The ever popular animated characters Pat and Mat are heading to Dubrovnik at the end of this month. The popular television characters will brighten up January in Dubrovnik with a performance in the Rixos Libertas Hotel on the 28th of this month at 11.00am and again at 5.00pm.

Pat and Mat is a Czech stop-motion animated series featuring two handymen: Pat and Mat (Czech for "stalemate" and "checkmate"). The show was created by Lubomír Beneš and Vladimír Jiránek. The show features the two characters facing mostly self-made problems, trying to solve them using any possible and impossible tools and construction gadgets. This leads to even more problems and yet, eventually, the two manage to get a working result with a mostly surprising solution.

According to the authors, it is the manual ineptitude that inspires the stories. The humour is not the only feature of the show. Another feature is having an optimistic approach towards life. The two characters always get into problematic situations, but they never give up until they solve the problem in imaginative ways.

The show is also memorable for its soundtrack, composed by Petr Skoumal, of which the main parts consist of the theme song and a harmonica tune.

Tickets for the Pat and Mat show in Dubrovnik are already on sale and can be purchased online at www.ulaznice.hr for 60 Kuna.

New year brings new travel lists and if you were wondering where to go this year The New York Times has published a list of 52 places to go in 2017.

- There are thousands of getaways to explore this year. Here are some ideas to get you started – it's written in the intro of the article.

And, with the great choice of thousands of getaways, Dubrovnik still made it on the list and it's located on 6th place!

- With its limestone-paved streets and 80-foot-high walls surrounding Old Town, this star of the Dalmatian Coast has long been able to rest on its aesthetic laurels — you might recognize it as King’s Landing on “Game of Thrones.” In recent years, though, it has been adding to the luster – writes David Farley about the Pearl of Adriatic.

Destinations that made it higher on the list are Canada, Atacama Desert – Chile, Agra – India, Zermatt – Switzerland and Botswana.

At the Hong Kong Food Festival which was held from the 24th to the 28th of December 2016 in the category of meat products, PIK Vrbovec and the Belje company presented their traditional products for the first time on the Asian market.

The Croatian meat industry exports its products to the CEFTA market and to more than fifteen EU countries such as Italy, Romania, Sweden, Hungary, Germany, Austria and others. The sales share of the range of products on foreign markets accounted for 19 percent in 2016.

The 14th Hong Kong Food Festival gathered renowned manufacturers from all around the world and over 1.25 million visitors. On this occasion the Croatian manufacturers had the opportunity to present their indigenous products because Hong Kong is also important as the starting point for the markets of China and the Pacific.

''The PIK's quality and innovation in the manufacture of meat products and fresh meat are recognized on the foreign markets so we believe that our participation at this fair will contribute to our further business expansion on the Asian market particularly interesting and challenging for us'', said Boris Cvetkovic, the export director of the PIK Vrbovec company.

At the latest Asian food festival the Croatian agricultural and processing industry Belje presented its famous sausages Kulenova seka and Baranjski kulen which have the Protected Geographical Indication label.

''Baranjski kulen and Kulenova seka are high quality products of our rich tradition which are manufactured at Belje according to traditional recipes of old masters. Such authentic products are specialty which we have presented on export markets worldwide. The Asian market is very interesting to us due to its tendency for spicy food and products made of the best pork meat such as Baranjski kulen'', commented Ivica Starcevic, the Sales, Marketing and Tourism director at the Belje company.

2Cellos received an invitation from the staff of President-elect of United states Donald Trump. In fact, they have contacted them because they wanted them to play on Trump’s inauguration.

However, the duo had to decline Trump because of pre-planned business commitments. Although they will not be able to play, Stjepan Hauser and Luka Sulic thanked for the invitation.

Trump’s inauguration will be held on January 20th and it seems that his staff is having some problem finding musicians who will play on it.

The Dubrovnik cable car is back and running after preventive checks were carried out last week. Excelsa Real Estate, the company that operates the cable car announced today that safety checks were carried out by the manufacturer the Austrian company, Teufelberger.

The checks proved that the cables were not damaged in the recent fires on the Srd mountain, so the cable car is back working as normal as of today.

From the 1st of January 2017 a ban on breeding animals for fur production came into force in Croatia.

The ban was adopted by the Animal Protection Act in 2006 and ''thanks to the Croatian Ministry of Agriculture which listened to the public and protected the animal rights in Croatia, the country finally celebrated the entry into force of a fur farming ban’’, said from the Animal Friends Croatia association.

The association stated that the enforcement of the ban was a result of a long-lasting and persistent struggle of citizens, professionals, politicians, vets, members of the EU parliament, institutions and associations for the protection of animals during a ten-year long transitional period in which chinchilla breeders had tried to have the ban abolished.

Since the ban on breeding furry animals became part of the Animal Protection Act in 2006, most breeders of chinchillas, the only fur-breeding animal in Croatia, stopped with fur production, but a minority continued, with the main goal of having the ban abolished.

''Ethical awareness of our citizens managed to overcome the petty profiteering interests and placed Croatia on the map of civilized countries that respect public opinion and adopt high ethical and environmental standards in the treatment of animals'', Animal Friends Croatia said in its statement.

Apart from a cake for the Ministry of Agriculture as a sign of gratitude, the Animal Friends Croatia association will also send a letter of thanks to the Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic and the Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.

It's not April fools prank – new 5-stars hotel will be opened in Dubrovnik on April 1st this year! Royal Blue Hotel will be, how they say, ''new oasis of luxury in Dubrovnik''. 

Royal Blue Hotel is located in Lapad and has 81 deluxe rooms.
- Spectacular sea view, lavish amenities and stylish furniture will take your breath away just at the first step. You will surely fancy spending time in attractive cocktail and lounge bars or by one of the two shimmering outdoor pools – it's written on the hotel's official page.

Royal Blue Hotel also features an A la carte restaurant and wellness zone, while beach lovers will surely enjoy the amazing Blue Flag beach.

                                                                                                                    Photos by http://www.hotelroyalblue.com/

In terms of ski tourism, Croatia is way behind traditional European ski countries such as France, Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Italy. However, even though a number of ski resorts in the country are quite small, it is not negligible. Bjelolasica, Sljeme, Platak, Begovo Razdolje, Celimbasa and Trsce offer very good ski pistes as well as some Alp-like houses, villas and cottages in their vicinity for spending magical winter holidays.

For those who would like to bypass the famous French or Austrian ski resorts this year and discover some hidden winter gems, or for those who just have smaller ski budgets, here is the list of houses, villas and cottages that are located near Croatian ski resorts in the Gorski ktar region and which seem quite charming and relaxing.

House on the Bukov vrh (718 Kunas per night/ 8 persons)

Sumska villa, Mrkopalj (1500 Kunas per night/ 8 persons)

House on Platak, near Rijeka (1019 Kunas per night/ 6 persons)

Chalet Pinus Sylvestris, Ravna Gora (1887 Kunas per night/ 9 persons)

House Margerita, Mrkopalj (603 Kunas per night/ 5 persons)

Gospic near Baske Ostarije ski resort (746 Kunas per night/ 9 persons)

Villa Razdolje, Begovo Razdolje (2712 Kunas per night/ 8 persons)

House Ana, Crni Lug (696 Kunas/ 5 persons)

Velika Lesnica, Delnice (904 Kunas per night/ 6 persons)