Dubrovnik and Dalmacija travel guide

Streetsmart
An outdoor religious event in Split
General Information
Language
Croatian grammar
is complex. The key to
good pronunciation is to
master the letter sounds,
including the accented ,
, ž, š, ž and (see
p126). Every letter is
pronounced, and the
emphasis is almost
always on the first
syllable. English, Italian
and German are widely
understood in Dalmatia,
but you will find that any
efforts to speak Croatian
will be appreciated.
Electricity
and Water
Croatia is on 220V/50
cycles and standard plugs
are of the European twopin,
round-pronged type.
Bottled mineral water has
become fashionable in
Dalmatia, but tap water
is usually safe to drink.
Dalmatians claim that the
water from lakes and
streams is clean and free
of bacteria, but it is
sensible to purify it.
Opening Hours
As a rule of thumb
Dalmatians conduct
business from 8am to
4pm Monday to Friday.
Banks are, however, open
from 7am to 7pm. Post
offices serve customers
from 7am to 7pm during
the week and also from
7am to 1pm on Saturdays.
Café-bars generally open
daily at 7am and close at
11pm, although some
keep later hours. Most
restaurants also stay
open until 11pm.
Time Differences
Croatia is in the
Central European Time
Zone, which operates on
GMT plus one hour. For
daylight saving, clocks are
put back an hour at the
end of March and forward
an hour in late September.
Croatia is one hour ahead
of the UK, six to nine
hours ahead of the USA
and seven to nine hours
behind Australia.
Tourist Radio
During the tourist
season, Hrvatska Radio
Televizija (HRT) broadcasts
a limited radio news
bulletin in English and
German. HR2 has an
hourly traffic bulletin, also
in English and German.
Check frequencies locally
as they vary.
Further Reading
The following books
are useful sources on
Croatia’s recent history:
Marcus Tanner’s Croatia:
A Nation Forged in War,
Slavenka Drakuli’s Balkan
Express: Fragments from
the Other Side of War
and Stipe Mesi’s The
Demise of Yugoslavia: A
Political Memoir.
Government
Croatia has a multiparty
parliamentary
system, with separate
legislative and executive
functions. The country’s
first democratically
elected president, Stipe
Mešic, is currently serving
a second term in office;
Prime Minister Ivo
Sanader and the HDZ
(Croatian Democratic
Union) have been in
power since 2003.
Economy
Agriculture, food
production, manufacturing
(textiles, timber, metalworking
and electrical),
chemical industries,
shipping and tourism are
all vital components of
the Croatian economy.
Recent years have seen
considerable foreign
investment, particularly in
the field of construction,
and Croatia has increased
its exports to the West.
One black cloud is a high
level of unemployment
(around 19%). Croatia is
currently in negotiation to
become a member of the
European Union.
Religion
Recent surveys
suggest that almost 90
per cent of Croats are
Roman Catholic, just
under 5 per cent are Serb
Orthodox, and around
1 per cent are Muslim.
Society and
Culture
Dalmatians are passionate
about food and fashion
and express forthright
opinions. A strong national
consciousness reveals
itself in folkloric traditions,
particularly in ilipi (see
p94) and Korula Town
(see pp16–17). In this
Catholic society there
are some conservative
attitudes to divorce and
homosexuality.
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Preceding pages The Stradun, Dubrovnik