Dubrovnik had a colourful feel today as the annual Zupa Carnival came to town. From life-size Barbie dolls to nuns and tarts and even Super Mario, it was a day of laughter and fun for all ages.

This was the 36th time the Zupa carnival has been held and the Stradun was full as people watched the festival roll by. Each group had an opportunity for a short sketch on a stage in front of the St. Blaise Church and this year there was an international touch as groups came from Bosnia and Herzegovina to parade.

On the eve of the first day of filming of Robin Hood: Origins the final touches are being made to the first set to be use tomorrow in the harbour in the Old City of Dubrovnik. The scene is set, Dubrovnik now has a real Nottingham feel.

Banners and flags were hung late this afternoon over one of the gates into the Old City and the director, Otto Bathurst, was spotted giving instructions as the flags were raised. Security guards are guarding all the sets and tomorrow Robin Hood will arrive in the city.

Filming will last until the 6th of March and all of the actors have already arrived, although they have yet to be seen on the streets of the city, this will all change tomorrow.

Robin Hood riding through the glen...well riding through Dubrovnik. An unusual sight was spotted this morning in the Borough of Zupa near Dubrovnik, horses riding on the main coastal road.

We can only presume that these horses will be used in the upcoming filming of Rodin Hood: Origins in Dubrovnik which starts tomorrow. Two riders followed behind a cart being pulled by another four horses, and a part of their journey was caught on video by a passerby.

Apart from beautiful and idyllic places all over Croatia, there are also some frighteningly steep and dangerous landscapes. One such place is on the Croatian mountain of Velebit that any inexperienced climbers should avoid. However, there are always brave and experienced mountaineers and trailers who provide us with great footage of their dangerous adventures.

Recently Ante Fabris, the snow runner from Croatia, thrilled the world running at the National Park Plitvice covered with snow, but this time his racing adventure took place along the Premuzic’s trail on Velebit, which is quite dangerous in some spots for inexperienced mountaineers.

However, Fabris went for a 15-kilometre walk on Velebit with his faithful dog Miska, all the way from the climbers’ lodge Zavizan to the Rossi’s shelter and back.

The Stradun is on fire. The main street that runs through the centre of the historic Old City of Dubrovnik literally caught fire last night, but it wasn’t a fire that required the attention of the fire-brigade.

This blaze was all part of the preparations for Robin Hood: Origins which starts filming tomorrow. We can conclude that this swash-buckling new action movie, produced by Leonadro DiCaprio, will be explosive!

Filming of Robin Hood: Origins starts on Monday and the final touches are being made to one of the main sets in Dubrovnik. The producer and director of the latest Hollywood blockbuster to be filmed in Dubrovnik held a press conference today in the Hotel Argentina and expressed their satisfaction on filming in the city.

Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the executive producers of Robin Hood and when asked if he would visit the city Otto Bathurst, the director, replied that “Leonardo is very busy but if he were to visit any of the film sets it would surely be Dubrovnik, who knows maybe you will have a pleasant surprise.”

After Game of Thrones, Robin Hood and Star Wars you might have thought that a zombie film was being shot in Dubrovnik today. Was it a new series of the Walking Dead or American Zombie being filmed in the historic Old City?

Well, of course, the answer is no. This is what happens to you if you are working on the Robin Hood set in Dubrovnik and someone goes mad with the grinder into the plaster construction. And work is going full steam ahead, filming starts on Monday and still one of the main sets on the Stradun hasn’t been completed.

Over forty new or fully renovated hotels will be opened in Croatia before the beginning of the main tourist season, commented the Minister of Tourism Gari Cappelli as he toured the construction works in the Hotel Excelsior today. He added that over 800 million Euros of investment have poured into the Croatia tourism industry this year.

The Hotel Excelsior, which is part of the Adriatic Luxury Hotels group, is currently undergoing a massive investment and a total reconstruction. This five-star hotel is iconic in the city and was in need of refreshment as the last time any major works were carried out was back in 2008. The Minister of Tourism toured the building works today with the Prefect of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Nikola Dobroslavic.

Since the beginning of this year until the middle of February over 22,500 tourists have visited the Dubrovnik-Neretva County which is a 31 percent increase over the same period from last year. Whilst on a country wide scale more around 732,000 tourists visited over the same period, this time an increase of 14 percent.

Major construction of iconic Dubrovnik hotel underway