Time Out Croatia news

Croatia yesterday awoke to the traditional and noisy celebrations of graduating high school students. Students all over the country hit the streets early in the morning for a full day of celebrations, many of them adorned with faculty t-shirts, whistles and flags. After joining colleagues at school, celebrations were taken out onto city streets, town squares and parks, the partying unmissable to anyone in the country because of the noise and colourfulness which accompanied it.This year, the eastern city of Osijek seems to have won the graduation day choreography stunt, as students formed a huge Facebook like in the centre of town (above), as captured in this brilliant aerial photograph taken by Šime Strikoman.Frivolities went on long into the night, but also started early too; Time Out Croatia was sent anonymously the above photo showing the gin and tonic smuggled into one Zagreb faculty within water bottles. Despite some media outlets focussing their attention on a small number of drunken students chanting forbidden Nazi-era slogans (in one video, some were also seen to defend other aspects of nationalism, which would appear unsavoury to many outsiders), the nationwide celebrations were largely kind-spirted, playful and joyous. Most students arrived home safely and soundly in time for bed, although some were seen to have made alternative sleeping arrangements.

Following a month of unsettled and changeable weather, predictions for the summer period have been released which anticipate Croatia is in for a baking hot summer. yAY!As reported earlier this month in Time Out Croatia, freakishly wintery weather has returned periodically this May. But, according to American meteorological service AccuWeather, Croatia, like much of southern Europe, should expect a major summer heatwave.Temperatures are expected to reach 40 degrees in some periods, much warmer than last year's summer. The large amount of rain which has already fallen this year will mean that farmers should be in for bumper crops and all vegetation in the country will reach its maximum potential growth. This does mean that little rain is predicted for the summer period, raising the risk of 'forest fires', although the same predictions do also anticipate some severe, but brief, summer storms to hit the country during the period. Summer storms are reasonably common in Croatia. Although they can be forceful and weird (dropping hailstones on coastal cities in the middle of summer!), they rarely ruin anyone's holiday; Croatia's summer storms can arrive and depart extremely quickly, with tourists often back on the beach sunbathing within an hour of their cessation.

Calling all Game of Thrones heads! A museum dedicated to the HBO series has opened in Split. The city is one of the filming locations used in the series, alongside Dubrovnik, which famously doubles up as the King's Landing. Located near Diocletian’s cellars where Daenerys keeps her dragons, the museum is packed full of props, costumes and knick-knacks from the series.   Life-sized statues of the show's most popular characters are dotted around the museum, from Jon Snow to Daenerys and Tyrion to Hodor. The permanent exhibition is composed of five themed rooms, starting at the Split-inspired Meereen, the Dubrovnik-themed King's Landing, Winterfell and Weirwood tree, where guests enter through a hole in the tree.             Game of Thrones guides are also available, where storytellers take visitors on geeky tours around the museum. So far, the museum has had mixed reviews - but if you want to try it yourself, stop by The Game of Thrones Museum on Bosanska ulica 9, open daily from 9am to 10pm.  Need to satisfy your Game of Thrones thirst? Try our guide to Game of Thrones filming locations in Croatia.  

The Michelin Guide's 2019 winners will be awarded this Friday at the R'n'B Weekend. Zagreb's Noel, Lovran's Draga di Lovrana, Rovinj's Monte, Dubrovnik's 360 and Sibenik's Pelegrini are all Michelin-starred kitchens that made the critic's shortlist this year. The country now possesses five Michelin stars, the ultimate culinary accolade. Read our reviews of Michelin-starred and recommended restaurants here. Time Out will also be awarding three awards for the coolest, bravest and most daring bars, restaurants and cafés in the capital. The three awards are for the boldest restaurant, the bravest bar and the coolest café. We'll be announcing our winners at the event on Saturday evening - keep your eyes peeled. Here are the five restaurants in Croatia that will be accepting their Michelin star on Friday. Noel Noel is sizzling hot restaurant dedicated to contemporary trends in gastronomy. This upscale restaurant mixes the best of Croatian ingredients with nouvelle experimentation, offering mains like the pork belly with shrimp and passion fruit. Portions are small but well garnished and more extravagant diners can opt for the taster menu - options include four, six or nine courses costing between 220 and 450kn. The decor is polished, and the attentive staff boast military timing. 360   Set within the great walls of Dubrovnik with impressive views over the port, 360 blends its historical setting with a progressive, forward-thinking menu. Dishes change constantly but 360 i

Dubrovnik this week held a special premiere screening of the Game of Thrones season finale. The city is famously the filming location for King's Landing, the capital city of the Seven Kingdoms in the series. Fans, invited guests and the media attended the premiere at Revelin Fortress along with winners of a competition organised by Dubrovnik Tourist Board. Though the final season of the show has received largely negative reviews from the media and viewers alike, anticipation for the last episode was extremely high and Game of Thrones remains the most-watched show ever produced by its makers HBO. Already one of Croatia's most popular tourist destinations, the walled city of Dubrovnik has become a must-visit destination to visit for fans of the show because of its prominent placing throughout the series. Several other Croatian locations where filming took place also draw visiting fans including Klis Fortress, which is the City of Meereen in the show and nearby Split.

