Sunday, 09 February 2025
Mark Thomas

Mark Thomas

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

The Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic will move her office from Zagreb to the Dubrovnik – Neretva County from Wednesday, October 25th to Sunday, October 29th. This the 10th time she has done this, but the first time in Dubrovnik, since she tends to visit different parts of Croatia every time.

Grabar-Kitarovic will have a busy schedule in Dubrovnik. The first day is reserved for meetings and visiting Zupa Dubrovacka, as well as Konavle and Prevlaka.

The second day in Dubrovnik-Neretva County will be marked with meetings connected with the building of the Peljesac Bridge. The President will visit Ston, Orebic and the island of Korcula.

Friday will be ‘’island hopping day’’, since Grabar-Kitarovic is planning to visit Lastovo, Mljet and Sipan and return to the Old City in the afternoon hours.

On Saturday, the president will visit Slano, Opuzen, Metkovic and Ploce and on Sunday, the last day of her stay in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, she will attend ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Dubrovnik.

After the weekend cleaning action on the island of Lopud last weekend, the Dubrovnik Diving Club organized a clean up of the Dubrovnik river this weekend. In cooperation with the Valamar Riviera Group and the Dubrovnik Tourist Board the morning clean up of the sea bed in the Dubrovnik river was successful.

The divers scooped up car tyres, bicycle parts, chairs, in fact a wide array of waste material. Divers from the Dubrovnik Diving Club and members of the public cleaning company took part in the weekend action.

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This is a classic example of how not to drive a bus full of passengers.

A reader sent this photo to us of a coach pulling a three point turn on the main coastal road above Dubrovnik.

Dangerous is an understatement as this bus driver not only held up traffic in both directions whilst he manoeuvred but he also broke all kinds of laws. Be careful on the roads of Dubrovnik you never know what you’ll meet.

The Dubrovnik Rugby Club, Invictus, got their second division campaign off to a winning start with a crushing 79 – 14 win over Lokomotiva from Zagreb. The game, in fact the first time that a rugby club from Dubrovnik had played in a full 15 a side competitive match, kicked off at 2.00 pm in the Gospino Polje stadium in Dubrovnik.

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 Try celebrations as Invictus start on the right foot 

Invictus dominated the game from the early stages and at half time Lokomotiva still had yet to score whilst the home side had racked up 46 points. The speed of Drmać on the wings proved too much for Lokomtiva and he stacked up five tries, whilst Ante Stojan, playing at scrum half, masterfully fed the ball around the team and managed to score two tries himself. In the second half, thanks to two quick yellow cards for Invictus, the guests slowly got back into the game and scored two tries.

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 The Black and Gold Invictus front row

But in the end the power and good organisation of the Dubrovnik rugby club was too much for the visitors. Being the first ever game of this level played in Dubrovnik it also caught the attention of the public and the home team was cheered on by numerous boisterous fans. Invictus now move onto to a match in Metkovic next weekend.

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Invictus on the break in a stunning first half display 

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Great start to the season 

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Lokomotiva played their part in an enjoyable match 

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One of the favourite parts of Dubrovnik Good Food Festival is surely Dubrovnik table, that goes across entire length of Stradun. This special event was reserved for the last day of the festival and has been held this morning.
Numerous Dubrovnik hotels and restaurants, bakers, confectioners,  and caterers, as well as winemakers  from Konavle and Pelješac will present  their knowledge and skills.  

Locals and their guests got the chance to enjoy the numerous delicacies as well  as wine tasting. All the collected money from the coupons will go to charity.

The programme of Good Food Festival ends today in Hotel Libertas Rixos with gala dinner.

Don't miss our big photo gallery, but be aware - you might get really hungry!

Good Food Festival continued yesterday evening in the beautiful ambience of Restaurant Kantenari at the Sunset Beach Dubrovnik. The guests were ready for something special: dinner with a famous chef – Priska Thuring.

