Croatia

[Ray]

Ray would be most interested to read this article.:mmm:

Hehehe , I was amused to read it , indeed !
Much of similar euphoria and/or one-sided propaganda was experienced , during my recent stay - pity that the actual facts of life , as personally observed and experienced there : didn't add up to quite that much ;
we returned safely yesterday and ( for the reasons I might yet describe later ) the last 200km from Luxembourg into Bru was the best , most pleasant and least expensive part of the entire 3000km+ journey .
I might yet be posting a few descriptions and memories and comments of the trip and stay in Croatia , another time - for now , briefly , however :
a ) whatever the ruling , scandals-ridden and shaky HDZ-party might advertise in media daily , there is absolutely NIL certainty yet that Croatia will be admitted into disunited , over-enlarged and tired EuroClub , in 2009 , 2010 , 2011 or whenever , much hanging on the watered-down version of the new EU-constitution , as well as on progress in talks EU-Serbia etc...;
b ) Croatian property : prices are already substantially higher than those in Germany , Benelux , Portugal , Bulgaria , France , parts of Spain ...apples for apples , it is hard-to-impossible to find much value for one's money there , or any upward potential , IMHO ;the "inevitable" accession to EU has been factored into the 3KEuro per sq.m. long ago , sadly , and greed wins over fear everytime , for the time being !
c ) cost of living is substantially higher than is generally perceived ; items like fresh veggies , alcohol of all kinds , clothing and footwear and accessories , medicaments , cosmetics , electricals , cars ...all are visibly more expensive than in NW Europe , while at the same time the assortment is mostly sadly lacking , as is often the case with the service , too ( customer being treated as a mug or a victim , rather than a King ) , there being a huge attitude problem on part of the natives , who expect it to be their God-given right to skin the tourists for up to 6 weeks' holiday season and then live off the proceeds until the next season comes ...;
d ) the roads , mostly , still vary from poor to very poor , signalisation is abysmal , the ( very ) few proper ( if often too narrow and incomplete ! ) M-ways really do cost a lot ( over 3 quid/5Euros to drive 36km Zagreb to Slovenian border at Macelj ! ) , the bottlenecks and the roadworks are everywhere and many drivers thrive on maniacal aggression and utter mindlesness ...
I said I'd try to keep it brief , for now , so : Cheers , from Capital of EUrope !