the most UNESCO sites (43) in the world

-Italy has the eighth highest quality of life index


Language Tips

Hello: buongiorno

Goodbye: Ciao!

Please: per favore

Thank You: grazie

Excuse Me/Sorry: mi scusi

Yes: Si

No: No

Where is?: Dov’e

How much?: Quanto costa?

One: Uno

Two: Due

Three: Tre

Four: Quattro

Five: Cinque

Water: Acqua

Beer: Birra

Wine: Vino

Cheers!: Salute!: Cin cin!

"Travels with Charley" - Book Review

A decade after Jack Kerouac travelled across America in On the Road, American author John Steinbeck, a little older and wiser but with the same curiosity about his country, took a trip of his own. His goal: to answer the question: “What are Americans like today?”
One of the answers he discovered is that Americans, young and old, have an unquenchable wanderlust. Steinbeck himself is no exception:
When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. When years described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age. In middle age I was assured that greater age would calm my fever and now that I am fifty-eight perhaps senility will do the job. Nothing has worked.

Travels with Charley is a personal account of Steinbeck’s journey through nearly 40 states, from Maine through the Pacific Northwest to California, Texas, and Louisiana. He is accompanied by his truck, Rocinante, named after Don Quixote’s horse, and his French poodle, Charley, who provides much of the comic relief in the book.

Along the way, he meets other travellers, locals, actors, drunks, cops, migrant potato pickers, and he weaves their opinions and stories together, along with his own observations, to portray his own real, and mature picture of life on the road.

Steinbeck was 58 years old, at the end of his career and ill; he took the trip in part to prove that he was down but not out. According to his son, Steinbeck knew that he was dying – indeed, he died eight years after the book was published – and this trip was him wanting to see his country for the last time.
In Travels with Charley, Steinbeck is still as opinionated, and at times critical, of the government, working conditions and any form of inequality as he is in his novels, such as the Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, or East of Eden. In particular, when he visits New Orleans and writes against the outpouring of racism he encountered there, he reminds the reader that he is the same author that won the Nobel Prize for describing the plight of the downtrodden American.

But Travels with Charley shows a different side to him; it’s refreshing to hear his funnier, more lighthearted voice, when he writes about his dog’s prostate ailments or his own innate ability to get lost:
I knew long ago and rediscovered that the best way to attract attention, help, and conversation is to be lost. A man who seeing his mother starving to death on a path kicks her in the stomach to clear the war, will cheerfully devote several hours of his time giving wrong directions to a total stranger who claims to be lost.

He is self-deprecating and honest as he describes his insights, sometimes hard-won, about:

…not wanting to go on a trip in the first place:

In long-range planning for a trip, I think there is a private conviction that it won’t happen. As the day approached, my warm bed and comfortable house grew increasingly desirable and my dear wife incalculably precious. To give these up for three months for the terrors of the uncomfortable and unknown seemed crazy. I didn’t want to go.

…the loneliness of travelling:

There seemed to be no cure for loneliness save only being alone.

…and of going places just to tell others you were there:

Niagara Falls is very nice … I’m very glad I saw it, because from now on if I am asked whether I have seen Niagara Falls I can say yes, and be telling the truth for once.

I first picked up Travels with Charley about ten years ago, before I had ever travelled anywhere. It was cute, with cute stories about Steinbeck’s dog and truck, but it didn’t hold my attention past the first few chapters. Recently, I picked it up again and couldn’t put it down. Like so much other great literature, you need to be on the same level with it to understand it. Now that I have travelled, and I have my own beloved dog, I can better appreciate it.
The basics of travelling haven’t changed much in the nearly fifty years since he wrote the book and anyone who has been alone on the road will relate to, and laugh along with it.

Croatia Guide

Don’t believe the rumours: Croatia is not being ruined by tourism.

