Croatia Date Night

Our next date night landed us in Croatia.  Croatia is another one of those countries I knew nothing about.  Shamefully, because Croatia is clearly AWESOME!

It's not uncommon for me to get some wanderlust after doing these themed nights.  I'm frequently convinced whatever country it is we've just done, is ABSOLUTELY our next travel destination.  With a few exceptions, I'm usually packing our bags and "booking" hotels right along with looking up recipes....if only we truly got to travel to everyone of these places....now THAT'S the dream....

Croatia was different though.  Like, after seeing something I didn't really know existed, I was absolutely struck with the feeling of awe.....so THIS was my dream destination.  The favorite, I didn't know I had.  Being exposed to something and not knowing it was so amazing and making that your new focus. YES! That is what Croatia was for me.  The more I saw, the more in love I became.  This is it.  This will be our next 'big' travel destination.

Croatia is an Eastern European country with a long coastline on the Adriatic Sea. Encompassing more than a thousand islands, it's also crossed by the Dinaric Alps. Its inland capital, Zagreb, is distinguished by its medieval Gornji Grad (Upper Town) and diverse museums. The major coastal city Dubrovnik has massive 16th-century walls encircling an Old Town with Gothic and Renaissance buildings.

Capital: Zagreb

President: Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović

Currency: Croatian kuna

Capital and largest city: Zagreb; 45°48′N 16°0′E / 45.800°N 16.000°E

Prime minister: Andrej Plenković

I know I don't do this with the other countries, but I would like to share a few photos-

Dubrovnik:

Split:

Plitvice:

Unknown:

 and of course, here are some cool facts:

•  Croats arrived in the area of present-day Croatia during the early part of the 7th century AD.
•  If you were to spread a map of the world flat the town of Ludbreg in Croatia would be in the centre.
• The oldest city in Europe is the eastern Croatian city of Vinkovci. The city has been inhabited for the the past 8,000 years.
• Split’s Diocletian Palace has a genuine Egyptian sphinx thanks to the Emperor Diocletian who had it bought in from Egypt to adorn the entrance to his tomb.
• The dog breed Dalmatian can be traced back to Croatia and the Dalmatia region.
• Croatia have the highest number of UNESCO Intangible Goods of any European country together with Spain.
• Zadar has the world’s first pipe organ played by the sea and is also known for its sunset which Alfred Hitchcock said was the most beautiful in the world.
• The Walls of Ston are the longest preserved fortification system in the world after the Great Wall of China.
• Nikola Tesla was born in Smiljan, Croatia.
• One of the first medieval places in Europe to have a sewage system was Dubrovnik.
• Dubrovnik was known as the “Adriatic pearl” in the early 19th century (thanks to the English poet Lord Byron) and not only as “Game of Thrones” King’s Landing and Star Wars filming location.
• Croatians had their own alphabet. The Glagolitic alphabet was preserved only by Croats who used it from the 12th to the 20th century, mostly in liturgy.
•  Hum in Istria with a population of around 20 is the world’s smallest town.
• The Roman amphitheater in Pula is the 6th largest amphitheatre in the world and the only one with all 3 rows preserved.
•  The world’s first torpedo was constructed in Rijeka. Ivan Luppis (Ivan Vukić) developed the first prototypes of the self-propelled torpedo in 1866.
• The richest collection in the world of remains of Neanderthals was discovered in Krapina in central Croatia.
• The island of Hvar off the Dalmatian coast is the island with the most hours of sunshine in Europe – more than 2,800 hours a year.
• There are nearly more Croatians living outside of the country as living in Croatia (4.2 million).
• The Maglite flashlight which was designed by Croatian Anthony ‘Tony’ Maglica.
• Croatia has over 1,200 islands, isles and inlets.
• Famous Zlatni rat beach changes shape when winds are strong enough.
• Croatian men are the 7th tallest on the planet.

For dinner we had PASTICADA, a stewed beef from the Dalmatian region of Croatia

We had a hard time finding Croatian items.  World Market had nothing, but Fred Meyer had Vegeta, a super popular seasoning mix.

and these cookies

a triple raised flat bread popular in Croatia and other Balkan countries

the pasticada was served with blitva- a potato and swiss chard side.  Absolutely delicious

and madjarica for dessert....this is NOT my photo.  I forgot to take one, but wanted to show you an example: