Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Ivana Smilović

Ivana Smilović

Ivana Smilović – a senior journalist at The Dubrovnik Times. Born and raised in Dubrovnik, Ivana (or Smile as she is known to all) graduated Media Studies from the University of Dubrovnik. A book worm, coffee addict and want-to-be world traveller Ivana brings her unique local insight, connections and general optimistic and well smiley feel to the Times.

Email: ivana@thedubrovniktimes.com

Nude sunbathing at the balcony caused a fuss in Osijek! Locals saw one lady without clothes, sunbathing at her balcony and decided to ask the police if it's legal. The police responded, saying that sunbathing without clothes on a balcony or a terrace is punishable with the fine up to 750 Kuna or around 100 euro, which is a misdemeanor of insulting moral feelings of citizens – Tportal reports.

You are not allowed to sunbath at balconies and private terraces, because police can consider them public places in some cases if they offend moral feelings of citizens, calling them ‘fictive public places’.

Punishment for the offense of insulting the moral feelings of citizens can range from 185 to 750 kuna. Last year in the area of Osijek-Baranja there were six such offenses, and a year earlier 18, but police say that they are not all related exclusively to nudity.

In the past week in the area of Police Administration of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County there were nine traffic accidents, in one of which one person was killed and five had injured persons, where two persons were heavily injured, seven had light injuries while three traffic accidents had material damage.

By carrying out traffic control measures, police officers have taken 378 repressive measures against the perpetrators of traffic offenses, out of which 155 measures taken due to speeding, 20 due to improper overtaking, 36 measures due to improper stop and parking, 33 measures because of non-use of the seat belt and 13 measures against drivers who were driving the vehicle under the influence of alcohol.

Eurovision Song Contest is just around the corner, as the first semi-final night is tomorrow, which makes all the lovers of this competition really excited. This year, Croatia is presented by Franka Batelic and her song Crazy and the competition will take place in Lisbon, Portugal. 

A.K.A. Crescendo, a capella student group, made an amazing video, showing an evolution of Eurovision songs that presented Croatia from 1993 to 2018 in only five minutes! And what a journey it is – you should really listen to it in the video below.

- A.K.A. Crescendo was founded back in 2013, by combining the two rivaling groups on Campus, and have, since then, been very involved in Campus life as well as in various projects of their home city, Zadar. Their style ranges from Croatian to English music, from traditional to popular songs, and the group is always willing to take on new musical challenges. Their arrangements are group projects and every member is welcome to participate in creating the sound and choreo, which again makes them unique in style and performance. At the moment, A.K.A. Crescendo counts twelve members and each of them brings a different flavor to the group, making the mixture just perfect. So far, they are the only collegiate a cappella group in Croatia, but they are hoping that more groups will form and join them, soon – it's written at the official Facebook page of the group.

On the occasion of the Europe Day, on May 9th, the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra organizes a concert in Sponza Palace on Tuesday, May 8th. The String Chamber Ensemble of the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra will perform under the artistic lidership of Pavle Zajcev. The start of the concert is at 9 pm. 

Pavle Zajcev graduated from the Zagreb Academy of Music in the class of prof. Valter Despalj. Then he attended the postgraduate studies at the Music Academy in Basel in the class of prof. Ivan Monighetti. He also trained on master courses by M. Flaksman, S. Soundeckione, D. Grigorian, V. Messermann, J. Chuchro, E. Schoenfeld, A. Meneses. As a soloist he performed with the Zagreb Philharmonic, the HRT Symphony Orchestra, the Croatian Chamber Orchestra, the Varazdin Chamber Orchestra and the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra.

As a member of the Zagreb Piano Trio, he won the "Darko Lukic" Tribune in 1998 and won the second prize at the International Chamber Choir Competition "C. Hennen "in the Netherlands. In September 2000, the Trio wins the first prize at the International Chamber Music Competition TICC in Trondheim, Norway. As a chamber musician he participated in many festivals where he worked with artists such as Julian Rachlin, Mischa Maisky, Torleif Thedeen, Lawrence Power, Gordan Petrovic, Duro Zivkovic, Edin Karamazov, Dmitry Sinkovsky and others.

