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Trip from 16 to 28 August 2014. The company of 6 adults and a child of 7 years. 75 thousand for 12 days from TUI operator 2 adults room with balcony and sea view. The hotel was selected in advance and with the choice there was certainty already 3 months in advance. Tracking prices, I concluded that it is optimal to buy in a month. In the past, the prices have been a bit high. Before the trip, the price rose by 7 thousand rubles. In the period when the mass destruction of agencies came, we can say we slipped along the razor's edge. Vouchers ordered from the "Neva" for 69.000 did not receive confirmation because they did not have 3 places to fly back. The next minimum price was "Labyrinth", but in the process of registration, a special offer from TUI popped up - when buying a tour with rooms with a sea view balcony as a gift. We stopped at this option, which saved our vacation from lawsuits from these 2 bankrupt operators. The hotel is very large, it is part of the Laguna Poreč resort system, one resort passes into another, you can walk for hours. A path is laid out along the coast for about 4.5 km. You can run, rollerblade, bike or just take a walk enjoying the seascape
The guide meeting and working at the hotel is a young man of about 30 years old, MARIN is quite adequate, meeting at the airport and transfer back without any questions. Work in the hotel is standard for all tour guides, a story about the country, the hotel and the sale of excursions. Of the pluses, he has a favorable exchange rate of 7.5 when exchanging in banks of 7.32, courtesy in communicating with us did not disappear even after refusing to buy excursions from him, as is often the case with his colleagues.
We arrived at the hotel at 9 am and settled down on the sofas at the reception. After 11, without any surcharge, 3 rooms were received side by side on the 3rd floor overlooking the sea and the pool, without any surcharge. Many of these rooms are not praised because of the noise in the evening. For us, this location is the best. Close to the exit to the beach, and the restaurant, no need to stray through the corridors from other buildings. The view of the evening animation under the balcony is an additional plus. The location is like in the VIP box of the theater. Drinking wine on the balcony, you can see everything and do not need to go down to the tables, where you have to buy at least a glass of not cheap wine or coffee. The noise from the music does not interfere with falling asleep with the windows closed in the evening. The morning cleaning movement around the pool is not annoying, and we got up early. Of the pluses, these rooms have been renovated, which is also pleasing. Remarks on the size of the room and a small shower room, I can answer one thing: with my 145 kg there was enough space, and of course if the rooms were larger and better equipped, the hotel would be 4 stars and it would cost 50 thousand more. The rooms are cleaned daily, every other day they left a 1 euro tip, but this did not particularly affect the quality. During the rest period, the cleaning lady changed, one cleaned with a rag in her hands and, on her knees, the other moved the mop lazily. Therefore, everything depends on the individual and cannot serve as a general characteristic of the hotel.
A hotel in the Istrian suburb of Poreč , suitable mainly for active recreation of tourists, there are a lot of things you can rent. Walked 50-70 minutes to the city a couple of times. If along the sea then longer. If you cut through other hotels and steps then it is harder but faster. You can ride a train once, but it’s about 700 meters to go to it, it’s easier and cheaper from the reception by bus. The hotel is located on the first line, the sea and the beach with a blue flag. The hotel has a huge area with pine trees where you can have a great time when it's too hot. You can sit on the lawns. Everything is cleaned and washed from 6 am. Nearby there is a huge campsite for those who come with trailers or just with tents. Some campers are just huge, people are comfortable resting with satellite dishes on the roof and plasma TVs. The campsite has its own swimming pool.
Beach. Concrete platform, pebbles. There, on the grass, and on the sand, and on the stones and on the platform itself, you can sit. Descent into the sea along the ladders, or from the shore along the pebbles. On the beach there are changing rooms and toilets and cafes . . There is a rental of water transport, a huge trampoline on the water for children, towers of different heights for diving. You can also sit on the pines on the cliffs. Entering the sea without special shoes will be difficult, you can swim with a mask, but the view under water reminded me of the island beaches of Thailand. In general, not Egypt and the brought 2 underwater vehicles remained almost unclaimed. In front of the hotel in the sea, about 500-1000 meters, there are 2 islands. The underwater world is somewhat more diverse, but the bottom is simply dotted with sea urchins the size of a tennis ball, getting out of the water onto sharp stones without special shoes is problematic. On the island almost every day there are 1-3 fishermen with donk fishing rods, there are fishing nets between the islands in shallow water, so be careful not to get hooked and into the net. ? . I swam there several times to pick at the bottom of the oysters. There was a free addition to the dining table. Lemons were not found, we used limes growing in the territory. In stores, oysters are 2-4 euros apiece. At least some kind of moral compensation for the snorkel fins that occupied the floor of the suitcase, but there is no great need for them. The sea, although the cleanest of the Mediterranean basin, and visibility was up to 15 meters. But the underwater world is not rich and the proposed dive tour was cancelled. A huge number of Italians in the hotel confirm their words that they do not understand why the Russians go to them to rest on the sea, if it is dirty and ugly in Italy. And the prices in the beach area are higher than in Croatia.
