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sibenik times
THE
ISSUE 31 | SatUrday, jUly 4
th
2009 | yEar II
POWErEd By
šibenskilist
Water and naturein perfect harmony
Krka is one of the Croatian national parks, named after the river Krka that itencloses and is located just a few kilometers northeast of the city of Sibenik.It was proclaimed a national park in 1985 and is the seventh national park inCroatia. Watching the waterfalls in full flow is truly a breathtaking sight.
 
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 sibenik times 
saturdayjuly 4
th
2009.
Welcome to our beautiful cityand to the thirteenth editionof the second season of “TheSibenik Times”. More and morepeople are moving around andsetting up hone in anothercountry. The European Unionhas brought with it the pos-sibility to live and work in an-other member country withoutdifficulties. Every year the visarequirements for living outsideof Europe are eased. The term“global village” has never beenmore accurate. Communica-tions are improving on almosta daily basis, and transporta-tion is expanding and develop-ing just as fast. Technologicaldevelopments with email, we-bcams and reduced phone costsalso mean that you can speakto family and friends as oftenas you would when you were athome. One of my friends fromEngland asked me the otherday about living in a foreigncountry. Although it’s just athought he was curious about“life on the other side.” Afterthinking for some time I triedto pinpoint the important fac-tors and came up with threekey phases. The first is concep-tion – you plan your move fromstart to finish, the second is –the transition phase – this isthe first two years away fromhome, and the last is the inte-gration phase – when you startto become part of the localcommunity. Each phase has itsown special demands and itsown problems. But that if hereally wants to try to live in aforeign country then do it, youonly live once after all so enjoyit as much as you can.
FROM THE EDITOR
SPEaK UP!
We wou ove o e fom ou.Pese wie o sen n e-mi ous bou ou s in Sibenik. yo-u commens e vube o usn e mos ineesing eeswi be pubise eve week. In-eesing n unusu poos eso wecome. tnks.MarK thOMaSmk.oms@sibenik-imes.com
BLUE FLAGS FOR 115 BEACHES AND20 MARINAS IN CROATIA
 
NO SMOKE´ RESPONDS TO BAR AND RESTAURANT PROPRIETORS
 
INTERNAL CROATIANFLIGHTS FOR LESS
 
NORTH DALMATIA ISLANDS RECOMMENDED
 
TRAVELLERS ADVISED ON HOW TO TIP IN CROATIA
Croatia has been awarded 115 Blue Flags forbeaches and 20 Blue Flags for marinas this year.To get the exclusive eco-label Blue Flag, a beach ormarina has to meet ecological, educational, secu-rity and service standards. The Blue Flag Progra-mme is owned and run by the independent non-profit organisation Foundation for EnvironmentalEducation (FEE). The programme is an internatio-nal project started by the EU Council in 1981. Cro-atia has ten-per-cent fewer Blue Flags this year, butthat is because of recession, not ecological issues.Because of lack of money, there were fewer appli-cations for Blue Flags this year. ‘Lijepa Nasa’ (OurBeautiful Land) association head Ante Kutle saidtoday (Weds) a Blue Flag was important to many tourists when they choose their summer-holiday destination, the daily Vjesnik has reported. Kutlesaid: “Last year, Croatia received 145 Blue Flagsfor beaches and marinas that ranked it seventh onthe world list.” The Blue Flag was awarded thisyear to a total of 3,338 beaches and marinas in various countries.People travelling across Croatia for their holi-days will now have the opportunity to purchasecheaper flights. National carrier Croatia Airlineshas reduced the cost of some of its internal routesthat locals and holidaymakers alike may be ableto take advantage of if they book quickly enough- the cheapest tickets are apparently the first to besold. Citing the Vecernji newspaper, the CroatianTimes has revealed that Zagreb flights to Split andDubrovnik can be found for 210 kunas, includingall taxes. People heading on a Croatia holiday fromthe capital to Pula or Zadar will be able to locatedeals for 190 kunas. Some ten per cent of flighttickets for these routes will be made available atthe aforementioned cheaper rate. An alternativemethod of making the most out of a Croatia ho-liday is to hire a car and stop off at the variouspoints of interest across the country. However,tourists were warned earlier this year that they should book car hire facilities early because theglobal recession has had an effect on the numberof available vehicles in nations across Europe. A Croatia travel destination that holi-daymakers may wish to consider this sum-mer is the Kornati Islands. The CroatianNational Tourist Board has highlightedthe region as somewhere those lookingfor accommodation in Croatia might wantto stay. It described the Kornati Islands asthe “most indented island group in theMediterranean” and detailed a number of its attractions to tourists. People visitingcan head to the Kornati National Park orthe Telascica Natural Park, which offerstourists a deep bay in which they can relaxand really enjoy their holiday in Croatia.Elsewhere in the country, people headingto Croatia can enjoy the Zadar Summerof Theatre on the Adriatic coast from to-day until the start of August. According tothe tourist board, the festival gives gueststo Croatia a chance to “add a special to-uch of culture” to their summer holiday by watching various theatre productionsand dance displays.The Croatian anti-smoking associati-on “Bez dima” (No Smoke) has issuedan open letter in response to bar and re-staurant owners’ opposition to the newanti-smoking law. The Croatian Resta-urant Association has claimed bars andrestaurants have lost 70-to-80 per cent of their business because of the law, whichentered into force in May. The associati-on has recommended the Austrian modelof solving smoking problems that givesbar and restaurant proprietors the rightto decide whether their establishments will be smoking or non-smoking places of business. Bez dima is claiming the asso-ciation is trying to deceive the public be-cause Croatia has had the equivalent of the Austrian model for the last 10 yearsand no restaurant or bar owner has de-cided to ban smoking. Bez dima is char-ging that bar and restaurant proprietorssimply want nothing more than “a per-mit for smoking,” which is unethical. Bezdima is calling on Croats to think twicebefore signing the Croatian Restaurant Association’s petition against the anti-smoking law and preparing to return tostinky, smoky and fusty bars. Bez dima isalso criticising the media for neglecting tomention the positive impact of the law.For Americans, tipping people whoprovide a good service is a natural occu-rrence - but the culture is different in Cro-atia. Travel expert Franklin Xuereb toldExaminer.com that people who choose toholiday in Croatia may not always need toleave a tip after they have enjoyed a mealor other refreshments. He said that if tipsare left in Croatian restaurants or cafes,they generally comprise a “small amount”of money. “It is only in the tourist areas which servers may be expecting a tip,”he explained. “In remote areas unexplo-red by tourists, leaving a tip is generally unheard of.” In other monetary-relatednews earlier this year, the UK’s Post Offi-ce reported that the Croatian kuna wasone of its best-selling foreign exchangemarkets during the first quarter of 2009.This suggests that more Britons could beembarking on a Croatia travel experiencein the coming months.
 
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