A new video, entitled “Top 10 Amazing Facts About Croatia,” has been released by a popular American YouTube channel Top10Archive.

“Our trip around the globe continues with a beautiful little sliver of Europe, the Republic of Croatia. Located at a crossroad of Central and South-eastern Europe and the Mediterranean, Croatia doesn’t quite get the attention it deserves – so let's fix that, with our choice of 10 amazing facts about Croatia!” states the Top10Archive.

The Croatian top ten starts with Nikola Tesla in tenth position in the category of famous Croatians, which also includes Ivo Andric, Ruder Boskovic and the pop star Severina.

Croatian cuisine comes in at eighth position with pancakes, kebabs and even burek mentioned. Dubrovnik is also mentioned in seventh position in the category of tourist attractions.

And in number one spot...well we won’t spoil the surprise...check out the video.

Austrian Airlines have increased the number of passengers they will bring to Dubrovnik this summer season by introducing a wide-body Boeing 767-300ER.

The airline will operate flights between Vienna and Dubrovnik on a daily basis this year, and from the 5th of June every Friday this 221-seat aircraft will fly. This large capacity Boeing two-aisled airplane will fly to Dubrovnik every Friday until the 1st of September. Austrian Airlines will start operations to Dubrovnik on the 27th of March.

The hype on the upcoming release on the next Bollywood blockbuster featuring Shah Rukh Khan is well underway and fans of the star are getting creative. Sections of the movie were filmed in Dubrovnik in May 2015 and the film is set to be released on the 15th of April this year.

A fan of Shah Rukh Khan, Paige Wilson, has used dolls of the Bollywood star to mock up an action scene from the movie in Dubrovnik. There is no doubt that when the film is released it is going to be huge promotion for Dubrovnik, the official teaser trailer of Fan has had over 13 million views in three weeks.

Fan was filmed in Mumbai, London, Delhi and Dubrovnik and is the story of Gaurav (Shah Rukh Khan) a young man whose world revolves around the mega movie star Aryan Khanna (Shah Rukh Khan) or God as he refers to him.

The action scenes that were filmed in Dubrovnik look stunning on the trailer, with motorbike rides through the city, chases across roofs and gravity-defying stunts.

Property prices in Croatia are continuing to tumble with a drop of almost 1 percent recorded on a nationwide level in February. According to information from the specialized website Crozilla.com the house prices in Croatia fell again in February. When compared to the average price in February 2015 the prices a year later have fallen by 1.9 percent.

The only two regions of Croatia to see a slight rise in real estate prices were Umag and Dubrovnik. In February 2016 the average price per metre squared for a property in Dubrovnik was 3,764 Euros. This is an increase of 1.4 percent compared to January 2016 and makes property in Dubrovnik still the most expensive in Croatia.

The capital, Zagreb, also experienced a drop in property prices, falling by 2.7 percent in February 2016 compared to January 2016. The average property price in Zagreb is now 1,246 Euros per metre squared, meaning that property prices in Dubrovnik are three times more expensive than in the capital.

Orlando’s column is situated in front of the St. Blaise’s Church and has always had during the history of Dubrovnik a multi-faceted role and symbolism. The column represents the character of a pale knight. The knight, according to legend, was the nephew of the Spanish King Charles, who died in 778 on his way back to Spain. It was believed that Orlando had supernatural powers and a naval victory over the Saracene pirate Spucento was attributed to Orlando and his special forces. Another legend about the origins of the column dates from the 15th century. The legend states that the column was installed at the time when Sigismund protected Dubrovnik. Sigismund was a famous Hungarian, Czech and later German king. During his life the king was famous for erecting Orlando columns all across the Brandeburg County.
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Orlando’s stone column served the city of Dubrovnik as a flag carrier, symbol of freedom and as a metaphor for trade. His forearm is 51.2 centimeters long and this was for centuries the standard Dubrovnik measurement for fabric. For many centuries Dubrovnik merchants stood in front of the column measuring and cutting fabric. Orlando used to hold his sword in the direction of the Ottoman Empire as a symbol of readiness to fight for the freedom and independence of the Republic of Dubrovnik. Today the column is turned to Sponza Palace with his back to the church of St. Blaise.