The pool is small but clean with sunbeds, which are really all taken from 8 in the morning, you can find a free one at 9, but fungi from the sun are already all taken. Some individuals with an armful of towels have been standing in front of the closed door of the fence since 6 in the morning and watching the cleaning of the staff. Cleaning starts at 6am and 6pm before putting the sunbeds back in their place to set the tables for the evening bar and animation. The tile is washed under the feet 2 times a day with soap, the pool itself is cleaned from debris in the morning every day, the walls of the pool under water were washed with a brush once a week. The water in the pool is sea, so there are a lot of people in the pool, not everyone likes the pebble entrance to the sea, or the stairs from the pier.
Nutrition. Good breakfasts and dinners. The food is varied, there were always fruits, fish for dinner, seafood, grilled meat, ice cream. A lot has been described here about this. I can say the choice of dishes for dinner is better than some of the Egyptian fives. Of the shortcomings is the lack of water for dinner. You want to drink a wide variety of dishes, and you don’t want to overpay for water. We made do with watermelon for dinner and ice cream. Whoever wants water can go to the toilet and draw from the tap there, it is no different from bottled water. Throughout the rest, water was used from a tap in all corners of the country during excursions, it is good everywhere. From communication with the resting Russians in neighboring hotels. (137 thousand for 14 days all inclusive) Drinks, including alcoholic ones, are included in three meals a day, in bars on the territory 4 hours a day for free. Think about whether you need such a vacation, for that kind of money? Of the minuses, perhaps this is the queue for dinner. By 19 o'clock everyone is already hungry and beats with a hoof in front of a ribbon blocking the stairs to the dining room, then they run upstairs and the people spread through the three halls.
The weather wasn't particularly lucky. The first days were overcast with a thunderstorm, very strong thunderstorms were at the end of the holiday. August was abnormally rainy, which was heard about repeatedly. Rains are short, but half a day without sun can be used for trips to neighboring towns
Shops, restaurants, markets, sports complexes are all within walking distance. There is no need to go to the shops located after the market street, a cheap shop 100 meters near the campsite is a small supermarket with reasonable prices. Cheaper found in Poreč at the bus station, but go there on a paid bus.
Animation. For children there are playgrounds and special children's clubs. The animation is scheduled for 7 days, then it repeats: the performance of the hotel's animation team, about 15 people who are not visible during the day and what they are doing is not clear, the performance of a ballet show, and singers of folk and European hits replacing each other every evening. We liked about 40% of the evening performances, and judging by the number of people near the pool at tables and dancing around, the percentage is about the same among Europeans. The area around the hotel is very pleasant, blooming bushes, flowers, well-groomed flower beds all around, the look rejoices.
Car rental in Croatia: If you got into even the smallest accident, where all the damage was limited to a scratch, you need to call the police (numbers 092 or 112) and record the incident in the protocol, a copy of which should be presented upon delivery of the car. Otherwise, the case may be considered non-insurable and the renter will require to pay for damage to the car. Many of the local companies that accept cash for renting cars of the Opel Astra class and above will ask you to leave a deposit of 1000 to 2000 kunas (depending on the brand of the car) . When returning the car with a full tank of fuel and without damage, the deposit will be returned. The cheapest version of a minibus for 9 seats from Renault cost 25 euros, a small car can be found for 15 per day.
In winter (from the moment the clock is changed to winter time), the headlights must be on constantly when driving in and out of the city, day and night. This is not required in summer. The driver and all passengers must wear seat belts. Speed limits: in the city - 50 km/h, outside the city - 90 km/h, on the autobahn - 130 km/h. mobile phone (use BlueTooth if necessary).
The permissible dose of alcohol in the blood is 0.5 ppm, which approximately corresponds to a drunk 0.33 liter bottle of beer or a glass of wine. But alcohol while driving is more tolerant than in Russia and you can inexpensively resolve the issue on the spot, the same is true for crossing a solid line, which, given the narrowness of the roads, often happens. However, police posts were seen only in ambushes in narrow areas 4 times. There were no autobahns.
Excursions. In advance, a woman was selected on the Internet who is a licensed guide and lives in Poreč . He has been living in Croatia for 35 years, he goes home for the winter, and in the summer he lives in a rented apartment and works as a guide with people like us. I determined in advance what we want to see, after that the route was discussed, the approximate dates of departure, the price for her services, taking into account the cost of the minibus, driver, gasoline, paid autobahns, tickets to museums, etc. In general, the costs were even slightly lower than the tour from the tour operator. You can also communicate with Croatians yourself. The language is similar to a mixture of Belarusian and Ukrainian. Many words are understandable. Many of the former Yugoslavia went to work in Europe, so they know English. Croats understand Russian well. There is a lot to see in this country. There is amazing nature and a huge number of ancient monuments, preserved almost in their original form. In other things, when viewing our photos from the trip, friends found a lot of similar things they had seen earlier in Italy, Spain, Greece, Venice. The countries of the Mediterranean are in many ways similar and exotic, and personally I don’t get much enthusiasm from me. On the roads of central and northern Croatia we drove quite a lot of what we saw, we really liked the resort of Opatija.
POREC one of the most famous resorts on the Istrian peninsula with a very interesting history was founded during the Roman Empire. Then it was called Parentium and was the center of the Parentium colony. From 478, the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, to 1267, when the city became part of Venice, Porec changed rulers many times. It was owned by the Lombards, Ostrogoths, Franks, Byzantines, Slavs. The latter came to Istria in the 7th century.
