A short journey through Croatia

A short journey through Croatia.

Dear friends , we hope that you did your homework and searched some information about Croatia. Even if you didn ’t, we bet you have heard of Dubrovnik or Croatian football team, especially Luka Modrić. But Croatia has so many other beauty gems and we would like to show you some of them in this short journey through our country ..

So this is the shape of our country . Does it remind you of a bird with spread wings ?.

We are starting our journey from the east of the country . As you may know , during the 90’s, Croatia fought in the war for its independence from Yugoslavia . The city of Vukovar suffered the most. This is the picture of water tower in Vukovar, the symbol of Croatian fight and suffering ..

Today , Vukovar is slowly recovering , the children are smilling and playing on the streets again , crossing their own 3D bridge. You should come and try it also ….

Did you hear about the biggest Croatian love story in the last 30 years ?.

It ’s the story of Klepetan and Malena, two storks . Malena broke her wing 30 years ago and she couldn ’t fly anymore . So she stayed in the village near Slavonski Brod and her partner Klepetan went to South Africa without her. A nd he still returned every spring . Malena waited every single year for her Klepetan to come . And he did … This summer Malena passed away and everone is wondering will Klepetan return to Croatia in spring now that his loved one isn ’t waiting for him anymore ..

We bet you got hungry during this trip . Before we continue to travel through the region of Slavonia toward our capital city , we will offer you some of Slavonian specialties , kulen and čvarci ( sausage and greaves )..

After a few hours o f driving, we a r rive in capital Zagreb. It is our big g est city with lots of beautiful buildings , fountains, museums , street art treasure ….

… and lamps . The upper town has over 200 lampposts, none of which are electri c. T hey are all individually lit every evening and extinguished every morning! For years and years, one man who’s now in his 8 0s has walked around to light them every day and he now has an a ssistant to help and learn from him..

We have to leave Zagreb and go in the south direction . There ’s a long way to Obrovac Sinjski ahead of us. But on our trip w e must stop to show you t he Plitvice Lakes , our most beautiful national park. In spring you can even see Velebits Degenia growing there . But don’t pick it up , it ’s the rarest flower in Croatia!.

Now the way to Obrovac Sinjski is in the east directon , but if you get lost and go to the west, you can visit Pula and see the ancient amphitheater , the only amphitheater in the world that is whole preserved . Oh, and you see a tie wrapped around Arena of Pula? We bet you didn ’t know that Croats invented the tie ? In the 17th century Croatian soldiers used to tie elegant scarves around their necks, a fashion later picked up by the French –the rest is history. And in Croatian language tie is called „kravata” ( Croata -kravata)..

We must return to the road to Obrovac Sinjski. We are driving along the Dalmatian cost . If you ’re asking yourself is the Dalmatian dog named after the region of Dalmatia , the answer is : YES!.

Did you know that sea can make music ? If you visit Zadar, you can see and hear Zadars sea organs that create music as the waves splash into the coast . Or you can look how the sunlight reflects on instalation called „ Greetings to the Sun”..

We continue to drive along the coast and we stop in Split, the second largest city in Croatia. And one of the oldest . T he 1700 years old emperor Diocletians palace is one of the most important architectural heritage of the Roman Empire. In summer days the palace is protected by Diocletians guards so you can take a picture with them ..

And do not miss to visit the monument to Gregory of Nin. The statue is in front of the Golden Gate of Diocletians palace and is an imposing 6 feet tall. It is believed that touching his thumb brings happiness and the realization of desires. So whether you’re superstitious or not, don’t miss to touch it and make a wish!.

Our journey is nearly coming to its end . We are now in Sinj, only few minutes away from Obrovac Sinjski by car. If you visit Sinj in August, you can witness the spactacle of Alka. Alka is a tournament in which men on horses run and try to hit the center of the ring hanging in the air. The center brings 3 points , field above 2 points and fields left and right from the center bring 1 point ..

Even the kids have their own Alka….

HAN (OBROVAC SINJSKI).

In the end , we want to show you Han (Obrovac Sinjski). It is a small village in Dalmatian Hinterland . River Cetina flows through our village . And it flows right next to our school . Our school has around 260 pupils . It’s not that big, but it can be noisy sometimes . Our school is named in the honour of Ivan Mažuranić. He is Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić’s grandfather . Her fairytales were an inspiration for our bookmarks ..

That ’s all from us . Hope you like our bookmarks and our country and that you ’ll visit us sometime ! Thank you for your attention or as we Croatians say : HVALA!.