Sure, it’s been one of the hottest destinations of the past few years. It is ranked as one of the top 20 tourist destinations in the world, and keeps getting more and more popular. And all for good reason; Croatia simply has everything. The bluest and clearest water in Europe, great weather, fresh seafood,, pumping discos, party islands or uninhabited ones. You can swim with dolphins, sleep in a lighthouse, climb ancient city walls. And that’s just along the coast.

Venture inland and you’ll be treated to castles, national parks, spa towns, waterfalls and wine regions, ancient churches and Roman amphitheatres, a world-class capital, locals that are happy to see you, fantastic wine and even better brandy.

Then there’s that little issue of the bloodiest European war since WWII, in which Croatia played a leading role. So to top it all off, you can visit a city like Vukovar and get a first-hand history lesson.

To be sure, you won’t be the only tourist on the island of Hvar. You might be surrounded by more sunburned tourists in Dubrovnik than you’re comfortable with, and there might be more Aussie accents bouncing off the walls of Diocletian’s Palace than there were a decade ago.

But there are thousands of islands around Croatia, so if one is too busy for your liking, choose another. Or head away from the coast, away from the obvious hot-spots, and you’ll stumble upon towns where you’ll find nary an English-speaker and not a cheap souvenir shop in sight, but only local people enjoying the surreal beauty of their country.

The truth is, Croatia is too gorgeous to be spoiled, no matter how many people are around to marvel at it.

So jump on the bandwagon and see it for yourself.

(Before it actually gets ruined by tourism).

The Basics

Capital: Zagreb

Population: 4,4530,500

Religion: Predominantly Roman Catholic (88%)

Government: Croatia has had a democratic government since the adoption of the 1990 constitution. It previously had a long history of Communism, headed most famously by Joseph Broz ‘Tito’

Race: Croatian (89%); Serbian (4%)

Official language:

This isn’t as easy a question as it looks.

When Croatia was still part of Yugoslavia, the language was officially called Serbo-Croat. Today, the Croatians call it the Croatian language and use the Latin alphabet. The Serbs call it the Serbian language and use the Cyrillic alphabet. The Bosnians call it the Bosnian language and claim that the others misappropriated it for their own political and cultural reasons. The courts at The Hague try to keep the peace by calling it BCS (Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian). Some linguists claim there never was one unified language, but two distinct languages that have overlapped over the years.

Whatever moniker you give it, the language is considered one of the hardest to learn. Not only is it difficult, but it has many potentially offensive political connotations. For example, many guidebooks list the word ‘Zdravo’ for ‘Hello’. But say that to someone who did not support the Communists and you might get a funny look, as that word is often associated with the party.

Don’t worry too much about mastering the language before you visit Croatia: most Croatians speak English, Italian, German, sometimes even Russian. If you’re in the bigger cities, such as Split or Zagreb, you shouldn’t have any trouble chatting with locals or at least making yourself understood in English. In smaller towns you might have a harder time, but even if they don’t speak English, Croatians are usually keen to practice and to help however they can.

And one final note about the Croatian language: the word for "bat" in Croatian is sismis (pronounced: "shishmish"). Say it loud, it's brilliant!

Visas: Most visitors don’t need a visa to visit for three months. Obtaining a work visa, on the other hand, is a different matter. By most accounts, you kinda need to know someone.

When to visit: The high season from June to August is pretty busy, so the best months to go are April, May and September when the weather is hot enough for swimming and also for comfortable sightseeing.

The infamous bura wind blows in around late September, usually signalling the end of the season along the coast when everything shuts down. You should plan to head inland around then. In the colder months, spend time in Zagreb galleries or in Slavonian wineries, or find a little spa town where you can spend your days lounging in warm water and your nights in a cozy café.


The People

Croatians love to sit for a coffee and a smoke. They don’t do take-out-coffees, and they certainly don’t have Starbucks; they sit down for five minutes to relax.

Croatians are big-smokers, in fact if you don’t smoke you’ll probably be quite uncomfortable there. But funnily enough, their life expectancy is the same as Americans.