The Euphrasian Basilica, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, is considered to be the hallmark of Poreč . It was built in the 6th century AD by the local bishop Euphrasius on the site of an earlier church that had been located on this site since the 4th century AD.
PULA These places are connected with the culture of Ancient Greece. In 45 - 46 years. d. n. e. Pula was captured by the ancient Romans and the city became a Roman colony. One of the largest coliseums, built during the reign of Vespasian, has even been preserved here. This amphitheater called the Arena now hosts various festivals. You can see it on almost any postcard or tourist catalog of Croatia. There are other monuments that have survived from ancient Roman times: the still active forum, the temple of Augustus, the triumphal arch of Sergius, which was once built into the city gates. Interesting performances of modern gladiators take place in the colosseum. The schedule must be searched on the Internet to get on the trip. Lunch at a fast food restaurant with beer cost 800 rubles for two
ROVINY The excursion was on a boat with a stop in the Limsky fjord and a stop in the town of Vrsar (we didn’t go to inspect, we left to swim on the beach, since there is nothing interesting except for the temple on the hill and the bell tower), as part of a large group but with our individual guide Victoria, who was engaged only us. This option was chosen to be combined with a delicious lunch included in the price and alcohol on board, which is not limited. On the way to the Lim Fjord, the boat sails past one of the peninsulas, which is the largest nudist beach in Europe, this is a whole city with its campsites and shops.
Narrow streets and houses, whose walls descend into the sea, make Rovinj look like Venice. This city rightfully deserves to be called the "northern pearl" of Croatia. Rovinj is full of romance. Sights that with their architecture resemble Rome, Venice: the Church of St. Euphemia, the City Hall, the Chapel of the Holy Trinity, the Franciscan Monastery. There are several museums in Rovinj that certainly deserve your attention: Batan's house - the museum of the symbol of the city of the punt boat batan, the historical museum, which was founded in the palace by local artists, the museum of the Hatteroth family. The latter is located in the former forester's house. The surroundings of Rovinj are also full of natural monuments: the Lim Hollow, the Lim Canal, Romuald's Cave, the islands of the Rovinj Archipelago, the Zlatny Rat Nature Park, the Punta Corrente forest park zone, etc.
PAZIN In a fertile basin in the middle of the Istrian peninsula is the city of Pazin, the official capital of the region. This provincial town was chosen as the administrative center by the Yugoslav authorities so that the administrative organizations would be far from the brilliant seaside cities inhabited by Italians. The unremarkable city of Pazin was deliberately preferred over the cosmopolitan Pula. Pazin is less interesting than some other places in Inner Istria, but it still has some attractions. First of all, this is a medieval castle, standing over a picturesque limestone gorge.
The castle stands above the gorge of the Foiba River. There, the water plunges into the depths and enters the underground watercourse, which stretches to the very shore of the sea and there it comes to the surface. It is believed that this place served as a model for Dante when he described the gates of hell. Jules Verne made his character Matthias Sandorf from the novel of the same name, published in 1885, throw himself from the walls of the castle into the watercourse and swim along it to the sea. The hero remained safe and sound. Such a feat, obviously, will forever remain in the realm of fantasy. Jules Verne himself had never been to Pazin.
MOTOVUN IS A FORTRESS CITY with a population (including the nearest areas) of less than a thousand people, a little more than 530 people live in the town itself. Motovun is located in Istria at an altitude of 277 meters above sea level. At the foot of the hill on which the city is located, the Mirna River flows.
In the Middle Ages, barbarian tribes regularly raided these lands, so that the indigenous Illyrian population had to go deep into the peninsula and build reliable fortress cities on the hills, suitable for cases of a long siege.
In general, Motovun cannot offer any wild entertainment, but it is a real attraction in itself. We drove to the edge of the city in a minibus and avoided going up the stairs like groups on big buses do. Several churches are open to the public, and you can also sit in one of the street cafes, whose terrace offers stunning views of the area.
Souvenir shops are always open here selling local wine and truffles - another "treasure" of these places. In the nearby forests, truffles grow in large numbers - black and white Istra. Were at the tasting of truffles and all kinds of alcoholic beverages. The price is the same as in the shop at the Poreč bus station. Everything is more expensive in the resort area.
PLITVICA LAKES is probably the most visited place in Croatia. In reality, everything is like this: the lakes are exactly the same azure-emerald, and the carp living in them are as big as in the photographs. Throughout the walk in the park, the mouth remains open all the time, because literally at every step in the park there is a small wonder of the world. Impressions will last a lifetime and this is perhaps the most exotic thing we saw in Croatia. There is parking at the entrance, it is paid 1 euro per hour. Tickets are sold at the entrance to the park, among food stalls, souvenir shops and currency exchangers. The ticket price for an adult is 110 kunas, for a child from 7 years old - 50 kunas. You can pay in cash or by credit card. There are queues at all checkouts.