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Priska is one of the most creative chefs of the new generation on the Croatian gastronomic scene. This Canadian with Zagreb address began her Croatian career back in 2005 and what is interesting in Dubrovnik, at the Hotel Palace.

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She grew up in Canada where still as a child she cooked with her mother and she was educated in Switzerland as an apprentice at the legendary hotel Dolder Grand. Her life’s path led her to Croatia where she fell in love because here ‘’onions and garlic still taste like onions and garlic, tomatoes taste like tomatoes and strawberries taste like strawberries ̋.

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She is currently living in Zagreb and working at the Dubravkin put restaurant, which, with her arrival, once again took its place among the best Croatian restaurants.

Priska’s menus follow the seasons and she chooses the ingredients herself at local markets, something that she enjoys doing.

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This modest, top professional, master of pairing tastes and colours, created her own refined menu and prepared really special dishes for the fourth Good Food Festival – dried marinated sea bass, veal sweetbread, dry curd cottage cheese and pumpkin gnudi, farm raised lamb in white wine and terrine -55% chocolate. It was all combined with tasty, quality wine.

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The musical part of the evening was perfectly covered by famous Croatian singer Zorica Kondza, while the host was famous TV presenter Mirko Fodor.

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Good Food Festival ends today with famous Dubrovnik Table across the Stradun right at noon and will finish with Gala Dinner in Hotel Rixos Libertas.

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Condé Nast Traveler readers ranked the 30 best islands in the world outside the United States in the 2017 Readers' Choice Awards survey.

Among the best islands around the globe, from the Far East to the West, an island from Croatia has also found its place on this prestigious list.

According to Condé Nast Traveler readers, the world’s best island is Boracay in the Philippines, whilst the Croatian island of Hvar placed as the 28th on the list.

''Lush vineyards, secluded coves, and winding medieval streets attract visitors to this 42-mile-long island off the coast of Croatia. The Adriatic island is as popular with backpackers as it is with luxury yachts, and this summer brought the debut of UberBOAT, connecting Hvar to towns along the Dalmatian coast'', wrote Condé Nast Traveler about Hvar.

Condé Nast Traveler also added some useful tips for travellers to the island, ''Hvar is a popular base for exploring additional islandsfarther afield, including other Pakleni Islands that are home to caves, coves, and nude beaches, which can be reached by rental boat. Although Hvar has no airport, there are frequent, fast ferries from Split on the mainland to Hvar’s two main centres, the town of Hvar and Stari Grad''.

Here is the list of the world's 30 best islands chosen by Condé Nast Traveler readers:

1. Boracay, Philippines
2. Cebu and Visayan Islands, Philippines
3. Palawan, Philippines
4. Mallorca, Spain
5. Mykonos, Greece
6. Bermuda
7. St. Barts
8. Turks and Caicos
9. Bali, Indonesia
10. Cayman Islands
11. St. Lucia
12. St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
13. Crete, Greece
14. Sardinia, Italy
15. Ibiza, Spain
16. Antigua
17. Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada
18. Isla Mujeres, Mexico
19. Barbados
20. Capri, Italy
21. Fiji
22. Moorea, French Polynesia
23. Bora Bora, French Polynesia
24. British Virgin Islands
25. Santorini, Greece
26. Mauritius
27. Anguilla
28. Hvar, Croatia
29. Madeira, Portugal
30. St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Yes, the swimming season is still alive in Dubrovnik. The warmer and calmer weather has held until the end of October and the tourists in the city and locals are making the most of it by dipping in the Adriatic Sea.

The current sea temperature in Dubrovnik is around 21 degrees and with the roasting sunshine the Adriatic is a magnet for swimmers. The forecast is for more warm weather, at least until the end of the month, so why not take a dip.

Yesterday the Sunset Beach in the bay of Lapad was full of sunbathers, swimmers and people enjoying al fresco coffee in the golden sunshine.

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