Maksim Mrvica to play concert on Dubrovnik beach
Valamar Riviera, the leading tourism company in Croatia, is organizing a concert of the world renowned concert pianist Maksim Mrvica on the beach at Valamar President Hotel in Dubrovnik on the 9th of July, 2016.
Maksim Mrvica has sold millions of albums in 60 countries around the world and is one of the top classical and crossover musicians. With exceptional talent, impressive performance, outstanding styling and image as well as his musical crossover genre Maksim Mrvica has managed to popularize classical music among younger generations.
Even though all of his albums were great successes, the one of them that deserves to be singled out is ‘’The Piano Player’’ which was his breakthrough album into the world music scene in 2003.
Always inventive and interesting Maksim Mrvica has excited the audiences especially with tenth studio album ‘’The Movies’’. This album encompasses classic movies and blockbuster movie themes such as ‘’The Glass Mountain’’, ‘’Rollerball’’, ‘’Spartacus’’ as well as ‘’Rocky’’, ‘’Gladiator’’, “The Godfather’’, “Pirates of the Caribbean’’, ‘’Mission Impossible’’ and ‘’Amelie.’’
As always the audience can expect a top performance and priceless experience becoming a part of the unique musical story that has been written by Maksim Mrvica. His concerts and performances always bring a special energy making his crossover performances breathtaking and combining all the elements from his abundant musical opus.
Tickets for this special concert range from 250 to 350 Kunas.
A spectacular setting for a concert, the Valamar President beach in Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik City Card extends its offer
The popular Dubrovnik Card will be spreading its offer with a range of new options announced at a press conference held today in Dubrovnik. “We want the entire region, from Prevlaka in the south to Ston in the north, from the islands of Mljet and Korcula to benefit from the Dubrovnik Card,” commented the mayor of Dubrovnik, Andro Vlahusic.
The Dubrovnik Card is a city card that allows visitors entry into museums, travel on public buses and entrance to the city, amongst many other benefits and is available in a one-day, three-day and seven-day format. Until now the card had only concentrated on the actual city of Dubrovnik but now that offer has been enlarged. Konavle will now have many attractions that will be included inside the card, including the Vlaho Bukovac Home.
“The whole region has always been historically linked, and now with the extended offer of the Dubrovnik City Card guests can experience the richness of the city and the whole region at a reasonable price,” concluded the mayor. He added that next year the Dubrovnik City Card will be the first in the world to offer travel insurance.
The new daily card will now include five museums, two galleries, the city walls, the Franciscan monastery and a 24-hour bus ticket for use inside the city limits. A three-day ticket will include all of this, plus the Vlaho Bukovac Home, six city bus tickets and two suburban bus tickets, whilst the seven-day card will include ten city bus tickets and four suburban tickets. A three-day ticket also includes a 30 percent discount on the Racic Mausoleum, the Lokrum Reserve and the Dubrovnik Summer Festival. The seven-day ticket includes discounts for Mljet and greater discounts for Lokrum and the Dubrovnik Summer Festival.
International Opera Arias Festival Tino Pattiera is back in town
International Opera Arias Festival Tino Pattiera is coming to Dubrovnik again this year, from first to sixt of July. This is the 9th Festival, for the third time in a row organized by Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra.
The Festival was presented at the press conference and the speakers were Damir Milat, the director of the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, Noam Zur, festival director and the conductor, deputy mayor Tatjana Simac Bonacic and head of Marketing and PR of Dubrovnik Sun Gardens Iva Svetac.
- I hope that this Festival will be successful as it was last couple of years – said Damir Milat. He added that Dubrovnik, as the town of elite tourism needs elite festivals, which is not so easy to organize.
- I'm very, very happy to be back! - said Noam Zur, adding that he's also 'very, very happy' about the solists this year. Which are Liana Aleksanyan, soprano from Armenia, mezzosoprano from Spain Marisa Martins, tenor Hugh Smith from the USA, baritone Ionut Pascu from Romania and pianist from Dubrovnik Stefani Grbic.
Zur said that there will be many surprises, but what is known is that this Festival will be inspired by William Shakespeare and will be the great opportunity to celebrate the artistic ties between literature and opera.
- I'm feeling joy because of the new festivals and new events – sad the deputy mayor Tatjana Simac Bonacic, emphasizing that the City of Dubrovnik is thankful to the people with ideas. She added that they see the value of this kind of festivals and hope that the others will to.
Iva Svetac said that Dubrovnik Sun Gardens are honoured to be the part of this Festival.
- As the sponsors of the final concert we will celebrate the 7th year of our resort – she added.
Just a reminder – International Opera Arias Festival Tino Pattiera is named after and organized in the memory of the world famous tenor Tino Pattiera, born on 27 June 1890 in Cavtat, a town situated about 20 kilometers away from Dubrovnik, where he died in 1966.
Photo gallery: Filming of Knightfall in Dubrovnik
Another major international film production is now filming in Dubrovnik. The American historical series Knightfall has occupied the bay of Pile, right at the entrance to the Old Town. You can't miss the actors, roaming around in their costumes and attracting the attention of tourists and locals.