LOCAL CUISINE: wine is good, only Istrian for an amateur. The land here is rich in iron, its taste in wine is obvious . . If the doctor prescribed you to "drink iron", then you are here - combine harmful with useful. The wines are delicious as elsewhere in the Mediterranean. Light dry and quite tart. Wine was taken either at a nearby farm for 10-15 kunas, they have raki 30-70 kunas. You can also buy inexpensive vegetables and fruits there. There is a shop with draft wine in Porich, dry white and red 12-15 kunas. Sweet Muscat 20 kunas Pour into containers from 1 liter. We took a canister of 5 liters in the form of a wicker bottle, the container cost 5 kunas. Repeatedly and poured it in the future. But most of all we liked the Istrian white Malvasia. In bottles 0.7 for 32-60 kunas, in bottling 15 kunas, and Macedonian VENUS with a silhouette of a girl on the label (the locals call him SEXY LADY) 0.7 for 25-50 kunas, in a liter thermal bag 21 kunas
A typical Croatian lunch consists of "predjela", "glavnog jela" and dessert. This is where significant differences from Russian cuisine begin.
We are used to the fact that the first is soup, in Croatia there may be such an option, but very often cheese slices decorated with olives act as predjela. .
Juha is made from lean meat. It is obligatory to use roots: celery, onion and carrots. Celery leaves are added for flavor. Vermicelli is added to the finished broth.
Glavno jelo can be meat, poultry or fish. The meat is fried in oil, baked on the grill, stewed, breaded. A common dish is a stew in an onion-tomato sauce with parsley and ground sweet pepper. In Istria, such a dish, or rather the resulting sauce, is called "shugo", in other parts of Croatia - "goulash". The garnish for goulash will be either pasta or palenta - a thick porridge made from cornmeal or small dumplings made from potato dough.
Konoba restaurants are common along the roads where you can taste a whole pig or lamb roasted on coals.
Mediterranean cuisine cannot be without fish and seafood! There are many varieties of fish and several varieties of mussels, oysters and lobster relatives.
And when you get up from the table, do not forget to say to the owners “Praise liepa! ”, That is, “Thank you very much! ”
Interesting facts about Croatia
1. Carnival, which takes place in Rijeka (a resort town in Croatia) is one of the three most colorful carnivals in all of Europe.
2. The city of Zadar is famous for the fact that the very first marine organs are located here, which can only produce sounds under the influence of the sea wind and the sound of the waves.
3. To make the plaster of the Veli Rat lighthouse, which is located on the island of Duga, they spent 100 thousand egg yolks.
4. The chapel, which is located in Trogir, fit on its walls 150 sculptures depicting a man.
5. The oldest theater that was built in Europe is located in the city of Hvar. It was founded in 1612.
6. The oldest insurance law in Europe was passed in Dubrovnik in 1395, three centuries older than Lloyd.
7. The Dubrovnik Republic is the first state to recognize the independence of the United States of America.
8. Croats used the Glagolitic alphabet for writing for a very long time. It appeared at the beginning of the 9th century and was in use until the 18th century, gradually replaced by the Latin alphabet.
9. Croatia is one of the few countries that can be considered environmentally friendly. Here, residents still receive drinking water from public water supply.
10. Golden Cape and its beaches in Bol on Brac can change their shape depending on the direction of the wind.
11. There is an island on an island on Mljet. This is a rare natural phenomenon when another is located inside one island. The island of Mljet has a Great Lake on it, and on the lake there is another small island.
12. The Croatian city of Ludbreg annually arranges a holiday for the townspeople on April 1. It is not water that flows from the city fountain, but wine.
13. A torpedo of this shape and design, as we now know it, was created by a Croatian retired officer of the Austro-Hungarian navy, Ivan Luois-Jaukic, in 1860, and also that the first torpedo factory was in Rijeka.
14. Physicist Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) originally from Croatia, a world-famous innovator and inventor in the field of energy transfer “telephone communication. His most valuable invention is the alternating current.
15. Slavoljub Penkala (1871–1922), a resident of Zagreb, invented the mechanical pen and fountain pen in 1906.
16. The beginning of naturalism on Rab is considered to be 1936, when the English king Edward VIII was on the island, who was allowed by the authorities of Rab to swim naked with his wife in Kandarola Bay.
17. St. Martin, a stonemason, originally from the island of Rab, having settled on the Apennine Peninsula, founded in 301 the Republic of San Marino.
18. The first recorded drawing of a parachute (homo volans) is the creation of the Croatian inventor Fauna Vrancic (1551–1617) from Sibenik.
19. Film director Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) declared during his stay in Zadar that the sunset in Zadar is the most beautiful in the world.
20. Richard the Lionheart, during his return from the crusade in 1192, escaped from a natural disaster in front of Dubrovnik, and also gave money to the inhabitants of Dubrovnik to start building the cathedral;
21. The inventor of fingerprinting, a method for detecting criminals using fingerprints, was Ivan Vucetach (1858–1925), a resident of Hvar.
22. Istria has its own leaning tower. This is the bell tower in Zavrshje, 22 meters high and 40 cm deviated.
23. The coast of Opatija, along the Cô te d'Azur, was the main destination of the Habsburg zlita, and that even today it has the title of Adriatic Nice.
24. The White House in Washington is built from marble from the island of Brach.
25. The chapel in Trogir places 150 sculptures on itself.
26. Iris is the Croatian national flower.
27. Makarska is home to the Malacological Museum with the largest collection of shells and snails in the world.
28. The Dalmatian dog breed got its name from Dalmatia and the Ilirian tribe of Dalmatia.
29. Croatia is the birthplace of the tie. As a fashionable detail throughout Europe in the 17th century, Croatian soldiers spread it, and so in 1667, during the time of Louis XIV, a special regiment "Royal Cravates", named after the Croats, was organized. From them, this new fashion item, which was worn "a la Croate" (in Croatian), was appropriated by the Parisians. This expression soon became the root of the new French word cravate.