They love being outside and they really love their sea. They are very patriotic, but still somewhat surprised and curious to realize how many tourists are interested in their country.

They love bakeries; in fact, there isn’t a huge variety of restaurants in Croatia, but you can’t walk five feet without coming across a bakery where you can buy a delicious burek.

They have forgiven, for the most part, what happened in the past but it’s still fresh in their memories. You won’t generally feel much tension in the air, but at the same time, you won’t be in a conversation very long with a Croatian before their recent rough times will inevitably come up.

Croatians aren’t fake. If they don’t like you, don’t worry, they’ll tell you. Or ignore you.

Croatians can be skeptical. It takes them a little while to warm up, but once they do, they treat you like family.

Croatians love to eat meat, bread and fresh salad, preferably with their hands and preferably with a bottle of homemade wine.

Croatians are really tall. If you’re short, you’ll realize just how tall they are when you try to look into a mirror and have to stand on tiptoes.

Dating

There are no two ways about it: Croatian men are hot. The term ‘tall, dark and handsome’ might have originated there, with brooding demeanours and rugged manliness thrown in for good measure. They have all the sexy qualities you expect in Mediterranean men, minus any sleazy catcalls or particularly fiery tempers.

Croatian girls, like most of their ex-Yugoslavian counterparts, are pretty, but they don’t often go for the natural look. They like to put effort into their clothes, make-up and hair colour. You won’t see many windswept, fresh-faced blonde beauties in Croatia. These girls are high-maintenance.

When a Croatian guy is trying to impress a girl, he will pull out chairs, pay the bills, order her drinks.

An Irishman who spent a summer working on the island Vis said he learned to be more of a gentleman while observing customers in the restaurant where he worked. He learned to never look at the woman when taking orders or settling the bills. When he got back to Ireland, he started pouring drinks for his girlfriend and ordering for her. He preferred the way of life that he learned in Croatia. He said:

“The girls in Croatia are more delicate, more feminine.”

He said that men are able to feel more like men in Croatia than in Ireland.

“It’s an act, but there’s something to it.”

Most Croatian girls are on the fence when it comes to their men. When the topic comes up, most of them roll their eyes and say: “That’s Balkan men for you. They don’t know what they want.”

They can’t explain what they mean by that, but there seems to be a collective agreement that there is something wrong with Balkan men. Words like ‘macho’ and ‘confused’ get thrown around.

But at the same time as their men frustrate them, they admit that there is something special about them.

It’s not hard for a foreigner to get a date. Female tourists will find that Croatian guys are more than happy to show them around, take them out for drinks or to the beach. But just as in any strange country, foreign girls should be careful. Croatian guys don’t necessarily have the same opinion of foreigners as their own. They don’t necessarily want to just be just friends, and when they invite you back to their house for a home-cooked meal, they’re not just trying to give you a taste of the local cuisine. The good thing is that Croatians are fairly well-mannered, so even if one gets a little out of order, most times a stern word will suffice to get a girl out of an uncomfortable situation.
Croatian girls, like girls around the world, love an accent and will be happy to accept a date with a foreign guy. But a word to the wise, guys: it’s only a matter of time before a Croatian girl is bound to remember that she’s surrounded by some of Europe’s sexiest men, and your accent will only take you so far.


Work and Money

The currency in Croatia is the kuna (fun fact: the kuna is a furry little animal that used to be used in trading). There are approximately 7 kunas to the British pound.

Croatia is inexpensive, but not dirt-cheap. It’s no Bulgaria, for example. A pizza in a nice restaurant costs around 40 kunas, a coffee or beer costs about 10 kunas, a hostel room costs about 100 kunas. Of course, prices vary depending on your proximity to the tourist-traps along the coast.

Working in Croatia isn’t easy. Many bars or restaurants won’t hire tourists without visas, and it’s not easy to get a visa.

That said, there are a few that will hire people under the table. You might not get paid much, or at all, but you can find work at a hostel or a bar where your accommodation is taken care of, so at least you’ll be able to stick around a little longer.


Health and Safety

Everyone in Croatia has a story about an encounter with a sea urchin. It is a part of growing up by the sea. When a guy from Birmingham stepped on two urchins on an Istrian beach, he asked a bartender later that night how to get them out. The bartender replied ‘squeeze a lemon onto it’, like that was the most obvious answer in the world.

Sea urchins are one of the biggest dangers you’ll encounter. You needn’t worry too much about scams, pickpockets, kidnappings or muggings.

For a country that coined the term ‘genocide’, it’s doing pretty well.


Transport

God love cheap European airlines. You can usually find a return flight to Croatia from London for no more than 50 pounds with Ryanair, Easyjet, GermanWings or Thomsonfly. Of course, in the high season, flights to Split or Dubrovnik are ridiculously inflated, but there’s ways around it. Fly into Pula or Zadar and then rent a car or take a bus to wherever you want to go.

Once you’re in Croatia, getting around is easy. The bus system is extensive and accessible. There is a bus station in every town with big signs clearly listing the timetables.

There are direct buses between most major cities, and the most you’ll pay for a bus ticket is around 150 kunas, and that will get you practically across the country. Buses are comfortable and safe, and will make a few stops along the way (don’t forget: Croatians are heavy smokers so they won’t go far before taking a smoke break!). The greatest thing about Croatian buses: the drivers usually play the radio so you can get your fill of traditional music on the road.

If you’re comfortable driving in a strange country, hiring a car is a terrific option. There is a new highway linking Split and Zagreb so you can motor along quickly, albeit with a few toll booths along the way. If you have the time, take the old highway for a spectacularly beautiful drive. If you fly into Pula or Zadar, hire a car and meander along the coast or head into the mountains, stopping along the way for a swim or lunch in a little coastal village.

Accommodation

If you get off a bus, ferry or train in a major city or island, someone will, without fail, approach you to offer a room. Go ahead and accept their offer, because private accommodation is the best way to go in Croatia. Private accommodation is safe, it’s the norm, and it’s a way for Croatian homeowners to pull in a little extra income.

If you’re alone, expect to pay around 100-150 kunas per night; if you’re a couple you’re in luck because the rooms are often charged by the room rather than the person, meaning you’ll each pay half that amount.

Private rooms range from personal and cozy, with homey decorations, to sparse and empty but probably in a fantastic location. You might get to sit for a cup of coffee or a snack while the landlord gives you the lowdown on the area. Some families even cook for their tenants.

Entrepreneurs take note: hostels are not widespread in Croatia. Yet.

If private rooms aren’t your thing, there are several hostels in Zagreb and a few in Split. You’ll likely need to splurge on a hotel room if you head to Slavonia, and the same goes for Istria where there are many high-end resorts but only a couple of hostels.

Destinations

Istria

For several decades, from the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1918 to the end of WWII, Istria was part of Italy. The Italian heritage is still prominent, from its food to its architecture to the fact that more people say “Ciao” on the streets than “Doviđenja”.

A 70-year old lady who has lived her whole life in Medulin, a small village just outside Pula, said she has had five different passports.

During the so-called “homeland war” in the 1990s, Istria saw none of the fighting. Still, the war and years of Communism before that, took their toll on the Istrian economy and its major industry, tourism. But people have gradually rediscovered it and tourism once again plays a major role, although far less than Dalmatia.

Istria has truffle fields and vineyards, spectacular coastal drives, world-heritage sights in Porec and Rovinj, and the world’s smallest town, Hum.

The biggest city in Istria is Pula, known more as a military city than a touristy one since the 19th century, when its harbour was the headquarters of the Austro-Hungarian navy. It has one of the best-preserved Amphitheatres in the world and several other important ancient Roman sights.

Pula isn’t the prettiest city: the paint is peeling from its walls and some buildings look like they’ll fall down any minute. Some people leave after one night because they’re looking for white sandy beaches, not the cement and stone things Pula has to offer. Others get bored because they’ve seen the Arena, had a swim, sat at a table at Café Uliks beside the statue of James Joyce - who lived and taught in Pula for a few months and supposedly hated it - and there isn’t much else to do.

But Pula has an inviting, small-town feel to it, plus a few nice and quiet beaches, and some of the best gelato this side of Italy.


Slavonia

The region of Slavonia has a lot going for it. It has sprawling maize fields, burgeoning wineries and the country’s first wine hotel. Its biggest city, Osijek, has a beautiful cathedral. The city of Dakovo has Lippizaner horses to ride and Slavonski Brod has one of Europe’s best-preserved fortresses. Slavonia is bordered by the Drava river, the Sava river and the Danube.

But the area is probably best known for Vukovar. The city became famous for its David and Goliath story, when the Croatian population defended the city against the approaching Yugoslavian military for 87 days before eventually succumbing and being nearly completely destroyed. Vukovar is still a sensitive subject around Croatia, and most cities have a street or monument dedicated to it. Visit there now and you’ll find a city still divided and not yet recovered. It’s worth a trip away from the coast to see the part of Croatia that isn’t in the tourist brochures.


Zagreb

Zagreb is a great city. It’s got museums and galleries dedicated to everything from botany to sculpture. It has the Croatian parliament, housed in a big building with a checkered-tile roof. It has the Croatian National Theatre, a bright yellow building with a beautiful sculpture by Ivan Mestrovic outside called The Well of Life. It has a vibrant nightlife. It has big green parks and a botanical garden and an efficient, if noisy, tram system. It has several cathedrals and galleries. It doesn’t have great shopping but it has great cafés. It has festivals in the main squares. It has one million people.

And yet Zagreb is not known as a world-class capital city and probably never will be. It’s not Paris or London, cities that everyone wants to see at least once. It doesn’t have the funky reputation of Barcelona or the romance of Florence or even the quirkiness of Reykjavik. It doesn’t have any internationally-famous monuments. It’s the capital of Croatia but let’s face it, people don’t come to Croatia for its cities and Zagreb is nowhere near the coast. The name Zagreb isn’t even particularly appealing.

It’s a city that grows on you. Give Zagreb a chance and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. There aren’t many must-see destinations, so you can sit in a café all morning with a coffee, spend all afternoon wandering, then spend the evening in a bar with a glass of wine and watch the world go by. And those are always the best kind of places.


Split

There aren’t many places in the world where you have a pizza, get drunk, and buy a cheap pair of earrings without ever straying from the walls of an ancient Emperor’s palace. But that’s exactly what you’ll do in Split, where you’ll spend hours wandering the streets of Diocletian’s Palace. Outside the palace, there is a new boardwalk where you can join the locals on a nightly promenade and stop for dinner at one of the many outdoor terraces overlooking the sea. Then head to the beach and poke your head into as many bars as you can, all housed in the Bacvice complex. Split has great nightlife, the official Ivan Mestrovic museum, theatres and statues and galleries, plus it’s the major jumping-off point to the islands. If Diocletian knew how many sunburned degenerates were running around his home, he’d be turning in his mausoleum.


The Dalmatian Islands

Croatia’s major draw is its sea, and the best showcases for the sea are the islands. There are 1185 islands in Croatia, mostly uninhabited, so take your pick. They’re covered in fresh lavender, they have windy little streets and mind-blowingly blue water. The most popular are: Hvar, where you’ll find the best nightlife going and Korcula, which have gained respectable reputations among the rich and famous; beautiful Brac, where the Zlatni Rat beach of postcard-fame is located; and Vis, a favourite among locals, a little less busy than the others and boasting the spectacular Blue Grotto.

