Mark Thomas - The editor and big chief of The Dubrovnik Times. Born in the UK he has been living and working in Dubrovnik since 1998, yes he is one of the rare “old hands.” A unique insight into both British and Croatian life and culture, Mark is often known as just “Englez” or Englishman. He is a traveller, a current affairs freak and a huge AFC Wimbledon fan.
Email: mark.thomas@dubrovnik-times.com
Just around two weeks ago we wrote about bad condition of the one of the most iconic statues in Dubrovnik, Orlando's Column. The statue is placed in the very heart of the Old City of Dubrovnik, in front of the Saint Blaise Church and sadly – has visible cracks over it.
However, there is a solution on the way! Mayor of Dubrovnik, Mato Frankovic, had a meeting with Minister of Culture Nina Obuljen Korzinek and her assisant Davor Trupkovic, and one of the topic was much needed restoration of this famous statue.
It was agreed that they would start with all the activities needed for the implementation of the rehabilitation process - by preparing project documentation. Orlando will, in the opinion of the profession, be dismantled and repaired in working conditions and stored in the other location, as the replica will be placed in front of the Saint Blaise Church.
The statue was last repaired only ten years ago, but due to unprofessional works that were carried out without the licence of conservationists one of the symbols of Dubrovnik is sadly – falling apart.
Among the main attractions of this year's Saint Blaise Festivity was the cheerful Shim Jong from South Korea, who proudly took the part in the proccession Stradun under the banner of Klisevo.
Dressed in the original costume, Jong got a true feeling what it's like to be a part of one of the most important festivities in Dubrovnik. His experience will be incorporated into the documentary about the beauties and tradition of the Dubrovnik area.
Shim Jong and his crew have been filming a documentary for around three weeks – it's expected to be a great promotion of Croatia in the South Korea. And this was surely an experience that Jong will remember for a long, long time…
The 19th edition of the Dubrovnik Carnival this year brings a much richer program and as every year most of the program is reserved for children and young people.
The Dubrovnik Carnival, jointly organized by the City of Dubrovnik and the Tourist Board of the City of Dubrovnik, in cooperation with its partners, will start today, February 5th with the opening of the exhibition by the Artur Sebastian Design at the Tourist Information Center at Pile and will continue with photo exhibition ''The most successful photos of the DART organizaton'', as well with the exhibition of academic painter Josipa Sare ''The Characters of Drzic's drama''.
The Dubrovnik Carnival 2018 will be officially opened on Friday, February 9th by handing the keys of the City of Dubrovnik to the master of the Carnival, which will symbolically make carnival take power in our city.
This year's 19th edition of the Dubrovnik Carnival is also coming to Mokosica, especially to the Mokosica Primary School, , where the party for children will be organized.
Another novelty of this year's edition of the Dubrovnik Carnival is "Waltz in Masks", which will be held on Stradun with the performance of Dubrovnik's City Music and Carnival Band. For a better carnival atmosphere there will also be a number of fascinating groups from the DART Association, the Fortuna Dance Association, the Kolarin Theater Association, the Zumba Gold Club, the Facebook Group of Dubrovnik and members of the 65+ Dubrovnik Red Cross Society.
The "Faćenda od malih maškara" will traditionally bring together children of pre-school age and families on Stradun, while proclaiming the best masks will be in the Lazareti.
The central venue for carnival events has always been a school day, due to the number of participants, as well as the variety and creativity of the group of masks. Traditional carnival fun for elementary and high school students will be held in the Lazareti.
The Carnival Day, in which our youngest fellow citizens will participate, this year will beautify and impress Stradun on the last day of the festival.
For those that still love to wear masks and are a bit older, there are ''Ultimi od karnevala'' or the end of carnival in the Culture Club Revelin, with the band Trio Gusti.
The number of foreign tourists in neighbouring Slovenia rose by 17 percent last year but interestingly one of the largest increases was seen in the number of American guests. Around 3.4 million tourists visited Slovenia last year and the number of American tourists increased by a massive 24 percent and the Slovenian media are reporting that the fact the American First Lady, Melania Trump, was born in the country.
Slovenia has also successfully presented itself as a safe and green destination in the heart of Europe that offers the Adriatic Sea, as well as mountain destinations for skiing. In 2017, the country recorded the fourth most successful tourism year on record, in terms of tourist numbers. Melania Trump was born in the Slovenian town of Sevnica, in the south-eastern region of Slovenia, where she started to live in the world, realizing her career as a model before moving to the USA.
The billboard in Slovenia reads "Welcome to the region of the First Lady" but appears to be actually advertising an new website
The foreign public's interest in Slovenia after Donald Trump entered the White House has risen steadily. The image of Melania and Donald has appeared on various items and souvenirs, from calendars to desserts. However, Melania has also used his attorneys, or rather her husband’s attorneys, to protect her brand and banned businesses from using her image for commercial purposes. In spite of this there is a popular strawberry dessert named after the First Lady and even a “presidential hamburger” in Sevnica.
And whilst the number of Italian, German and Austrian tourists rose last year, the biggest increase in Americans is the most impressive.
The French national airline, Air France, has announced that it will launch flights to Dubrovnik this year. Dubrovnik will become the second Croatian destination to receive flights from Air France, after the capital Zagreb, and there will be fifteen return flights from Paris, with the first flight expected on the 14th of July.
From the middle of July until the 1st of September the airline will operate direct flights between Dubrovnik and Paris every Thursday and Saturday. It would appear that the airline is testing the interest of this new route before launching a more extensive service. Air France will face competition from Croatia Airlines on the Paris route.
One of the most iconic hotels in Dubrovnik, the Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik, is currently undergoing a complete overhaul. Reconstruction work on the hotel, which celebrated its 121st birthday on the 29th of January, began back in November and are expected to be completed by the middle of April.
One of the first hotels to open in Dubrovnik and a pioneer for the city’s tourism industry the new design looks like bringing a fresh and airy feel to this five-star hotel. The Hilton Imperial has a long and rich history and was the first building to have lifts, the first hotel to offer electric lights and even had steam-powered air conditioning.
The Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik will reopen on the 15th of April and these renders give us an idea of the final finish.
There is no sign of property prices slowing in Dubrovnik, with the city reporting the strongest growth in prices in the whole of Croatia in 2017 meaning that once again Dubrovnik has by far the most expensive real estate in Croatia.
Last year property prices in Croatia rose on average by 4.18 percent, according to a survey carried out on 150,000 houses and apartments by a specialised property website. And Dubrovnik led the way with the average price of a metre squared of property in the city costing 3,362 Euros, a massive rise of 17.4 percent compared to 2016.
In Zagreb, the average asking price for a flat is 1,789 Euros and is around 8 percent higher than in 2016. Whilst in Split property prices are on average 2,550 Euros per metre squared.
It is not only the price that is rising in Dubrovnik, so is the demand. According to a local real estate the interest for the “right” property has never been higher. And when something comes onto the market at the right price it is normally sold within a couple of weeks.
Just as the celebrations ended and the holy mass completed the sun finally broke through the grey clouds and bathed Dubrovnik in sunshine.
The Day of St. Blaise, the patron saint of Dubrovnik, is the most important date on the city’s calendar and people travelled from all over the county to attend, in spite of the terrible weather in the morning.
Dressed in folk costumes from all regions of the county, Konavle, Župa, the islands and the hinterland, the Stradun was awash with colour and tradition. The 3rd of February is the Day of St. Blaise, the day that Dubrovnik gives thanks to the saint who saved their city, the patron saint of Dubrovnik.
Check out our photo gallery from today