30. Maraschino is an authentic Zadar liqueur, which in the 18th century. exported to almost all European countries.
The guide meeting and working at the hotel is a young man of about 30 years old, MARIN is quite adequate, meeting at the airport and transfer back without any questions. Work in the hotel is standard for all tour guides, a story about the country, the hotel and the sale of excursions. Of the pluses, he has a favorable exchange rate of 7.5 when exchanging in banks of 7.32, courtesy in communicating with us did not disappear even after refusing to buy excursions from him, as is often the case with his colleagues.
We arrived at the hotel at 9 am and settled down on the sofas at the reception. After 11, without any surcharge, 3 rooms were received side by side on the 3rd floor overlooking the sea and the pool, without any surcharge. Many of these rooms are not praised because of the noise in the evening. For us, this location is the best. Close to the exit to the beach, and the restaurant, no need to stray through the corridors from other buildings. The view of the evening animation under the balcony is an additional plus. The location is like in the VIP box of the theater. Drinking wine on the balcony, you can see everything and do not need to go down to the tables, where you have to buy at least a glass of not cheap wine or coffee. The noise from the music does not interfere with falling asleep with the windows closed in the evening. The morning cleaning movement around the pool is not annoying, and we got up early. Of the pluses, these rooms have been renovated, which is also pleasing. Remarks on the size of the room and a small shower room, I can answer one thing: with my 145 kg there was enough space, and of course if the rooms were larger and better equipped, the hotel would be 4 stars and it would cost 50 thousand more. The rooms are cleaned daily, every other day they left a 1 euro tip, but this did not particularly affect the quality. During the rest period, the cleaning lady changed, one cleaned with a rag in her hands and, on her knees, the other moved the mop lazily. Therefore, everything depends on the individual and cannot serve as a general characteristic of the hotel.
A hotel in the Istrian suburb of Poreč , suitable mainly for active recreation of tourists, there are a lot of things you can rent. Walked 50-70 minutes to the city a couple of times. If along the sea then longer. If you cut through other hotels and steps then it is harder but faster. You can ride a train once, but it’s about 700 meters to go to it, it’s easier and cheaper from the reception by bus. The hotel is located on the first line, the sea and the beach with a blue flag. The hotel has a huge area with pine trees where you can have a great time when it's too hot. You can sit on the lawns. Everything is cleaned and washed from 6 am. Nearby there is a huge campsite for those who come with trailers or just with tents. Some campers are just huge, people are comfortable resting with satellite dishes on the roof and plasma TVs. The campsite has its own swimming pool.
Beach. Concrete platform, pebbles. There, on the grass, and on the sand, and on the stones and on the platform itself, you can sit. Descent into the sea along the ladders, or from the shore along the pebbles. On the beach there are changing rooms and toilets and cafes . . There is a rental of water transport, a huge trampoline on the water for children, towers of different heights for diving. You can also sit on the pines on the cliffs. Entering the sea without special shoes will be difficult, you can swim with a mask, but the view under water reminded me of the island beaches of Thailand. In general, not Egypt and the brought 2 underwater vehicles remained almost unclaimed. In front of the hotel in the sea, about 500-1000 meters, there are 2 islands. The underwater world is somewhat more diverse, but the bottom is simply dotted with sea urchins the size of a tennis ball, getting out of the water onto sharp stones without special shoes is problematic. On the island almost every day there are 1-3 fishermen with donk fishing rods, there are fishing nets between the islands in shallow water, so be careful not to get hooked and into the net. ? . I swam there several times to pick at the bottom of the oysters. There was a free addition to the dining table. Lemons were not found, we used limes growing in the territory. In stores, oysters are 2-4 euros apiece. At least some kind of moral compensation for the snorkel fins that occupied the floor of the suitcase, but there is no great need for them. The sea, although the cleanest of the Mediterranean basin, and visibility was up to 15 meters. But the underwater world is not rich and the proposed dive tour was cancelled. A huge number of Italians in the hotel confirm their words that they do not understand why the Russians go to them to rest on the sea, if it is dirty and ugly in Italy. And the prices in the beach area are higher than in Croatia.
The pool is small but clean with sunbeds, which are really all taken from 8 in the morning, you can find a free one at 9, but fungi from the sun are already all taken. Some individuals with an armful of towels have been standing in front of the closed door of the fence since 6 in the morning and watching the cleaning of the staff. Cleaning starts at 6am and 6pm before putting the sunbeds back in their place to set the tables for the evening bar and animation. The tile is washed under the feet 2 times a day with soap, the pool itself is cleaned from debris in the morning every day, the walls of the pool under water were washed with a brush once a week. The water in the pool is sea, so there are a lot of people in the pool, not everyone likes the pebble entrance to the sea, or the stairs from the pier.
