A Barbecue in the Country
Posted on May 27, 2006 - Filed Under Places, croatia, europe | Leave a Comment
As much as I’ve enjoyed my time in Zagreb before the jaunt to Pelješac, a little time in the country was just what the doctor ordered. So I went with a friend to her hometown of Zdenčina. The expedition from Zagreb’s main rail station to Zdenčina was a pleasant thirty minutes spent on the wonderfully [...]
Read More..>>Pork Rinds
Posted on May 26, 2006 - Filed Under croatia, food and drink | 1 Comment
This is Croatian bacon. It is known as panceta in Dalmatia, but the northern continentals refer to it as špek, the Balkanized version of the German word for bacon. It’s really just ordinary cured, smoked pork belly, but most of the bacon in Croatia is drier and more dense than what we’re accustomed to in [...]
Read More..>>Ćevapčići at BK Sava
Posted on May 25, 2006 - Filed Under Uncategorized, croatia | 1 Comment
I am told that the best ćevapčići in all of Zagreb are served at a place called BK Sava next to a soccer field, only about a hundred meters from the banks of the Sava River. I went to Sava to see if it was true.
I was fond of ćevapčići long before I came to [...]
Travel Advisory
Posted on May 25, 2006 - Filed Under Places, croatia, food and drink | Leave a Comment
As of next Friday, I should be in Kućište on the Pelješac Peninsula of Croatia’s southern coast to resume my research of Dalmatian food and wine. This village is just a stone’s throw from the discovery of an Illyrian cave temple at Nakovana, and right across the Pelješki Kanal from the isle of Korčula, birthplace [...]
Read More..>>Dalmatian Klapa in Zagreb
Posted on May 23, 2006 - Filed Under croatia, music | 2 Comments
I can hear a cock crowing down the street though the soft glow of dawn that illuminates Sljeme…
There exists no sound on Earth such as that of unaccompanied voices coming together in harmony. It is the sound of the unclad human spirit, pure and powerful, rising above the dust and filth of the material condition [...]
Buffet Upstairs, Band in the Basement
Posted on May 18, 2006 - Filed Under Uncategorized, croatia, food and drink, music | 1 Comment
After ice cream from Vincek, I walked with my Kornelija to her hiking club’s weekly meeting. It was held on the second floor of a multi-purpose building near Glavni Kolodvor (most buildings seem to serve many functions here) that operates as a sort of community center with two independently owned cafes on the first floor. [...]
Read More..>>The Best Ice Cream in Zagreb
Posted on May 18, 2006 - Filed Under Uncategorized, croatia | Leave a Comment
My friends in Zagreb have been very good to me, treating me to the best of everything this city has to offer. After the Festival Starih Zanata at Trg Bana Josipa Jelačića, I went for an ice cream with Kornelija - but not just any ice cream.
We walked a couple of blocks over to Vincek [...]
Read More..>>Festival Starih Zanata
Posted on May 18, 2006 - Filed Under art, croatia, europe, music | Leave a Comment
What a surprise: Festival Starih Zanata (Festival of Old Trades) in Gornji Grad tonight! People were out and about of a Thursday even, enjoying the warm spring breeze. In Zagreb, the breeze smells like flow’rs and babies look like this:
He was watching the trams come up the hill to Kula Lotrščak - an acceptable pastime [...]
Read More..>>Assignment: Croatia
Posted on May 9, 2006 - Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Gradually getting things back on track, planning to return to Croatia next week. I’ve met some extremely nice people in Budapest, but my sinuses ache from the pollution, and my soul pines for clear skies, sunshine and the bright blue water of the Adriatic. If I didn’t already mention it, I discussed my book project [...]
Read More..>>Where ‘Hello’ Means ‘Goodbye’
Posted on May 3, 2006 - Filed Under Places, europe | 1 Comment
Budapest it is. As much as I’d like to take more time to explore this city, I have a mountain of data and media to sort and edit from the trip down (and up, and down) the Croatian coast. I wish we’d taken more time with some of the people and places we experienced in [...]
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