Holidays Croatia... For an authentic Croatian travel experience

Jun 15, 2011

International award winning Olive Oil - from the Sibenik region

Aerial view of the Gulin family olive grove in Jadrija, Sibenik region

Note: Sv Nikola Fortress at the entrance of the Sibenik canal, top right of this image

We are proud to know Vinko Gulin, who in May 2011 was the recipient of the Biol International Award for his multi-award winning olive oil. This means the best olive oil in the world comes from his olive grove in Jadrija, situated on the Sibenik canal, just outside of Vodice (where Mr Gulin himself resides), and not from Tuscany or Istria, which also makes us proud!

This region, specifically Sibenik, Skradin and Vodice, is renowned for producing some of the best organic, extra virgin olive oil in all of Croatia, and these boutique producers do well on the world stage also. Some lovely wines also come from the region; the areas of Skradin, the island Zlarin and Primosten produce some amazing wines now also gaining recognition outside of Croatia.

Not only did Mr Gulin receive a gold medal for his extra virgin, organic oil, which he markets as "Golden Oil" (or Zlatno Ulje), he received first prize for the labelling and packaging as well. The Gulin family have received many awards for their oil and packaging since 2008.

This year there were 380 entrants from around the world, with only 18 oils receiving awards and noteworthy mentions. The packaging designs were narrowed down to 12, with judges looking at aesthetics, innovation and functionality, as well as label compliance and adherence to ethical information. Zlatno Ulje's packaging and label design was inspired by the traditional colours and ethnic motif that represents Sibenik, and won on simplicity, elegance, colour choice and adherence to tradition.

The Gulin olive grove contains 1,050 trees on 4.5 hectares of land situated on a sea front property, and ecological manure and compost as well as irrigation are used in farming. The Gulin Family's olive grove is also registered on the Producers of Ecological Products Register (number 507). The olive trees are aged from four to 16 years, and the varietals consist of: the indigenous variety Oblica (70%), Frantonio (15 %), Leccino (5%), Nocelara del Belice (5%) and Escolana tenera (5%).

The olives are hand-picked at the beginning of October and processed on the same day, resulting in the high quality, extra virgin olive oil. "Zlatno Ulje" extra-virgin olive oil yields a golden-yellow colour and an intense aroma of olive fruit. Tasting notes are: moderately sharp, intensity of aroma and undertones of spice. The unique balance this oil has on the nose and the palate renders its value priceless in Mediterranean gastronomy.

This is a great image - the olive grove is visible on the coastline, bottom of the photo;

Sv Nikola Fortress top right at the entrance of the Sibenik canal, and in the background through

the canal the city of Sibenik is visible, sprawled along the channel of Sv Ante (St Anthony)

Note also of interest in these aerial images, the ancient dry stone walls!

Email: info.holidayscroatia@gmail.com for more information, or if you'ld like to visit or find out how to purchase this Golden Oil.

http://holidaycroatia.blogspot.com/2011/06/international-award-winning-olive-oil.html

Apr 18, 2011

The beautiful town of Skradin - and one of it's stunning residents

Spring is well and truly here and that only means that the much anticipated summer is on its way! The whole of Dalmatia is slowly waking up after its winter hibernation - we can already feel the sun warming us up.

On a recent visit to Skradin we were fortunate enough to make our acquaintance with this lovely creature. It is common to see these swans living in the bay around this ancient town.

They are such fascinating birds and once they mate, they are partnered for life. We are looking forward to seeing the young ones grow up during the summer.

Enjoy our images :)

Email:info.holidayscroatia@gmail.com
http://holidaycroatia.blogspot.com/2011/04/beautiful-town-of-skradin-and-one-of.html

Feb 11, 2011

More images from Primosten - over winter

Email: info.HolidaysCroatia@gmail.com

Jan 31, 2011

Enchantment of Primosten - a medieval coastal settlement of Sibenik

Let us introduce you to Primosten, a gorgeous ancient fishing town and harbour on the beautiful Adriatic Coast only 30km south of Sibenik town. The town core itself is centred on a small hilltop island, and this current old town quarters stems back to largely the medieval period, but also by Croats from Bosnia in the 12th Century fleeing the Ottomans. First signs of inhabitance, as is common in parts of Croatia but particularly Dalmatia, go back to 7th Century BC during the Illyrian era by a tribe known as 'Hilli.

As is also typical, during the mid 16th Century the city walls, fortresses and a collapsable bridge served as a defense system to keep out the Turkish invaders. Modern day Primosten was in fact an island until the Turks were defeated and the temporary bridge was replaced by the current embankment, creating a peninsula adjacent to another naturally occurring peninsula, Raduca.

Prior to its current name of Primosten, first used in 1564 which is believed to have either come from the Croatian word 'primostiti' (meaning 'to overpass'), or 'pri mostu' (at the bridge), it was referred to as Caput Cista (a bare head). Today the church of Sv Juraj (St George) dominates the highest point of the old town, and other famous churches include the church of Gospa od Milosti (Our Lady of Mercy) and the chapel of Sv Roko (St Rocco).