Alongside Flos Olei, the New York International Olive Oil Competition is the biggest olive oil competition around. NYIOOC has revealed this year's best extra virgin olive oil - and it's good news for Croatia. The country's olive oil won 32 gold and 18 silver medals, bolstering Croatia's status as one of the world's best olive oil producers. Brilliant olive oil producers like Chiavalon, Belić Selection and Salvela Aurum snagged a gold prize out of 903 samples from 26 countries. The year’s best olive oils were unveiled at a press conference streamed live from New York. The results of the competition are followed by producers, importers, distributors chefs, food service professionals and journalists around the world.

The riviera (or riva) in the city of Pag, on Pag island, has been renovated. Photos released by the civil engineering company responsible for the works, PGP Zagreb, show the waterside walkway looking resplendent, just in time for the summer season.In addition to repairing the coastal wall, the company have added two new pontoons to the harbour capable of holding an extra 100 boats to its existing capacity.Pag is the fifth-largest Croatian island and the one with the longest coastline. It is famous for its salt production, its lamb, wine and cheese and for its lace. The city of Novalja, in the northern part of the island, is perhaps the place on Pag most famous to visitors as it is the site of the famous Zrće Beach and its waterside nightclubs and festivals. But, the city of Pag is actually the biggest on the island and an import port servicing the island's essential tourist industry.

Social media meme sensation 'Grumpy Cat' has sadly died. The internet star rose to global fame because of her supposedly grumpy looks in 2012. She was aged just seven years old at the time of her death, earlier this week. Known to her family as Tardar Sauce, the cat's image was the source of thousands of internet memes in every imaginable language, including Croatian. Tardar lived in Phoenix, Arizona and is estimated to have earned more than $100m for her owners because of her worldwide popularity. In response to the news of the cat's death, one local commentator wrote on Facebook 'If everyone who looked miserable was able to earn that much money, Croatia would be one of the richest nations on earth. RIP Grumpy Cat'  

Spring is usually a time in Croatia when the short sleeved t-shirts and shorts come back out of the wardrobe and people laze on the grass of town centre parks. This May in Croatia has however been marked with freakishly cold temperatures, storms, torrential rain and destructive winds. Snowfall as substantial as anything seen midwinter has fallen on Sljeme, the mountain immediately to the north of Zagreb, as well as in some areas of Lika and Gorski Kotor. Luckily, though, the bad weather stops here and the country should be back to its sunny best from Friday. As reported in Time Out Croatia last week, the unsettled conditions have affected much of Europe as Arctic winds have made their way down onto the continent. Residents of Zagreb are usually happy with late snow falling on their nearby mountain as it extends the skiing season. But, this year's weird conditions have taken most people by surprise. Just two weeks ago, people were climbing the mountain in summer clothes; now, access to the peak is closed due to the bad conditions. The coldest temperatures ever recorded for this time of year have also been taken on some parts of the coast. Snowfall on SljemeZagreb has been battered by storms within the last week. The force of the gales was enough to bring down many trees, damage the outdoor terraces of many bars and cause rubbish to be strewn across the city centre and its squares. Effects on the country's agricultural industries could be a lot more

An art collective called Secret Mapping Experiment have visited the village of Podgarić in the Moslavina area of Croatia, installing one of their temporary video mapping projects on the region's famous war memorial. Captured in stunning photography, the video mapping lends a new perspective to the 50-year-old monument. Secret Mapping Experiment are an arts group, mostly from Hungary, whose numbers can swell to as many as 159 depending on the project they undertake. They visited the Monument to the Revolution of the people of Moslavina memorial in spring 2019, decamping at night and making their art under the cover of darkness. The Monument to the Revolution of the people of Moslavina is one of the most striking and famous of all the Yugoslavian-era war memorials. It stands 10 metres tall and 20 metres wide. The communist regime of Yugoslavia commissioned many famous sculptors and architects, such as Bogdan Bogdanović, Gradimir Medaković, Vojin Bakić, Miodrag Živković, Jordan and Iskra Grabul, to design similar modernist structures following the Second World War. Many of the memorials commemorate the victims of fascism and hold a specific inspiration and meaning. The monument in Moslavina is no exception. During the Second World War, Podgarić became a key encampment for the Partizan army, who were trying to free Croatia from the ruling, Nazi-sponsored Ustaša regime. A large field hospital was built in the village which accepted many hundreds of injured soldiers. The monumen