museum shop of the dubrovnik museums

54 dubrovnik neretvA CountY
Agritourism
Agroturizam Laptalo Gromača 56, Orašac, tel.
(+385-20) 88 11 86/(+385-) 099 218 36 12, 098
72 51 02, zlaptalo2710@net.hr, www.laptalo-agro.
hr. Not far from Dubrovnik in a village named Gromača
you’ll find this family smallholding. Throughout the year,
if you call ahead, you can visit and enjoy home-made
dishes cooked in the traditional way, and sample the
family’s liqueurs, wines and olive oil. Try the local sweet
specialities arancine (orange), kontonjata (quince) and
mantala (grape, orange, nuts and spices).QOpen by
prior arrangement. IK
Konoba Vinica - Monković family Pridvorje,
Ljuta, tel. (+385-20) 79 12 44/(+385-) 098 34 54
59, monkovic@konobavinica.com, www.konobavinica.com.
Excellent option in the Konavle region south
of Cavtat. If you ask nicely, the Monković family who run
the place may show you their collection of folk costumes
as you digest your home made prosciutto, cheese, roast
meat, trout and garden salad. A drop of home made
rakija would go down a treat too… Q Open by prior
arrangement. (50 - 110kn). PALB
Neretva
Neretva river delta - Orange groves and water life
If you visit Dubrovnik in the spring, you may be surprised to
see ripe oranges lying on the ground everywhere you walk.
Orange trees are so common that the fruit is often ignored,
inducing a twinge of regret in visitors who have to part with
good money for them back home. Obviously, the warm climate
gives the people of the Dubrovnik region these southern
fruits. But there is one more life-giver - the River Neretva.
It starts its life as a brazen young thing, rushing green and
impetuous under the famous stone bridge at Mostar, upriver in
Eugen Miljan - Konavle, Ljuta
Herzegovina. In Croatia, it spreads out open arms to meet the
sea, creating a swampy region. Generations of backbreaking
work mean that this area today is a fertile region sometimes
called Croatia’s California. As you drive north to Metković, you
can stop at roadside stalls and pick up sacks of mandarins,
local honey and spirits. It is also sometimes called Croatia’s
Venice, as the life of the people is closely tied up with boats,
used for transporting pretty much everything around here.
The region has its own types of wooden boat; a smaller kind
called a trupa, and a larger one called a lađa. Although these
traditional boats largely died out, in recent years an annual
race which attracts competing teams from around the world
looks set to revive the picturesque tradition - the boats have
a curiously flattish construction which is very attractive but
definitely renders their navigation a challenge! More curious
still is the water life of the valley. The traditional dishes of
the area are often centred around two aquatic inhabitants,
the frog and the eel. Both are made into a tomato casserole
called brudet - you can try it in the popular restaurant at Villa
Neretva at the town of Metković, where accommodation,
tours by boat and photo safaris are also offered. The area is
also rich in bird life, particularly storks and coots, the latter
being traditional hunting game. Near the town of Ploče you can
see the Baćina lakes from the main road - a spectacular chain
of seven interconnecting freshwater lakes, plus one separate
one. They are beautifully clean and have beaches suitable
for swimming. It is hoped that the region will be proclaimed
a nature park in the near future.
Tourist information
Tourist Information Centre of
Metković Tourist Board Stjepana
Radića 1, Metković, tel. (+385-20) 68
10 20, www.neretva.info. QOpen 07:00
- 15:00. Closed Sat, Sun.
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