Between and on either side of the peninsulas are some well protected coves and the town of Primosten itself sits between the coves Raduca and Primosten, whilst the entire section of coast offers a delightful, long stretch of beaches including Vela, Mala Raduca, Primosten and Peles. The Raduca peninsula is covered in pine trees and is the location of several hotels and other amenities with beach access. See our images at the end of this article of some of the natural beaches in Primosten. You can even find yourself a private beach for some nude sunbathing.

Photo Source: Croatian National Tourist Board

The unique Marina Kremik with almost 400 berths is situated at the foothills of the world famous and UNESCO nominated Primosten vineyards, home to the well-known native red grape variety, Babic. Primosten's excellent Babic red wine variety is sought after throughout Croatia and wine connoisseurs around the world.

Photo of the Kremik Marina sourced from Kremik Marina website.

Note the rows of vineyards on the surrounding hills.

The authentic stone vineyards are indeed a remarkable man-made phenomena, and are a testament to manual hard work using only traditional soil cultivation and agricultural methods, on what was otherwise extremely rocky and inaccessible land. The vineyards consist of fields of dry stone walls, with each vine surrounded by a lower dry stone wall to hold the shallow red soil in place. The result is an incredible network of rectangular rows of vineyard and stone. As a tribute to this amazing feat, a permanent picture is displayed on the wall in New York's United Nations building.

The old economy relied on farming, viticulture, olive growing and fishing and today it increasingly is based on tourism. The wonderful thing about Primosten, much like the rest of Dalmatia, you will see the locals have produced healthy, good quality food in an ecologically clean environment using traditional farming, cultivating and hand processing methods.

This indeed is something that draws in discerning tourists who are looking for a more authentic and cultural experience. The villages such as Draga and Burnji situated on the outskirts of Primosten, offer a genuine ethno and eco-tourist experience taking you to a place where time has stood still. You will see the original and almost forgotten lifestyle of villagers, unchanged by modern times. In peaceful environs you will enjoy being surrounded by centuries-old olive groves and vineyards, home made wines in wooden barrels, domestic olive oil pressed using the old stone method, local figs, artisan cheese and pure, natural drinking water straight from the well.

You will also enjoy hand made prsut (similar to prosciutto) preserved only using sea salt, delectable dishes cooked on coals under the peka (a domed lid), and organic chick peas, olives and lentils, amongst some of the traditional meals.

Aside from the organic food offering and traditional experience in the local villages, you can also enjoy the most delicious and fresh seafood offering and other traditional Dalmatian meals in konobas and restaurants in and around the town centre. For late night owls, there is one of the largest nightclubs in all of Croatia only minutes away by car. In the summer months it serves as an outdoor venue as well increasing its overall capacity to over two thousand patrons.

For more information about visiting Primosten on your holiday, please don't hesitate to contact us. We can arrange your itinerary for you.

Email: info.HolidaysCroatia@gmail.com
http://holidaycroatia.blogspot.com/2011/01/enchantment-of-primosten-medieval.html

Enjoy our images below of the natural beaches around Primosten. We would also like to leave you with a taste of Primosten, with a link to this video. The music is by a typical Dalmatian Klapa, generally and all-male a capella ensemble, sometimes accompanied by a mandolin.

Jan 6, 2011

Delightful Vodice - a coastal town with something for everyone

First of all welcome to 2011 - we hope that your Christmas and New Year celebrations were as relaxing and enjoyable as ours! Which leads to us to feature this post on the seaside coastal town of Vodice, not only one of the biggest tourist destinations in Sibenik-Knin county, but on the whole Dalmatian coast. Aside from being a popular summer tourist destination, it is still a very quaint and charming town with a very interesting history.

During what is known as the off season (winter), a number of events are celebrated in Vodice over the Christmas and New Year period. On December 24 the parish church of Sv Kriz (St Cross) in the old city core is host to a very beautiful and traditional midnight Mass service. On December 25 you will see the families from Vodice outside for an evening walk gathering near the prominent town monument and enjoying the goodwill and good spirits enjoyed on Christmas day after a huge feast at home.

The annual Christmas by Sea concert takes place every December 28 and features most of the well-known traditional Dalmatian Klapa (typically all male singing groups, either a'cappella or accompanied by mandolin). They also provide many performances throughout the summer season to the delight of tourists. New Years' Eve is another big celebration, with a marquee being organised in the square of wells (the centre of the town) with performances by popular Croatian contemporary singers or bands.

Vodice is one of the best known tourist destinations on the Adriatic sea, often touted as the Croatian version of the French Riviera. It has a regular population of around 11,000 inhabitants however if has accommodation facilities to host 50,000 tourists each night. This is typically through the summer months from June through to the end of September (although the tourism season is recognised as being April to October), with the busiest period being July and August.

Not only is Vodice popular amongst European visitors largely from Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Italy and Russia as well as an ever-increasing number of visitors from Slovakia, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland, France, Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries and even the UK, it is also growing in popularity as a domestic summer destination, particularly dwellers from our capital city of Zagreb.

