21-07-2007, 07:34 AM
For those on this SAffers' Forum who'd still be tempted to get there in a hurry :
- for many days now , the recorded daily temperatures are 35 to 40C in the shade ( today even ! ) both on the coast and inland ;
- on any number of Saturdays , it has taken poor optimists of many and varied nationalities up to 7 ( seven ) hours to "drive" from the capital of Zagreb to nearest coast at Rijeka ( 186 km ) on a so-called motorway , where you also get to pay for the privilege of waiting for hours to enter a single-file tunnel ;
- the accidents , often caused by frustrated Slovaks , Czechs , Hungarians and others who have already travelled from afar , often having already suffered the indignities of costly Austrian roads , are simply horrendous !
- the state TV claims that last year , " over 670 " lives were lost in accidents on Croatian roads ;
- the sunniest island in the Adriatic , Hvar , one of the nicest to visit and supposedly best geared for better-class tourism , has some 5.000 beds available in hotels , B & Bs and private accommodation ; now being the peak of the european tourist season , some 750 are actually taken , all the rest are empty ( source : "Free Dalmatia" daily , of today ) ;
- most operators report significant declines in numbers of visiting Brits , Germans and Skandies ( highest-spending tourists ) ; the Ministry of Tourism confidently and bravely predicts a regular 10% annual increase in the number of visitors nonetheless - presumably , this will be achieved by ever-higher numbers of Russians and east-Europeans ?
- a close friend paid 39 HR-Kuna ( over 5 Euros/over 3pounds50p ) for a quarter of fresh watermelon , in the open-air fresh produce market on the northern island of Krk , 2 weeks ago !
There , I kept it brief , yet again ?!
- for many days now , the recorded daily temperatures are 35 to 40C in the shade ( today even ! ) both on the coast and inland ;
- on any number of Saturdays , it has taken poor optimists of many and varied nationalities up to 7 ( seven ) hours to "drive" from the capital of Zagreb to nearest coast at Rijeka ( 186 km ) on a so-called motorway , where you also get to pay for the privilege of waiting for hours to enter a single-file tunnel ;
- the accidents , often caused by frustrated Slovaks , Czechs , Hungarians and others who have already travelled from afar , often having already suffered the indignities of costly Austrian roads , are simply horrendous !
- the state TV claims that last year , " over 670 " lives were lost in accidents on Croatian roads ;
- the sunniest island in the Adriatic , Hvar , one of the nicest to visit and supposedly best geared for better-class tourism , has some 5.000 beds available in hotels , B & Bs and private accommodation ; now being the peak of the european tourist season , some 750 are actually taken , all the rest are empty ( source : "Free Dalmatia" daily , of today ) ;
- most operators report significant declines in numbers of visiting Brits , Germans and Skandies ( highest-spending tourists ) ; the Ministry of Tourism confidently and bravely predicts a regular 10% annual increase in the number of visitors nonetheless - presumably , this will be achieved by ever-higher numbers of Russians and east-Europeans ?
- a close friend paid 39 HR-Kuna ( over 5 Euros/over 3pounds50p ) for a quarter of fresh watermelon , in the open-air fresh produce market on the northern island of Krk , 2 weeks ago !
There , I kept it brief , yet again ?!