Nutrition. Good breakfasts and dinners. The food is varied, there were always fruits, fish for dinner, seafood, grilled meat, ice cream. A lot has been described here about this. I can say the choice of dishes for dinner is better than some of the Egyptian fives. Of the shortcomings is the lack of water for dinner. You want to drink a wide variety of dishes, and you don’t want to overpay for water. We made do with watermelon for dinner and ice cream. Whoever wants water can go to the toilet and draw from the tap there, it is no different from bottled water. Throughout the rest, water was used from a tap in all corners of the country during excursions, it is good everywhere. From communication with the resting Russians in neighboring hotels. (137 thousand for 14 days all inclusive) Drinks, including alcoholic ones, are included in three meals a day, in bars on the territory 4 hours a day for free. Think about whether you need such a vacation, for that kind of money? Of the minuses, perhaps this is the queue for dinner. By 19 o'clock everyone is already hungry and beats with a hoof in front of a ribbon blocking the stairs to the dining room, then they run upstairs and the people spread through the three halls.
The weather wasn't particularly lucky. The first days were overcast with a thunderstorm, very strong thunderstorms were at the end of the holiday. August was abnormally rainy, which was heard about repeatedly. Rains are short, but half a day without sun can be used for trips to neighboring towns
Shops, restaurants, markets, sports complexes are all within walking distance. There is no need to go to the shops located after the market street, a cheap shop 100 meters near the campsite is a small supermarket with reasonable prices. Cheaper found in Poreč at the bus station, but go there on a paid bus.
Animation. For children there are playgrounds and special children's clubs. The animation is scheduled for 7 days, then it repeats: the performance of the hotel's animation team, about 15 people who are not visible during the day and what they are doing is not clear, the performance of a ballet show, and singers of folk and European hits replacing each other every evening. We liked about 40% of the evening performances, and judging by the number of people near the pool at tables and dancing around, the percentage is about the same among Europeans. The area around the hotel is very pleasant, blooming bushes, flowers, well-groomed flower beds all around, the look rejoices.
Car rental in Croatia: If you got into even the smallest accident, where all the damage was limited to a scratch, you need to call the police (numbers 092 or 112) and record the incident in the protocol, a copy of which should be presented upon delivery of the car. Otherwise, the case may be considered non-insurable and the renter will require to pay for damage to the car. Many of the local companies that accept cash for renting cars of the Opel Astra class and above will ask you to leave a deposit of 1000 to 2000 kunas (depending on the brand of the car) . When returning the car with a full tank of fuel and without damage, the deposit will be returned. The cheapest version of a minibus for 9 seats from Renault cost 25 euros, a small car can be found for 15 per day.
In winter (from the moment the clock is changed to winter time), the headlights must be on constantly when driving in and out of the city, day and night. This is not required in summer. The driver and all passengers must wear seat belts. Speed limits: in the city - 50 km/h, outside the city - 90 km/h, on the autobahn - 130 km/h. mobile phone (use BlueTooth if necessary).
The permissible dose of alcohol in the blood is 0.5 ppm, which approximately corresponds to a drunk 0.33 liter bottle of beer or a glass of wine. But alcohol while driving is more tolerant than in Russia and you can inexpensively resolve the issue on the spot, the same is true for crossing a solid line, which, given the narrowness of the roads, often happens. However, police posts were seen only in ambushes in narrow areas 4 times. There were no autobahns.
Excursions. In advance, a woman was selected on the Internet who is a licensed guide and lives in Poreč . He has been living in Croatia for 35 years, he goes home for the winter, and in the summer he lives in a rented apartment and works as a guide with people like us. I determined in advance what we want to see, after that the route was discussed, the approximate dates of departure, the price for her services, taking into account the cost of the minibus, driver, gasoline, paid autobahns, tickets to museums, etc. In general, the costs were even slightly lower than the tour from the tour operator. You can also communicate with Croatians yourself. The language is similar to a mixture of Belarusian and Ukrainian. Many words are understandable. Many of the former Yugoslavia went to work in Europe, so they know English. Croats understand Russian well. There is a lot to see in this country. There is amazing nature and a huge number of ancient monuments, preserved almost in their original form. In other things, when viewing our photos from the trip, friends found a lot of similar things they had seen earlier in Italy, Spain, Greece, Venice. The countries of the Mediterranean are in many ways similar and exotic, and personally I don’t get much enthusiasm from me. On the roads of central and northern Croatia we drove quite a lot of what we saw, we really liked the resort of Opatija.
POREC one of the most famous resorts on the Istrian peninsula with a very interesting history was founded during the Roman Empire. Then it was called Parentium and was the center of the Parentium colony. From 478, the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, to 1267, when the city became part of Venice, Porec changed rulers many times. It was owned by the Lombards, Ostrogoths, Franks, Byzantines, Slavs. The latter came to Istria in the 7th century.
The Euphrasian Basilica, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, is considered to be the hallmark of Poreč . It was built in the 6th century AD by the local bishop Euphrasius on the site of an earlier church that had been located on this site since the 4th century AD.
