Articles on Croatia from 2004.
When I first laid eyes on Dubrovnik’s main road I had an overwhelming desire to rip off my shoes and slip down it in my socks or, even better, dive belly first and see how far I could slide. The road, known as the Stradun, was so shiny I could almost see my face in it. ‘It’s made out of pure marble,’ a companion told me and I spluttered in disbelief. Isn’t marble reserved for the lobbies of five-star hotels or the bathrooms of the super-rich? Apparently not.
Anushka Asthana, The Observer, 15th August 2004
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It’s said of Istria, the peninsula that hangs from Croatia’s northernmost tip, that in every home there is a drawer containing seven flags.
Annabelle Thorpe, The Times, 14th August 2004
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The next morning, the sea is as flat as a pancake. Tony junior is starting up the boat, resplendent in a red-and-white Croatia T-shirt. England needs only to draw tonight to reach the play offs. Not being English, however, I want music, laughter and dancing with the local beefcakes, not dark mutterings and death threats. We motor back to Prvic. The “trek” part of the firm’s name refers to the walks from one side of the island to the next swim, so we’re soon sauntering through a deserted village. An elderly woman with a gummy smile has set up a makeshift stall: strings of dried figs, shells and coral, plus what looks like rosemary in olive oil, but is in fact a homemade herb schnapps.
Christine Rush, The Independent, 10th July 2004
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Picture this: you’re sipping a cappuccino on the sunbaked wooden deck of a ferry steaming between idyllic islands. A pair of dolphins chase at the stern, and two yachts — their blue and white sails puffed out pompously — race towards your wash. Otherwise, the water is as smooth as a satin sheet. The Seychelles? Southeast Asia? Absolutely not. The ship is called Dubrovnik, and this is island- hopping Croatian-style.
Andrew Thomas, The Sunday Times, 16th May 2004
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I wanted to come to the island of Vis in the Adriatic, a two-hour ferry ride from the Croatian coastal town of Split, because I read somewhere that it’s what Mediterranean islands once were, before mass tourism. I came because I wanted to see the old Med. The Zorba the Greek Med, a place full of wizened old men chatting in the shade, a place of olive oil and strong wine.
Doug McKinley, The Times, 1st May 2004
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What would you do if you knew you were completely alone on an abandoned island, so still and quiet you could hear a boat coming from two miles away? It took us a whole week to find an answer to that question, but finally, it came, in a little cove where a lone pine tree made a fragrant cave, where we lay and ate nectarines.
Helen Rumbelow, The Times, 1st May 2004
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Walk through any one of old Dubrovnik’s three city gates, and you’ll find a litter tray for cigarette ends and chewing gum. Inside, the reason becomes apparent. Dubrovnik is the Bath of the Balkans: a pristine set-piece walled town where shop signage is written on removable banners and only one colour is allowed for doors – a classic dark green, which combines most agreeably with the town’s yellow limestone bricks and terracotta roof tiles. Litter would be a wart on its face.
Oliver Bennett, The Guardian, 17th April 2004
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Ask anyone: Croatia is the hottest destination in the Med this summer. The Dalmatian coast, they will tell you, with its close-hauled constellation of 1,000 islands, is the “new Riviera”; while the Istrian peninsula, with its Italian looks and flavours, is “the new Tuscany”. But these slick phrases miss the point. Croatia isn’t really a “new” anything: it is still very much its old self.
David Wickers, The Sunday Times, 1st February 2004
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