Take a boat-tour or hop on the public ferries and meander your way around the islands that are quickly making Greece yesterday’s news.

QUICK HISTORY

In the seventh century, the Slavic tribes were pushing west - reaching their most western point in Istria, stopping just short of Italy – and south, destroying Salona, the capital of Roman Dalmatia.


The Romans, who already occupied most of Dalmatia, and the Slavs co-habited the land peacefully for many years. Their civilizations were completely different, but they worked out a trading system and compromised on their language and tradition. The Slavs lived in the countryside, the Romans lived in the cities, and everyone was happy.

One major difference between the Romans and the Slavs was their language: latin or glagolitic. By the 12th century, the papal authorities had turned the Croatian Church into a Roman Catholic one, and the glagolitic language survived only as a secular one (although it is still a national source of pride).

But Empires changed and depending on who married who, the rule of lands swapped hands every few years. The first major struggle that had repercussions for Croatia was between the Byzantines and the Franks (under Charlemagne). After the battle of Aachen, the Byzantines were given the Roman cities, while the Franks got the rural hinterland. This split up Croatia for the first time, and they worked for centuries to re-unite it. At the time, there was also a fledgling Croatian state in Slavonia.

In the 10th century, the Croat ruler Tomislav stopped an invasion by the Hungarians and Bulgarians, and gained a lot of respect for protecting the country. The Byzantine Empire allowed him to rule their cities as the Emperor’s pro-consul. Tomislav was a successful leader, and very politically innovative; he was the first to divide Croatia into 11 administrative districts.

In the 1100s, the Croatian crown was given to the King of Hungary, who guaranteed that the Croatians would have an unequal, but separate, existence within his Kingdom. The Croatians were to keep their sabor (parliament) and local authorities.

But over the next few centuries, Croatian nation-building was blocked even further. Venice bought all of Dalmatia in the 14th century. The Turks were approaching, and after the King of Hungary was killed at the Battle of Mohacs, the Croatians turned to the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand for help. The pirates of Senj revolted, the Krajina (military border) was controlled by Vienna, and Croatia was referred to as “The remnants of the remnants of the once great Croatian kingdom.”

Dubrovnik was the only success story in the whole divided country. It was known as Ragusa then, and it was full of skilled artisans, was the main trading partner with the Ottomans along the Mediterranean, and maintained its independence as a republic (which saved it from the Ottoman attacks that the rest of the country was prey to).

Dalmatia (particularly Hvar) was a hotspot during the Renaissance, with Croatians studying in Italy and Italians coming to Dalmatia to work on the magnificent building projects of the time (which can still be seen around the islands).

When the Ottoman empire was finally defeated in the 16th century, the Habsburgs tightened their control over Croatia, taking the Krajina completely out of their hands. Two noble Croatian families, the Frankopans and the Zrinskis, were tired of such treatment, and plotted to eject the Habsburgs from their country. But word of their plot got out, and Peter Zrinski and Franjo Frankopan were beheaded in Vienna. Croatia was now completely under the Austrian thumb.

During this time, the Habsburgs attracted their own people into the Krajina by ensuring that Serbs could practise their Orthodox religion freely. Consequently, in 1819, over half of the population there was Serbian (a source of tension later).

There was a brief period of French rule during the French Revolution, in which Dalmatia and Dubrovnik was also occupied. When it ended, Croatia was returned to the Habsburgs with all its pieces together. While the Hungarians were struggling to gain equality with Austria, a sense of nationalism rose in Croatia as well with the emergence of the Illyrian movement. There were calls for the Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia to be reunited.