Orlando's column in the heart of Dubrovnik 

Dubrovnik is getting more and more popular in India! The latest evidence is an article in the online edition of the Mumbai Mirror, where Dubrovnik is described in detail, combining the history and experiences from a tour of the town that reporter Kalpana Sunder took with the local guide. Good to know – the Mumbai Mirror is a compact newspaper in the city of Mumbai, with a daily circulation of approximately 700 thousand copies, so we don't even have to talk about the level of promotion that this kind of article brings.

As usual, the Dubrovnik City Walls didn't fail to impress. ''The wall's turrets, forts, towers and cannons are straight out of a Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale'', writes the reporter in the article.

But even though she was enchanted with the historical monuments, in the end she fell in love with the ''normal'' Dubrovnik. She highlighted that in order to discover the soul of the town you have to go behind the historical sites.

''Take the alleyways that criss-cross Old Town like vertical shafts, and showcase local life with a Mediterranean flavour: steep, tortuous mazes of mottled stone with low archways adorned with lamps, huge flowerpots, open shutters and strings festooned with drying laundry; straggly cats, and intimate wine bars and tables laid out with red and white checked tablecloths and expensive boutiques. It's in the back streets of Dubrovnik that life really plays out'', says Kalpana Sunder for the Mumbai Mirror.

This is one more reason for Indians to visit Dubrovnik. First is, as you know for sure, the movie ''Fan'', featuring Shah Rukh Khan, one of the biggest stars in Bollywood. The trailer alone got over the 13 million views in just two weeks on YouTube. The trailer also shows that the first star of the movie is Shah Rukh Khan, and the second – Dubrovnik.

A couple of days after the Star Wars cast and crew have left Dubrovnik after filming scenes for episode eight a new video of the filming has emerged. The video shows an explosion on the main street through the old city, the Stradun, as a group of people in a cafe bar run for cover. It appears that the video was taken during the first rehearsals of filming as none of the extras are in costume.

Filming for Star Wars VIII in Dubrovnik began on the 9th of March and lasted until the 16th of March; however the first few days were rehearsals for the main filming. Unfortunately none of the main stars in the latest Star Wars arrived in Dubrovnik. There were rumours that Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley would turn up however these were unfounded. Many action scenes and stunts were filmed in Dubrovnik, as can be seen from this video, including crashing spaceships and even a huge horse-like creature was used in some scenes.

Check out this latest Star Wars VIII in Dubrovnik video!

The first day of spring, the 21st of March, a thousand restaurants around the world will be marking the day with a gastronomic event. Goût de France, or Good France, is a project that was organized on the initiative of Alain Ducasse and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development in France. 1,000 restaurants will prepare an evening of French inspired cuisine and the Bugenvila restaurant in Cavtat has been chosen to be a part of this worldwide celebration.

The Dubrovnik Times caught up with the founder and co-owner of Bugenvila in Cavtat, Igor Korousic, to discover how his restaurant got involved in the Goût de France. In 2015 the idea of Goût de France was born after a group of foodies in France wanted to revive an old event that was all about celebrating French culture. “This is not just a celebration of French cuisine, this is more connected to the French way of life, the bright colours, the country life, the culture, the happiness,” said Korousic.

This is the second year that Goût de France has been held. Dinners served simultaneously in participating restaurants will honour the merits of French cuisine, its capacity for innovation, and its values: sharing, enjoying, and respecting the principles of high-quality, environmentally responsible cuisine. 1,000 chefs, preparing 1,000 dinners in five continents are expected to take part on the 21st of March.

“We have prepared a menu that reflects the happiness of France, the colours of France, of course we will have French wine on offer and French cheese on the night,” explained Korousic. Adding that he had created a menu that captures the spirit of France, and the first day of spring.
Traditional French cuisine is not a dominion of the 21st century culinary scene. Participating chefs are encouraged to blend their own culinary culture to that of France, rather than discounting it, commented the organisers of this worldwide event.

“The first day of spring symbolises a time of new beginnings, and I think that we have found the right combination in our menu for Goût de France,” commented Korousic. Only ten restaurants in Croatia were chosen to participate in this illustrious evening, and only two in this region, along with Bugenvila the Stara Loza restaurant in the old city of Dubrovnik will also be taking part.

Bugenvila in Cavtat