PULA These places are connected with the culture of Ancient Greece. In 45 - 46 years. d. n. e. Pula was captured by the ancient Romans and the city became a Roman colony. One of the largest coliseums, built during the reign of Vespasian, has even been preserved here. This amphitheater called the Arena now hosts various festivals. You can see it on almost any postcard or tourist catalog of Croatia. There are other monuments that have survived from ancient Roman times: the still active forum, the temple of Augustus, the triumphal arch of Sergius, which was once built into the city gates. Interesting performances of modern gladiators take place in the colosseum. The schedule must be searched on the Internet to get on the trip. Lunch at a fast food restaurant with beer cost 800 rubles for two
ROVINY The excursion was on a boat with a stop in the Limsky fjord and a stop in the town of Vrsar (we didn’t go to inspect, we left to swim on the beach, since there is nothing interesting except for the temple on the hill and the bell tower), as part of a large group but with our individual guide Victoria, who was engaged only us. This option was chosen to be combined with a delicious lunch included in the price and alcohol on board, which is not limited. On the way to the Lim Fjord, the boat sails past one of the peninsulas, which is the largest nudist beach in Europe, this is a whole city with its campsites and shops.
Narrow streets and houses, whose walls descend into the sea, make Rovinj look like Venice. This city rightfully deserves to be called the "northern pearl" of Croatia. Rovinj is full of romance. Sights that with their architecture resemble Rome, Venice: the Church of St. Euphemia, the City Hall, the Chapel of the Holy Trinity, the Franciscan Monastery. There are several museums in Rovinj that certainly deserve your attention: Batan's house - the museum of the symbol of the city of the punt boat batan, the historical museum, which was founded in the palace by local artists, the museum of the Hatteroth family. The latter is located in the former forester's house. The surroundings of Rovinj are also full of natural monuments: the Lim Hollow, the Lim Canal, Romuald's Cave, the islands of the Rovinj Archipelago, the Zlatny Rat Nature Park, the Punta Corrente forest park zone, etc.
PAZIN In a fertile basin in the middle of the Istrian peninsula is the city of Pazin, the official capital of the region. This provincial town was chosen as the administrative center by the Yugoslav authorities so that the administrative organizations would be far from the brilliant seaside cities inhabited by Italians. The unremarkable city of Pazin was deliberately preferred over the cosmopolitan Pula. Pazin is less interesting than some other places in Inner Istria, but it still has some attractions. First of all, this is a medieval castle, standing over a picturesque limestone gorge.
The castle stands above the gorge of the Foiba River. There, the water plunges into the depths and enters the underground watercourse, which stretches to the very shore of the sea and there it comes to the surface. It is believed that this place served as a model for Dante when he described the gates of hell. Jules Verne made his character Matthias Sandorf from the novel of the same name, published in 1885, throw himself from the walls of the castle into the watercourse and swim along it to the sea. The hero remained safe and sound. Such a feat, obviously, will forever remain in the realm of fantasy. Jules Verne himself had never been to Pazin.
MOTOVUN IS A FORTRESS CITY with a population (including the nearest areas) of less than a thousand people, a little more than 530 people live in the town itself. Motovun is located in Istria at an altitude of 277 meters above sea level. At the foot of the hill on which the city is located, the Mirna River flows.
In the Middle Ages, barbarian tribes regularly raided these lands, so that the indigenous Illyrian population had to go deep into the peninsula and build reliable fortress cities on the hills, suitable for cases of a long siege.
In general, Motovun cannot offer any wild entertainment, but it is a real attraction in itself. We drove to the edge of the city in a minibus and avoided going up the stairs like groups on big buses do. Several churches are open to the public, and you can also sit in one of the street cafes, whose terrace offers stunning views of the area.
Souvenir shops are always open here selling local wine and truffles - another "treasure" of these places. In the nearby forests, truffles grow in large numbers - black and white Istra. Were at the tasting of truffles and all kinds of alcoholic beverages. The price is the same as in the shop at the Poreč bus station. Everything is more expensive in the resort area.
PLITVICA LAKES is probably the most visited place in Croatia. In reality, everything is like this: the lakes are exactly the same azure-emerald, and the carp living in them are as big as in the photographs. Throughout the walk in the park, the mouth remains open all the time, because literally at every step in the park there is a small wonder of the world. Impressions will last a lifetime and this is perhaps the most exotic thing we saw in Croatia. There is parking at the entrance, it is paid 1 euro per hour. Tickets are sold at the entrance to the park, among food stalls, souvenir shops and currency exchangers. The ticket price for an adult is 110 kunas, for a child from 7 years old - 50 kunas. You can pay in cash or by credit card. There are queues at all checkouts.
LOCAL CUISINE: wine is good, only Istrian for an amateur. The land here is rich in iron, its taste in wine is obvious . . If the doctor prescribed you to "drink iron", then you are here - combine harmful with useful. The wines are delicious as elsewhere in the Mediterranean. Light dry and quite tart. Wine was taken either at a nearby farm for 10-15 kunas, they have raki 30-70 kunas. You can also buy inexpensive vegetables and fruits there. There is a shop with draft wine in Porich, dry white and red 12-15 kunas. Sweet Muscat 20 kunas Pour into containers from 1 liter. We took a canister of 5 liters in the form of a wicker bottle, the container cost 5 kunas. Repeatedly and poured it in the future. But most of all we liked the Istrian white Malvasia. In bottles 0.7 for 32-60 kunas, in bottling 15 kunas, and Macedonian VENUS with a silhouette of a girl on the label (the locals call him SEXY LADY) 0.7 for 25-50 kunas, in a liter thermal bag 21 kunas
A typical Croatian lunch consists of "predjela", "glavnog jela" and dessert. This is where significant differences from Russian cuisine begin.