Josip Jelacic was the Croatian ban at the time, and he fought on the side of Vienna against the Hungarian uprising, hoping to gain favours. But the Austrians tightened their fists, subdued any nationalism movements, and Jelacic without seeing the independence of his country.
The Illyrian movement eventually split into two, with one half looking to unite all of the Slav people into Yugoslavia (under Josip Strossmayer), while the other half (under Ante Starcevic) seeing that broad union as far too problematic, and hoping to see an independent Croatia on its own.
When the Austria-Hungary empire was created, Dalmatia was left under Vienna’s rule, while Slavonia was given to Hungary. Aspirations for a united Croatia were dashed until WWI, when it was united with the other Slav countries into Yugoslavia. Croatia was not entirely happy about this, because it seemed that Serbia saw the union as an extension of their own country.
Stjepan Radic was a separatist who did not support Yugoslavia, and campaigned for Croatian independence. When he was assassinated in the middle of a Parliamentary meeting, the debate got even more heated, resulting in the rise of the far-right Ustashe movement (which traced its establishment back to Starcevic), and the far-left Communist movement.
In WWII, Yugoslavia was occupied by Hitler, and the Ustashe were installed into government by Mussolini. The Ustashe cooperated with them, hoping to exterminate all minorities within their country (including the Serbs and Bosnians, so that Croatia was finally its own country). A three-way fight over the country emerged: the Ustashe, the Communists, and the Cetniks (Serbian royalists).

The Communists eventually won the fight, under the charismatic Josip Broz Tito. Yugoslavia was now made up of Croatians, Serbs, Bosnians, Slovenes, Macedonians and Montenegrins, all sharing power.

Although Communism had quelled fighting for a few years, most Croatians were not happy to be ruled by that party, particularly because it persecuted the Catholic Church.

Mass tourism helped Croatia to prosper, it gained back Istria from Italy, and it was doing quite well for itself. But there were feelings that it was bringing all of the money into Yugoslavia, holding up its less prosperous partners, without getting anything in return. A small uprising by Croatian nationalists was put down by Tito, but when he died in 1980, foreign debts started to spiral out of control, and Communism started to lose prestige these nationalist feelings re-emerged, not only in Croatia but in Serbia. Slobodan Milosevic took power in 1987 and started to violently enforce Serbian authority over the other republics in Yugoslavia. First, he took over Albanian-dominated Kosovo (a historic place for Serbs), then Montenegro. Milosevic had suddenly ended the 45-year union, and with that, the countries decided to look after their own interests.

In Croatia, Franjo Tudman was elected in 1990, and within a year, war broke out when Slovenia, and then Croatia, declared independence. Their dream had been realized, but at the cost of many lives.

The dissolution of the former Yugoslavia cannot be reduced to religion, politics or money. Historians still can’t agree on who was to blame in the conflicts, where the source of disputes originated, or even the number of people who were killed in the 1990s wars.

Croatian journalist Slavenka Drakulic has written many books about the subject, including They Would Never Hurt a Fly, in which she sums it all up as well as anyone:

Once upon a time, in a faraway part of Europe, behind seven mountains and seven seas, there was a beautiful country called Yugoslavia. Its people belonged to six different nationalities, were of three different religions and spoke three different languages. They were Croats, Serbs, Slovenes, Albanians, Bosnians and Macedonians, yet they all worked together, went to school together, married each other and lived in relative harmony for forty-five years. But because this is not a fairy tale the story of this beautiful country has no happy ending. Yugoslavia fell apart in a terrible and bloody war, a war that claimed some two hundred thousand lives - mostly in Bosnia - displaced two million people and produced several new states: Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia. Albanians and Montenegrins are still struggling for their independence. This all happened in the middle of Europe not so long ago, between 1991 and 1995. The whole world was surprised by this war. We, the citizens of Yugoslavia, were even more surprised.