It is located 12km northeast of Sibenik and though is now a town in its own right is considered part of greater Sibenik. It is located on a large bay, in fact it has one of the longest beach front paths stretching from Srima (in the south) all the way to Tribunj (to the north west), and an abundance of swimming beaches along the way. Srima also happens to have among the best stretch of water for windsurfing on the entire Dalmatian coastline.

The Sibenik region is actually host to over 50 percent of Croatia's berths at the many marinas located on its 800 plus kilometres of coastline. Vodice's marina has around 500 berths.

Vodice is well connected to other centres by the Adriatic tourist road and there are numerous ferry lines, too. Split (to the south) and Zadar (to the north) airports are only around an hour's drive from Vodice. The islands of Zirje, Kaprije, Prvic and Murter are a stone's throw away, and are stops for the water taxi service between Vodice and Sibenik.

It is no wonder that Vodice is a popular tourist destination as a delightful seaside town with a host of water and adrenalin activities as well as day trips on offer, by boat or bus during the day and a plethora of eateries, bars and clubs by night. Traditional Dalmatian cuisine including delectably fresh seafood is available at most restaurants and the typical Dalmatian konobas (an old style tavern). Two of the largest nightlclubs are in the vicinity of Vodice - Hacienda, a large open air nightclub on the outskirts of Vodice and Aurora, a large nightclub complex in nearby Primosten, which attract the world's best DJs and local performers and are popular amongst hardened party revellers.

As well as being an attractive destination for adventurists and party goers, Vodice is also one out of hundreds of child friendly places with tourism facilities catering to the needs of families and holiday makers wanting to enjoy summer and the outdoors. Entire families including every age group can be seen promenading the main streets of Vodice enjoying themselves until late on a summer's night, whilst the National Parks Krka and Kornati Islands also in close proximity of Vodice, are teeming with tourists during the peak of summer eager to experience these natural heritage treasures.

Vodice, whose meaning is 'water sources' was founded in Roman times as Arausa (also with the same meaning) due to an abundance of natural underground springs surrounding the area which supplied the region. In fact, by the 19th Century Vodice, ('voda' meaning 'water' in Croatian) was the largest exporter of fresh drinking water and had one of the largest stone paved rivas, proportionately large in relation to the town size, at the time . Today the main square in the town centre, known as 'square of wells' (trg bunara), includes the preservation of the town's original water sources and wells.

Earliest mentions of 'Vodice' can be traced back to 1402 (prior to that the region was Arausa). Important and/or historical monuments in the Vodice region, many of which have hiking or bike paths surrounding them, relating to its history include:

- archeological site of the original Liburnian and Roman settlement Arausa dating as far back as 4th Century BC, located off the main road between modern day Vodice and Gaceleze, where remains of Liburnian necropolis and Roman water system can still be seen.

- Prizba, in the Srima hinterland; the remains of a 5th/6th Century basilica and also the discovery of Ilyrian graves.

- Rakitnica, not far from Okit off the road between Vodice and Gaceleze, is the site of an historical settlement, first settled around 1311. Fairly significant remnants of the original houses still exist, near where the church of St John the Baptist was built in 1455. Construction of Gradina, the fortress, commenced in 1509 by the order of Sibenik administration as a defense system against the Ottomans. The Turks captured Gradina in 1571 and it became an important base for them until their defeat by the Venetians. The remains of Gradina can still be seen.

- The Church of Sv Ilija (St Elias) the Prophet, originally built in 1298, but consecrated to St Elias in 1493, at the foot of Velika Mrdakovica.

- the tiny church of Sv Kriz (St Cross) built in 1402 on the site of the old graveyard, featuring a unique Romanesque-Gothic era baptismal pillar and font.

- The town's defense walls were built in the 15th Century and the Coric tower, in Vodice's medieval town centre surrounded by narrow streets, built from Brac limestone in 1646 - to protect the inhabitants from Turkish attacks during Ottoman rule. It is only one of two to remain.

- dominating the backdrop of the town of Vodice, and visible all the way from Sibenik, you will see Okit - a steep hill providing magnificent panoramic views, on which is built the church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, originally constructed in 1660 (but believed to be the site of an even older chapel) with 14 stations of the Cross added in the early 20th Century. This original church was destroyed twice during the 20th Century in WWII and the more recent War of Independence. Architect Nikola Basic designed the recent construction.

- The baroque parish church of Sv Kriz (St Cross) was built in the town centre, a work of architect Ivan Skoko, in 1746 on the site of an old chapel, with a beautiful rosette feature. The bell tower commenced in 1752 by a Dubrovnik builder took 20 years to complete.

The early dwellers of Vodice were mainly farmers and fishermen, whereas nowadays the main source of income is tourism, which has increasingly become a tradition over the last 50 years. The warmth and hospitality of the people of Vodice has seen them naturally embrace tourism and the town is a regular recipient of tourism awards and prizes for a range of reasons: gastronomic offer, town aesthetic and range of tourism offer.

For more information contact:

info.HolidaysCroatia@gmail.com
http://holidaycroatia.blogspot.com/2011/01/delightful-vodice-coastal-town-with.html

We have available select accommodation in coastal locations in and around the Sibenik region. Visitors have already commenced booking since December.