Croatia Travel Answers

I have not been to Croatia since it was under another name and political climate in the 70's but my memories are still vivid and I hope things have improved. I ate cucumber and tomato sandwiches when we could find fresh vegetables. I was only there for 2 days as I was traveling to Greece but I do recall the beer was not the greatest. Again, this was many years ago so hopefully things have changed.

I too came thru in 1977 and we had breakfast just after we left Trieste in place called Ljubljana and only meals were state preferred road type houses and food was not crash hot and refrigeration seemed unimportant so beer was warmish One would imagine now with tourism on the up the food be OK

Lovely Ljubljana is in Slovenia. Croatia is a very popular holiday destination for Europeans. I'm certain you will find plenty of nice things to eat (and plenty of people who speak English). And I'm bookmarking this to find out what they are, for my future return visit to that country....

It will be a different entry this time as on 29 April 1977 it had Jugoslavija as its name and we did our border check at Ljubljana before driving down thru the county to exit around Thessalonika-----imagine all these states/countries were under one roof so to speak so for me it will be very interesting Tourism has I guess had good effects & bad ones Sure the food be OK

Different times then ...we even had Rhodesians on our bus. How the world demographics have changed

I hope I'm not too late Getting off the ferry means you'll arrive to Dalmatia, region of many historical and culinary influences. Predominantely Mediterranea, with a hint of distant shores brought home by numerous Croatian ship captains and crew members. One such substantial and very typical dish is Pašticada (pashtitsada) - soft juicy beef marinated and cooked in dark sauce which also includes some prunes and cloves (cloves being that magical influence from far away). Served with potato dumplings 'njoki'. Red wine is in that sauce so that's what you should drink with this meal. Try Plavac mali, Babich or if you're in a good restaurant ask for their house wine because they usually stock a good selection from some local producer. Adriatic sea is famous for superb scampi, in specific areas (Kvarner, island Pag, under Biokovo mountains) where fresh water gushes from seabed, the scampi are huge and sweet. Have them made 'buzara' style - just gently steamed on olive oil, garlic, parsley and black pepper. Eat with fresh white bread. Ask for local calamari - big ones, look like a sock, if properly prepared they are surprisingly soft. Octopus salad is a comon delicious starter. Also anchovies - salted, served with raw onion slices, olive oil, vinegar and herbs, or fresh, marinated in lemon juice - mmmm.... Black mussels 'buzara' is also very comon - discard those that didn't open during cooking! 'fritura' fryed fresh seafood is wonderful. In spring during the asparagus season, try to find a place that serves wild asparagus - usually served as an omelette with slices of smoked & air-dried ham. Easier to get further north towards Zadar, Istria and in Zagreb. Oh and look for spit-roasted lamb, very obvious sice always visible from the road. Peka - cylinder dish covered with hot ashes, meat or octopus with potatoes is perfectly cooked underneath. But this has to be ordered one day in advance. Being in the Balkans, a meal consisting of chevapchichi (minced meat finger-shaped) is a must. Best usually near bus/railway/ferry ports. For a special treat, try something with Istrian truffles - pasta or steak. Enjoy!

Ah huh !!! Paradise awaits me
Yummo !!!