The members of U2 have been a real hit this summer in Cavtat and Dubrovnik, but the greatest ''fan mania'' was made by Bono Vox, who came few days later than the others to Cavtat. Yesterday, he spent his day with family and friends on beautiful island of Korcula.

He was seen in the most crowded street in the old part of the town – Petar Kanavelic promenade where he decided to have a lunch at the restaurant ''Filippi''. There, in his warm and laid back style, he met the young staff and also took some photos. It seems like the famous singer can't get enough of our area, so we're sure we'll see him again.

Every weekend our resident "Style Guru" will be scanning the streets of Dubrovnik for the latest and greatest in fashion. 

“You can’t miss us; we are right on the river front.” Now that’s not a common sentence you hear when describing a restaurant in Dubrovnik, but this is no common restaurant.

Located on the banks of the Ombla River this “new kid on the restaurant block” not only has unique views but also nature’s air-conditioning. Bright and flowing, and no I am not describing the Ombla now, it has quickly forged itself on the Dubrovnik restaurant scene. Restaurant Bogo, or to give it its original name Konoba Bogo, is a breath of fresh air.

“And as you can see we have plenty of space to sit inside,” said the friendly waitress as she greeted me. I nodded my head in agreement, it was hard to argue with beauty of the high-ceilings, the wooden theme and the walls of windows, but my eyes were already wandering. Through the large windows I spotted a little piece of paradise. “Yes, it is very nice…would you mind if I had a look outside,” I answered.

Three things hit me as I walked out onto the terrace, a) it was much cooler than the rest of the city, b) I had never eaten with a view like this before and c) the olive trees that lined the terrace were stunning. “They are hundreds of years old,” came a voice from behind me. Ah, they had obviously seen that I was admiring their mini olive grove. “It must be nice sitting out here,” I changed the subject. Whether for a morning coffee, light lunch or romantic evening meal the terrace would have been my choice, and a different perspective on the Dubrovnik countryside.

Enough of the location I wanted to get done to the real business…show me the menu! I am definitely a fan of short menus. Those novel length menus which advertise a mind-boggling array of dishes just makes me feel one thing, nothing here is fresh. I only had one problem, where should the gastronomic adventure begin?

I would describe the menu as a fusion of traditional Mediterranean meals with a modern twist. Although that word “fusion” seems a bit tired now, so let’s just say – traditional values, modern ideas. They have a show-cooking kitchen and a grill that is larger than my apartment. Fish, meat, pasta, risotto…it might have been a short menu but it was also terribly tempting.

I plumped for a solid starter, Dalmatian smoked ham, cheese from oil, olives, cherry tomatoes…well you know the deal. The smoked ham immediately caught my eye, well rather my taste buds. The story that unfolded was an insight into the care and preparation that Bogo will soon be famous for. “We never slice the prosciutto with an electric slicer we only use hand sliced prosciutto,” commented the owner. I had to ask why! “Because the electric slicers produce heat when slicing which takes away some of the flavor from the prosciutto,” he explained. It seemed obvious, but also extremely meticulous. And the result was absolutely delicious.

And then there was the wine list, oh boy! “Don’t forget we also have a unique list of craft beers from tiny breweries,” added the waitress with a smile. This was going to be a long afternoon, but I am sure there were worse places to be on a sunny day in Dubrovnik. To slightly misquote Arnold Schwarzenegger, “Bogo, I will be back!”

Contact Info
Address – Konoba Bogo, Gorava 41, Dubrovnik
Phone – 00385 (0) 95 333 5335
Web - www.facebook.com/BoGoDUBROVNIK

The British have fallen in love with Zupa! Figures just in from the Zupa Tourist Board show that the number of British tourists in the Zupa region this year is an amazing 46 percent more than last year. In the first seven months of 2015 a grand total of 60,443 tourists visited Zupa, a borough adjoining Dubrovnik, which is an 8 percent increase over the same period from last year. The majority of these guests came from the UK, 7,383 in total.

One of the reasons for this jump in interest from the UK market is undoubtedly the opening of the Sheraton Hotel last year. A brand name that is recognised on the UK market has acted as a magnet for UK guests. After British tourists came guests from Croatia, France, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina and South Korea.

Of course with the opening of the Dubrovnik Sheraton Riviera comes the news that the largest increase in the number of overnight stays this year is in the hotel and resort sector, an impressive increase of 21 percent. Guests choosing to stay in private accommodation is at the same level as last year whilst visitors plumping for camp sites has dropped massively, an 80 percent decrease compared to 2015.

Ivanka Trump, American businesswoman, writer, former model and the daughter of Donald Trump, who is currently fighting hard to become USA president, has been around Dubrovnik for couple of days now. Yesterday, she shared an Instagram photo from the City Walls with Wendi Deng Murdoch, another American businesswoman, famous as the third wife of News Corporation chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch.