The series follows the fall, persecution and burnings at the stake of the members of the ancient order of the Templars. The History Channel is behind the latest film production in the city and the famous American actor Jeremy Renner will play one of the main roles and is also the producer.
After the success of the Game of Thrones and Star Wars, which were partly filmed on location in Dubrovnik, Knightfall will also bring international publicity and recognition to the city.
Photos by Zeljko Tutnjevic
Photo gallery: Working out on Saint John's Fort
Project 'Active Croatia' came to Dubrovnik, more precisely on the Saint John's Fort. It's organized under sponsorship of Croatian president Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic and the goal is to make citizens more active, especially the young ones. It was quite cheerful and entertaining and we can't think of the better location to exercise.
“My brother was crying” – Ronaldo
With his arrogance on the field Cristiano Ronaldo as one of the best football players in the world often provokes football fans. But every now and then he surprises the public and does something that shows he is a true sportsman at heart.
After the final whistle from the referee at the game between Portugal and Croatia on Saturday, 25th of June, even though Portugal won, Ronaldo didn't celebrate with the rest of his teammates. The Croatian national football team was completely broken down and when Ronaldo saw his teammate from Real Madrid Luka Modric crying he came to comfort him.
The Portuguese media wanted to find out why Ronaldo didn't celebrate the win of his national football team and entrance into the quarter-finals of the EURO 2016.
''Of course, I was very happy that we won but I couldn't celebrate while my brother was crying. My duty was to comfort my brother,'' said Ronaldo.
This move by one of the greatest football players in the world will certainly win over support among Croatian fans.
Dubrovnik Airport development on course
The construction at the Dubrovnik airport is still in progress and everything is going according to plan. The project of expanding the airport is the first in Croatia, and one of only five projects in the European Union, that have been partially financed from the so-called Juncker initiative.
The main goal of this 250 million Euros worth development project is to increase the airport passenger capacity and to reduce the traffic congestion on the current airport’s runway. A new passenger terminal, expanded runways and taxiways, access roads and car parking are currently being constructed at the airport.
The project also includes the construction of internal gas stations, a new aviation fuel tank and underground pit system for fuel filling as well as the installation of solar systems to improve energy efficiency.
With over 1.5 million passengers passing through Dubrovnik annually, the airport has been voted by the European Airport Council as the second best airport in Europe in the under 5 million passenger’s category. But according to the words of Roko Tolic, the general director of the Dubrovnik Airport, after the completion of the development project in March 2017 the airport will easily reach 2 million passengers a year and will be one of the most modern in the region.
Photo gallery: Dubrovnik is getting its own Coca-Cola bottle
New Coca-Cola is coming to town! Special edition of the Coca Cola bottles with Dubrovnik will soon be in the souvenir shops and restaurants.
Of course, that wouldn't be possible without the cooperation between the City of Dubrovnik and Coca Cola. At the presentation of this special Coca Cola bottle Mayor of Dubrovnik Andro Vlahusic said thanks to the Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta, as well as to Croatian representatives.
He added that Dubrovnik is one of the three cities that got this amazing opportunity. The other two are London and Rome.
Jaksa Malagic, regional sales manager emphasized that this is not the first cooperation between Coca-Cola and Dubrovnik. First was around 15 years ago when the Dubrovnik sticker was at the glass bottle of Coca-Cola.
Photo gallery: Start of the British Week in Dubrovnik
British week has officialy started in Dubrovnik today. There is no better way to start then with a traditional English brekfast and a cup of tea, with a few words from the organisers and guests.
Everybody, from Mayor of Dubrovnik Andro Vlahusic to Romana Vlasic, the director of Dubrovnik Tourist Board, accompanied by Peter Clements, deputy head of mission and Mark Thomas, honory consul have emphasized the connection between England and Dubrovnik, which is going strong for many years.
They welcomed this new project which will become, as a Mayor promised, the tradition that will from now on happen every year. Clements also said that no matter of what the situation with England is, implying on the recent leaving of the EU, Dubrovnik and England will always be friends.
After the traditional breakfast everybody went to Pile entrance of Dubrovnik, where the iconic red London double-decker bus is parked.
Read more about the program of the British week here and don't miss our photo gallery.
Zagreb seeking direct US flights
After the success of direct flights from Toronto to Zagreb the Croatian capital is optimistic of attracting direct flights from the US. According to a report on the specialised website ex-yu aviation the General Manager of Zagreb Airport, Jacques Feron, commented that “New York would be an excellent destination.” However he added a note of caution by saying that “although it is true that this metropolis is well connected to all major European airports.”
The management of Zagreb Airport have been targeting flights to the US for some time; in fact they openly state that New York is the “most desired route” for the Croatian capital. And the fact that the recent introduction of flights from Canada to Zagreb operated by Air Transat are proving successful seems to have added fuel to the fire for flights to the US. There are even talks that the seasonal summer service that Air Transat had first negotiated will be extended into the winter period, thus extending the tourist season in Zagreb. "On the first flight there were 140 passengers flying from Toronto to Zagreb and 280 passengers back,” commented Feron.
And it isn’t only Zagreb Airport that are pushing for flights to the US, the Croatian Ambassador to the United States is also working hard to “explore the possibility” of direct flights to Croatia.
The Voice of Dubrovnik