Even if it appeared so to us, the war, however, did not descend upon us overnight. In the late eighties communism collapsed everywhere in Eastern Europe and in what was then still the Soviet Union. Yugoslavia was unprepared for the political changes that followed the collapse. We had not developed any democratic alternatives as Poland and Czechoslovakia had done, and the political vacuum was suddenly filled with nationalist parties. They all had the same programme: independence and nation-states of their own. Simmering nationalism was soon spreading like a fire ... Slovenia took the first step, and by June 1991 it was out of the federation. The break-up had begun. The Jugoslavenska Narodna Armija (Yugoslav National Army) tried to stop Slovenia from leaving but, as it had no minorities to speak of, the army let it go ... But Croatia had a large Serbian minority, and Slobodan Milosevic, as President of Serbia, had the perfect excuse to send his army to ‘protect’ the Serbs there. That meant real war ... In Bosnia, where Serbs, Croats and Muslim lived together, the war started in April 1992. Because of the mixed population, it also took on the characteristics of a civil war.

My father never spoke about the four years he fought as a partisan under the command of Josip Broz Tito in the Second World War. He wanted to forget it, and for a long time I saw this as a sign of sanity and self-preservation ... And the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the combination of his silence and the official version of the historical events of 1939 - 1945 made this latest war possible ... Only now can I understand how easy it is to start a war in the absence of facts.

Bruges - Belgium

QUICK FACTS

Population: 117,000

Capital City? No

Region: Capital and the largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish region of Belgium



SHORT HISTORY

Bruges was an important city back in the 13th-17th century, when it was one of the principal trading stations of the Hanseatic League (a trading union in Northern Europe, reaching all the way up to Norway and out to London). It was a centre of Flemish textile trade, an internationally renowned product.

In the 15th century, Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, set up court in Bruges, attracting a number of artists, bankers, and other prominent personalities, and the population swelled. The weavers and spinners there were considered among the best in the world.

But, in around 1500, the Zwin channel, which had given the city its prosperity, started silting. The city soon fell behind Antwerp as the economic flagship of the Low Countries. By the mid 19th century, Bruges was the poorest city in Belgium.

Only in the second half of the twentieth century has the city started to reclaim some of its past glory. The port of Zeebrugge was built in 1907, it was greatly expanded in the 1970s and early 1980s and has become one of Europe's most important and modern ports due to its location on the North Sea (busiest sea in the world), its proximity to Great Britain as well as proximity to so many other European cities. International tourism has boomed (thanks in part to its medieval appearance and perhaps a recent movie?)


AROUND TOWN

Bruges Old Town: a UNESCO World Heritage Sight.

Burg Square: The Gothic Town Hall is found in this square, beside the Renaissance Civil Registry, and a Baroque Deanery (used to house the former Deans of the Church). There used to be a castle and a church here, but both fell into disrepair (the church was destroyed during the French invasions of the Spanish Netherlands).

Chapel of the Holy Blood: Dates back to the 12th century, but reconstructed over the years, it contains a bottle that dates back to that time as well, brought to Bruges from Constantinople, possibly containing Jesus’ blood. The Procession of the Holy Blood takes place every year in May, with the citizens of Bruges parading through the streets dressed in historical costumes.

Market Square: the commercial heart of the city in Medieval times, it holds the Belfry Tower, the Cloth Hall and the Provincial Court (which stands in the place where the Water Halls used to be, where traders would come to trade their goods).
Statues of Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninck: Located in the center of the Market, the statue not only honors these two leaders of the 'Battle of the Golden Spurs' an uprising by the Flemish against the French King, which took place in 1302, it is perhaps more so a clear statement of the political leaders of the 1880's that the cause for Flemish emancipation was something that the Belgian government had to take notice of.

Church of Our Lady: Located in the old town, its brick spire reaches over 400 feet, making it one of the world’s highest brick buildings. Inside you’ll find the sculpture Madonna and Child, believed to be Michelangelo’s only sculpture to have left Italy within his lifetime.

 

TRIVIA

-The first English book ever printed was printed in Bruges by William Caxton

-Bruges has a chocolate museum, a Belgian fry museum, and a big shop to buy all things TinTin!

-Nowadays no commercial ships sail on Bruges’ canals; they are used exclusively for tourist boats.