It seems like two businss oriented ladies decided to take some rest from their busy schedule, especially Ivanka, who has been involved in her father's campaign. In 15 hours, photo got over 26 thousand likes and mostly positive comments, one of which is: TWO powerful women that I adore the most!!

OK, I am going to be honest this took a little more research than normal. This is not a subject that I at home with, far from it. Although it appears that I could be the last one on the planet to be still in the dark. It is a location-based augmented reality game, yes that means nothing to me as well, and it’s called Pokémon, well Pokémon Go to be precise.

I guess that I am probably speaking to only half of the population, the half that have this game already installed on their smart phones. I have read quite a bit, and I still really don’t get it, I mean I get it but I don’t understand why it is so addictive. You walk around with your smart phones looking for these virtual Pokemons and then “catch” them. Why you want to hunt them and what you do with them when you have caught them stills remains a mystery to me.

I guess it’s a trend, a phase. I am ancient enough to remember the first basic video games. And again I am probably speaking to only half of the population, those games where two block paddles would slide up and down the screen trying to hit an equally blocky ball. I can’t remember the name, but it was like an electronic tennis game, a far distance away from hunting virtual Pokémon all over the world.

The next phase I remember was the Rubik Cube, blimey I am ancient. I am not even going to start explaining that one as anyone younger than forty will probably just make fun of me. Then came a whole array of video games, better consoles, smart phones, technology is moving much too fast for me.

“Oh, I don’t believe it, you have three Pokemon close,” screamed the young boy as he waved his iPhone around in my wife’s hair salon. “Where are they,” replied my wife spinning around. Obviously I am not the only person in the Thomas household that doesn’t understand this new fad. “No, they are virtual and I am trying to catch them,” screamed the boy. “Good luck,” said my wife still unaware of what the hell he was talking about.

I guess on the positive side in order to play the game you have to at least be outside and walking around in the fresh air, makes a change that a computer game doesn’t mean you being hunched up peering into a screen for hours on end. So finally the game makers found a way for the younger generations to get some exercise whilst playing. Pokémania, as this new social media phenomenon is tagged, has more upsides. Churches, national parks, businesses, museums all over the world have seen a rise in the number of visitors due to the fact that a Pokémon was located on their premises. One church in the US had planned on banning Pokémon from their premises, but when they saw, and I quote, the “huge number of people coming through the doors,” they soon changed their minds. I wonder if the Pope approves of Pokémon.

However on the flip side there have also been some rather dangerous moments with people putting their life’s at risk to catch that rare Pokémon. There was a case in the US when a teenager broke into a house to catch a Pokémon and was shot by the owner who thought he was a burglar. And then the driver in Mexico who was so concentrated on his smart phone whilst driving and searching for his prize Pokémon that he managed to slam straight into a police car.

The Russians have declared that the game is demonic and that they “suspect foreign intelligence agencies are using the application to collect information.” Egypt has banned it, Kuwait banned the game from government sites, Indonesian officials deemed it a national security threat and North Korea...well North Korea is considering banning electronic tennis!!

Banned or not banned there are approximately 100 million people who have downloaded the game, or in other words around 23 times the population of Croatia are Pokémon mad.

When you look a little deeper it isn’t so surprising that the game got launched. It was developed by the man who dreamt up Google Maps, John Hanke, who then sold the idea to Google and then founded Niantic the company that invented Pokémon Go. So he put his maps idea together with a game and bingo, he won the lottery.

One joke going around on the social media is a remark that a man made to his girlfriend, and this shows the depth the game has gone into society, “You look really beautiful, like a rare Pokémon!” However I am not sure whether his attempted compliment worked, or if it was met with the same face my wife pulled when she discovered she had Pokémon bouncing around her salon!

It is a long weekend in Croatia with Monday being a public holiday, and therefore is traditionally one of the busiest weekends of the year. Yesterday was certainly one of the most hectic for Dubrovnik with numerous cruise ships arriving and the height of the season meaning that finding a spare room in the city is almost impossible. All of the hotels are reporting near over-capacity and rooms in private accommodation are also booked solid.

Due to the number of cruise ships that docked in Dubrovnik yesterday there were heavy queues to enter the historic Old City. The Pile gate entrance was rammed all morning with a system of “traffic” flow in place, but even this didn’t help much. We can expect long traffic delays and packed beaches until the beginning of September.

U2 loves Cavtat! After The Edge and Adam Clayton caused a buzz all over the Croatian and foreign media when they visited Cavtat to celebrate Edge's birthday, everybody were wondering where is ''the man'' or more exactly – Bono Vox.

And the answer is: in Cavtat too! And willing to take photos with fans, as we can see. Lucija Sutalo Kurajica, a huge fan of the band has published a photo with Bono that she took today.

This is how she describes the meeting: -I just told him that I traveled half of the world to see him and he came in Cavtat. And then he gave me a kiss. Said oooo...

What can we say other than: Welcome Bono! Hope we get a kiss soon too!