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VACATION 2008 PHOTOS
Prihajan doma (I'm coming home) is the title
of the song that won the audience vote at
the 2008 MIK Festival. It is also the feeling we get when
the plane has crossed the Alps and is
cruising toward, Krk, Pula or Zagreb. There
is something
inside that tells us, we must be there now.
The forehead hits the aircraft
window, as the eyes try to identify towns, hills
and valleys down below, while Učka
seems to be reaching
up to the sky to say:
Yes, yes, you are home now... or,
as Mario Battifiaca puts it in the song he
co-authored and sang at
MIK
2008:
Zaprteh
oči duša već zna:
tu san ja doma, tu čuje se
ča.
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To view photos click on image or title below |
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LOVRAN
Opatija's smaller neighbor, calm and laid
back by comparison, but rich in cultural and
entertainment events: Dani
čerešanj (Days of Cherries), Marunada
(Chesnuts Festivities),
Fishermen Feasts, Christmas
NIghts, Carnival... They are usually
opened with a concert by the legendary
Lovran Wind Orchestra. Photos feature views
from Liganj and from some Lovran cafe, cherry cake,
old stairway to Liganj, now hiking path to Učka,
solar clock at hotel Excelsior.
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OPATIJA
No matter how frustrating it gets looking
for a parking space, the First Lady of
Tourism, with her fancy old hotels, tropical
parks, cafes along main street, and lungomare,
still has her old charm and beauty.
Incidentally the Lady with Seagull lost her
seagull again. The word is out that now the
City will order a
number of replicas to be made, a sign put up near
the statue to inform potential vandals where they can
purchase the precious bird. |
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RIJEKA
This industrial city's rich cultural life has
become even richer in recent years, thanks to numerous outdoor cultural activities
during the summer, that take place at its
beautiful promenades: the piers, Korzo, and
Trsat fortress and in the harbor. The photos were taken along
my favored walk route, through the harbor, Korzo, Fiumera, then up the stairway to
Trsat.
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CRES
This island, with the
smallest per square km population among
populated Adriatic islands, takes the
visitors to
the quiet and peaceful past. While, driving
through it at night you have to watch for
rabbits, sheep, and goats popping up on the
road, or you might have an encounter with griffon vulture
(bjeloglavi sup), as I did near Draguzetići.
Traditional festivities like Tramuntana in
Beli and Semenj in Cres make the trip even
more worthwhile.
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UČKA
&
ĆIĆARIJA
This giant of nature is still largely
an undiscovered paradise for people seeking
fresh air, good exercise and peace. This is
a blessing since climbing up to the top,
from the crowded Opatija Riviera, is rewarded with spectacular
view and a divine peace. There are plans to
build gondola to carry visitors to the top.
Sound idea and opportunity, but I prefer Učka to remain as
is. The top is already "overcrowded" with
towers and antennas.
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TUPLJAK
-
In the epicenter of
an environmental destruction
This village,
or cluster of hamlets on the hills above Raša
Valley was throughout the history "out of
site, out of mind", even when it became the
home of last coal mine in the country. Then
the newest rulers of this valley, region and
country decided to bring in the
stone wool
factory and sacrifice the valley and the life
in it as it had been since the
beginning of times, for still unknown or
meaningless reasons. |
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DALMATIA
Nice place(s) to visit... and
enjoy some spectacular scenery, and the wine,
and hospitality. Take it easy: if you find
yourself in a traffic jam, it could be just
someone in a car in front or you stopping to
chat with someone. Stopping at Krka travel
plaza at sunset time is a must. It is
considered to be the prettiest travel plaza
in Europe. On other photos: the beautiful and
popular Makarska Riviera, the nature
wonders, Red and Blue
Lakes in Imotski, the water mill, still in
use on Vrljika river near Imotski.
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MEĐUGORJE -
Worshiped by the faithful,
marveled by the curious
Looking from Mt. Križevac,
the town looks like a mini Las Vegas, but to
its credit, on the "Strip", the newborn
commercialism still revolves around
religion. Stores are many, but they all sell
religious articles and - walking canes! Why
canes? I have no idea: We hear stories about
people getting cured and leaving their
canes here. Maybe they are just trading them
for the fancy ones? |
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A
PEEK INTO THE PAST
It's always
nice to find and old item that brings back
childhood memories, and seeing people take
care of it in a way that we failed to do
when we were replacing them with modern
technology. In the photos have boskarin,
goat, donkey, vreteno i preslica, border
post at "Rapal border" near Kastav, statues
of Tudjman in Makarska, Tito in Labin, and
the sad sight of decaying houses in eastern
Istria.
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ZASOPIMO,
ZAKANTAJMO, ZATANCAJMO
As much as young generations
strive to be trendy, and the old ones want
to be young, the music of Istria & Quarner
enjoys sufficient interest, and audience, to
keep our beseda & kanat alive and
well. In the photos: folklore groups from
Raša, Roč, Tinjan, Nerezine,
& Kršan; Klape from
Lovran, Opatija, Veprinac..., singers and
authors like
Koktelsi, Bruno Krajcar, Danijel
Načinović, Mirjana Bobuš, Duško Jeličić,
Mario Battifiaca,
Karin Kuljanić,
Vesna
Nežić Ružić, Đani Maršan, Ivana Marčelja,
Alen Vitasović, Irena Kuhar... |
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