From 2002-2010 he has been solo-cellist at the HRT Symphony Orchestra. He has been a docent since 2005. He has been a professor at the Zagreb Academy of Music since 2013. He performed his conducting debut with the Croatian Music Youth Orchestra in Groznjan, and he was its conductor and artistic director was from 2011 to 2014. He also directed the String Instruments of the HRT Symphony Orchestra, Samobor Strings and the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra.

 

Miss of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County for 2018 is Ivana Dumnic! The contest for the most beautiful girl in our county was held on Sunday night at Stradun.

Laura Lendic was the first runner-up, while the second runner-up was Iva Sprljan. Martina Glibota was picked as a Miss Photogenic.

A total of eight girls competed for the title: Eva Skoric, Ivana Mudnic, Martina Glibota, Tijana Ivanisevic, Kristina Ilovaca, Laura Lendic, Iva Sprljan and Matea Vulic.

Dance studio Lazareti was there for the entertainment, while the whole programme was organized by the association Dubrovnik Glamour.

 

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In the last five years, 213 motorcyclists and 56 moped drivers died in traffic accidents on Croatian roads. This black trend continues this year. Only in the last week eight drivers lost their lives.

The Ministry of the Interior sent an open letter to motorcyclists in which they ask them to be more careful, in order to preserve their lives and the lives of other traffic participants.

- Dear lovers of motorcycles, encouraged by the latest unpleasant events, we are addressing to all those who love passion and wind in the hair, and above all the adrenaline thrust when the speedometer is swirling. Certainly you have not missed black statistics that in the last few days, eight drivers of motorcycles and mopeds have died! That's why we warn you about the dangers that threaten you, two-wheeled drivers, and we encourage you to drive as safely as possible, in order to save at least one human life or prevent another difficult journey – it’s written in the letter of the Ministry of the Interior.

Since most of these accidents are caused by speeding, the Ministry of the Interior appeals to all the drivers who love their motorcycles and mopeds not to contribute to black numbers by respecting regulations, defensive driving and being careful about other participants in traffic.

Every Star Wars fan knows it – today is the Star Wars Day! The date was chosen for the pun on the catchphrase "May the Force be with you" as "May the Fourth be with you". Even though the holiday was not actually created or declared by Lucasfilm, many Star Wars fans across the world have chosen to celebrate the holiday. It has since been embraced by Lucasfilm as an annual celebration of Star Wars.

Ryanair decided the Star Wars Day was the perfect opportunity to publish a list of 17 Star Wars Film locations you need to visit. Can you guess which location is first? Yes, Dubrovnik!

-You might know Canto Bight as the capital city of Cantonica, but for us, it’s the gorgeous city of Dubrovnik in southern Croatia. Canto Bight was a holiday destination for wealthy tourists and war profiteers, but you can visit Dubrovnik without having to break the bank or engage in intergalactic warfare. You might recognise the main street of Dubrovnik from Episode VIII and is a great way to kick off your voyage of must-see Star Wars film locations – Ryanair writes.

Just a short reminder - Star Wars: The Last Jedi used Dubrovnik as a location back in March 2016 and various locations around the historic Old City were used. In fact the main street through the city, Stradun, was transformed into a galaxy, far, far away.

By cleaning up the beach Madrac, the City of Dubrovnik started the activities on the maintenance of public beaches, which are regularly carried out annually. 

The maintenance will be continued next week at the Sveti Jakov beach, Divovici, at Komarda, Porporela and Sulic and Dance.
According to a defined plan of work, beaches in Lozica, Vrbica, Stikovica, in several locations in Zaton, in Orasac, Trsteno and Brsecine, as well as at Elafiti islands will be cleaned too.

Places where people usually sunbath and swim, such as the area beneath Villa Banac, beneath the Niko and Medo Pucic promenade, as well as other locations if needed, will also be cleaned.

Works on all bathing areas include aligning the existing rocks and filling with new ones, repairing various damages on the fences, handrails, concrete plains and paths or steps.

The Voice of Dubrovnik

THE VOICE OF DUBROVNIK


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