My baby boy V. is 9 months old. Whaaaat? Yes, I can’t believe it too. The pregnancy seemed to drag on forever but these past 9 months have gone by so fast. A blink of an eye and he has changed from a sleepy newborn to active and strong baby. This made me think of my babymoon last August. I didn’t travel internationally during my pregnancy apart from a day trip to Italy with my best friend. Instead my husband and I made lots of day trips locally and we also took several weekend trips.
I really wanted to go away somewhere by the end of my pregnancy so after some serious thinking and some luck I found a great deal for a lovely apartment in Gorskikotar region of Croatia. Now, Gorski kotar is fondly nicknamed littleSwitzerland because it’s an area full of forests and mountains and it’s rich in wildlife. Gorski kotar is totally off the beaten path destination in Croatia unlike its coast.
Rijeka is the third biggest Croatian city and its main seaport. Rijeka has also been announced as European Capital of Culture for 2020. The craziest time of the year to visit Rijeka is during the carnival or the so-called fifth season. The International Carnival Parade had its humble beginnings back in 1982 when only three masked groups paraded through the city. Now, more than a hundred masked groups from Croatia and other countries entertain more than a 150 000 visitors with their colourful costumes. The tradition of wearing a mask in the period before Lent in this region of Croatia goes back centuries. The most traditional costume is that of Zvončari–men wear animal skins and horns and big bells to scare away the winter and welcome in the spring. Zvončari are on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. You can see how they look like here.
A month of carnival activities includes Rijeka Carnival Queen Pageant, a masked ball, carnival dances, children’s carnival parade and carnival snowboard session in the center of the town as well as a masked car rally. The culmination of all this is the International Carnival parade which begins at noon and lasts until the evening. This year it was held on 11 February. Since we went with our baby we didn’t stay long so I don’t have a lot of photos to share with you. Therefore, I’m posting also some photos from the carnival of 2015.
I’m sure you’ve heard about Venice Carnival and Rio de Janeiro Carnival but now you also know about Rijeka Carnival. What distinguishes this carnival from all the others is that groups mainly make their own costumes which can be inspired by tradition, popular books and movies and quite often by the current political situation. For the locals the procession of Zvončari around suburbs of Rijeka and nearby villages is more important than the more recent carnival events. However, the main event for the tourists is the International Carnival Parade.
It was rather difficult to choose just 10 photos of different areas of Croatia to inspire you to visit my country. I’m fed up with too many blog posts with titles such as 5 cities you must visit in Croatia or 10 places to see in Croatia and such which only feature seaside towns and mainly those on the southern Croatian coast called Dalmatia, e.g. Dubrovnik and Split. There are many other gorgeous seaside towns and islands apart from the already mentioned Dubrovnik and Split. Besides, Croatia has many amazing places far away from the sea too. There are castles, mountains, plains, forests, wheat fields, forgotten villages and sleepy continental towns. I know, I haven’t exactly written much about those either but I’ll get around to it eventually 🙂 However, you can find posts about several Croatian islands on my blog that aren’t as heavily featured as Hvar island for instance.
Hopefully, this post will make you want to visit Croatia if you haven’t already been. I know, who hasn’t heard of Dubrovnik after watching the Game of Thrones? FYI, Dubrovnik was a powerful merchant republic in its past much like Venice and anyone visiting it should be aware of that. Also, I strongly suggest to visit Istria and Kvarner regions for a beach holiday+culture, not just the southern Croatian coast. 🙂 Furthermore, the next time you’re imagining a hot mug of mulled wine in your hand and Christmas lights why don’t you consider visiting Zagreb and its magical Christmas markets? Or see the biggest carnival parade in Croatia in Rijeka in February? Or go castle-hunting in Zagorje? What about tasting some delicious Croatian food in Slavonija region?
Anyway, let the photos do the talking and convince you to visit Croatia!
Very true, right? At least all the cat owners know this very well. I got a cat named Timmy when I was 15. Then my home was my parents’ home in my hometown. Briefly I considered England my home too but when I got back my cat was furious and ignored me for days. Then, when I moved in with my future husband I decided to convince him to get a cat to make our home a real home. Even though he never had a pet previously, apart from a turtle, he agreed and now our cat Munchkin loves him to death. Not me, him. Injustice! But ginger cats have a mind of their own, as really all cats do.
London
As every traveller I quickly feel at home in most of the places I visit. As soon as I unpack my suitcase in a hostel/hotel room I feel at home. At least for the duration of the trip that place is my temporary home even though my cat isn’t there. Although my real home is in Croatia I consider England and London my soul home. A place where I feel at ease, a place where I feel I belong, a place where rules are obeyed and where everything stops when you have a cup of tea. Of course, my family and friends make a place truly my home. But you can feel at home at another place too, can’t you?