We are used to the fact that the first is soup, in Croatia there may be such an option, but very often cheese slices decorated with olives act as predjela. .
Juha is made from lean meat. It is obligatory to use roots: celery, onion and carrots. Celery leaves are added for flavor. Vermicelli is added to the finished broth.
Glavno jelo can be meat, poultry or fish. The meat is fried in oil, baked on the grill, stewed, breaded. A common dish is a stew in an onion-tomato sauce with parsley and ground sweet pepper. In Istria, such a dish, or rather the resulting sauce, is called "shugo", in other parts of Croatia - "goulash". The garnish for goulash will be either pasta or palenta - a thick porridge made from cornmeal or small dumplings made from potato dough.
Konoba restaurants are common along the roads where you can taste a whole pig or lamb roasted on coals.
Mediterranean cuisine cannot be without fish and seafood! There are many varieties of fish and several varieties of mussels, oysters and lobster relatives.
And when you get up from the table, do not forget to say to the owners “Praise liepa! ”, That is, “Thank you very much! ”
Interesting facts about Croatia
1. Carnival, which takes place in Rijeka (a resort town in Croatia) is one of the three most colorful carnivals in all of Europe.
2. The city of Zadar is famous for the fact that the very first marine organs are located here, which can only produce sounds under the influence of the sea wind and the sound of the waves.
3. To make the plaster of the Veli Rat lighthouse, which is located on the island of Duga, they spent 100 thousand egg yolks.
4. The chapel, which is located in Trogir, fit on its walls 150 sculptures depicting a man.
5. The oldest theater that was built in Europe is located in the city of Hvar. It was founded in 1612.
6. The oldest insurance law in Europe was passed in Dubrovnik in 1395, three centuries older than Lloyd.
7. The Dubrovnik Republic is the first state to recognize the independence of the United States of America.
8. Croats used the Glagolitic alphabet for writing for a very long time. It appeared at the beginning of the 9th century and was in use until the 18th century, gradually replaced by the Latin alphabet.
9. Croatia is one of the few countries that can be considered environmentally friendly. Here, residents still receive drinking water from public water supply.
10. Golden Cape and its beaches in Bol on Brac can change their shape depending on the direction of the wind.
11. There is an island on an island on Mljet. This is a rare natural phenomenon when another is located inside one island. The island of Mljet has a Great Lake on it, and on the lake there is another small island.
12. The Croatian city of Ludbreg annually arranges a holiday for the townspeople on April 1. It is not water that flows from the city fountain, but wine.
13. A torpedo of this shape and design, as we now know it, was created by a Croatian retired officer of the Austro-Hungarian navy, Ivan Luois-Jaukic, in 1860, and also that the first torpedo factory was in Rijeka.
14. Physicist Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) originally from Croatia, a world-famous innovator and inventor in the field of energy transfer “telephone communication. His most valuable invention is the alternating current.
15. Slavoljub Penkala (1871–1922), a resident of Zagreb, invented the mechanical pen and fountain pen in 1906.
16. The beginning of naturalism on Rab is considered to be 1936, when the English king Edward VIII was on the island, who was allowed by the authorities of Rab to swim naked with his wife in Kandarola Bay.
17. St. Martin, a stonemason, originally from the island of Rab, having settled on the Apennine Peninsula, founded in 301 the Republic of San Marino.
18. The first recorded drawing of a parachute (homo volans) is the creation of the Croatian inventor Fauna Vrancic (1551–1617) from Sibenik.
19. Film director Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) declared during his stay in Zadar that the sunset in Zadar is the most beautiful in the world.
20. Richard the Lionheart, during his return from the crusade in 1192, escaped from a natural disaster in front of Dubrovnik, and also gave money to the inhabitants of Dubrovnik to start building the cathedral;
21. The inventor of fingerprinting, a method for detecting criminals using fingerprints, was Ivan Vucetach (1858–1925), a resident of Hvar.
22. Istria has its own leaning tower. This is the bell tower in Zavrshje, 22 meters high and 40 cm deviated.
23. The coast of Opatija, along the Cô te d'Azur, was the main destination of the Habsburg zlita, and that even today it has the title of Adriatic Nice.
24. The White House in Washington is built from marble from the island of Brach.
25. The chapel in Trogir places 150 sculptures on itself.
26. Iris is the Croatian national flower.
27. Makarska is home to the Malacological Museum with the largest collection of shells and snails in the world.
28. The Dalmatian dog breed got its name from Dalmatia and the Ilirian tribe of Dalmatia.
29. Croatia is the birthplace of the tie. As a fashionable detail throughout Europe in the 17th century, Croatian soldiers spread it, and so in 1667, during the time of Louis XIV, a special regiment "Royal Cravates", named after the Croats, was organized. From them, this new fashion item, which was worn "a la Croate" (in Croatian), was appropriated by the Parisians. This expression soon became the root of the new French word cravate.
30. Maraschino is an authentic Zadar liqueur, which in the 18th century. exported to almost all European countries.
Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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OTHER REVIEWS ABOUT THE HOTEL
- uncomfortable
- Delfin For two stars - excellent. Hotel and more.
- very worthy, this is not 2 stars for you in Egypt :-)
- Good hotel
- Calm rest
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