tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54537848976130673092011-11-28T01:49:48.365+01:00Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.comBlogger2361100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-64819437688333549522009-11-22T22:14:00.002+01:002009-11-22T22:27:25.591+01:00

Een paar maanden geleden verscheen het boek De poppenspeler en de duivelin van de Vlaamse schrijver Johan de Boose. Ik heb het nog niet helemaal uit, dus ik kan er geen afgerond oordeel over geven. Vooralsnog sluit ik me aan bij de recensie van David Jan Godfroid op diens Belgradoblog. Ook ik heb moeite met de filosofische en literaire dwarsverbanden die De Boose voortdurend legt, want hoewel

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-13497289655187471822009-11-19T08:25:00.001+01:002009-11-19T12:06:30.153+01:00

"Als gevolg van het mislukken van het debat over de grondwet zal de overheid in Bosnië en Herzegovina nog machtelozer blijven dan hij (sic) al is. Maffia-achtige nationalisten, dubieuze religieuze leiders en door tycoons omgekochte politici krijgen daarmee nog meer speelruimte om machteloze, arme, aan willekeur overgeleverde mensen nog verder te manipuleren. De EU en Carl Bildt hebben daarmee

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-43643172176218145362009-11-18T17:19:00.005+01:002009-11-18T17:49:04.165+01:00

Vandaag is het achttien jaar geleden dat Vukovar in handen viel van het Servische leger, hoewel dat officieel nog het Joegoslavische Volksleger heette. Ook vorig jaar en het jaar daarvoor besteedde ik daar aandacht aan. Dit is alweer de derde maal dat ik de kaarsen langs de Vukovarstraat in Zagreb fotografeerde.Al is de ceremonie elk jaar min of meer dezelfde, de duizenden kaarsen blijven een

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-39680013202823632842009-11-14T13:07:00.004+01:002009-11-14T13:58:40.831+01:00

Lately I don't have much time to write posts for my blog, but I want to take away the impression that Croatian Crescent is dead. The easiest and fastest thing to do is to refer to other sources with interesting stories, and that's precisely what I am going to do.Babies first. The Economist writes about alarming demographic trends in several Balkan countries. I have earlier paid some attention (

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-1250635395796394992009-10-06T08:48:00.001+02:002009-10-06T10:09:51.956+02:00

A few months ago asbestos was found in Lisinksi. Lisinski is Zagreb's one and only concert hall, so performances will have to be relocated for as long as the removal of asbestos will last. The famous Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, for example, will now (today) play in Dom sportova (House of Sports), an indoor sporting arena. This concrete bunker seems a weird choice for a renowned orchestra that

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-33202759001258281312009-09-30T09:40:00.006+02:002009-09-30T11:10:16.024+02:00

Quinque Ecclesiae, Quinque Basilicae, Fünfkirchen. Van de oorspronkelijke vijf kerken die Pécs zijn naam gaven is weinig meer over, dus er moeten andere redenen zijn geweest om Pécs uit te roepen tot European Capital of Culture in 2010. Samen met Istanbul en Essen welteverstaan. Het motto van Pécs is "De grenzeloze stad". Aardig voor wie uit de Europese Unie komt, maar voor Kroaten - buren nota

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-31739695296614895312009-09-25T18:12:00.006+02:002009-09-27T17:14:44.168+02:00

Deze week was ik twee keer in Hongarije. De eerste keer per auto bij het Balatonmeer en de tweede keer in Pecs, een uur of vier treinen vanaf Zagreb. Hoewel (continentaal) Kroatië met geen enkel land zo'n lange gedeelde geschiedenis (1102-1918) heeft als met Hongarije, stellen de Kroatisch-Hongaarse verhoudingen niet veel voor. Wenen is in alle opzichten het voorbeeld voor Zagreb, Duits en

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-65371965761559226682009-09-13T10:30:00.004+02:002009-09-13T11:45:18.195+02:00

"De Engelsen missen iets," zei de Kroatische bondscoach Slaven Bilić aan de vooravond van de WK-kwalificatiewedstrijd Engeland-Kroatië. Wat dat "iets" is, zullen we nooit weten, want Engeland vernederde Kroatië met 5-1. "Het grootste voetbalverlies uit onze geschiedenis," zei een wanhopige commentator. Schrale troost dat die geschiedenis pas in 1993 begon. De ironie is nu dat als Kroatië nog naar

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-24828045135916613472009-09-11T15:55:00.005+02:002009-09-13T11:46:34.457+02:00

Ask any Croat what "deblokada" means and you'll get the same answer: "Deblokada would be the end of Slovenia's criminal obstruction of Croatia's EU negotiations". The word has dominated the headlines for a long time: Deblokade now! Soon deblokada! Soon deblokada? - and many other versions. Today Slovenia and Croatia agreed, finally, on a deblokada. Prime ministers Pahor (Slovenia) and Kosor (

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-58005204519640513332009-09-05T13:01:00.004+02:002009-09-05T14:11:50.248+02:00

Anthony Rose, a British wine journalist, focuses in today's The Independent on Croatian wine. His conclusion: "[S]cratch beneath the surface and it becomes clear that Croatia has a diverse indigenous wine culture whose dry whites and reds, as well as its sparkling and sweet wines, have the potential to add significantly to the wine styles we enjoy in the UK." Surface, in this case, refers to

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-29912848997770365922009-09-05T10:08:00.005+02:002009-09-05T11:57:58.703+02:00

De site Presseurop biedt vertalingen van krantenartikelen in diverse talen van de Europese Unie. Die stukken komen niet alleen uit de bekende Europese kranten (Le Monde, The Daily Telegraph, enzovoort; de bronnen die steevast door Welingelichte kringen worden geraadpleegd) maar ook uit kranten die in Nederland door bijna niemand gelezen worden, maar wel in Hongarije, IJsland of Roemenië.

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-28920030906368125642009-09-04T14:40:00.007+02:002009-09-04T16:10:51.284+02:00

Alex Crevar, a New York Times correspondent, spent 36 hours in Zagreb and wrote an article about his impressions and experiences."The Croatian capital is in the midst of an identity crisis. Geographically, Croatia is indisputably part of the Balkan Peninsula, but call a chic Zagrebian Balkan and prepare to get an earful. While Zagreb’s vibe is indeed more Vienna than, say, Belgrade, it can also

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-71478606934462854892009-09-03T13:11:00.005+02:002009-09-03T15:01:56.878+02:00

Vorige week zag ik een aflevering van Future Express, een programma dat met vertraging door BVN wordt uitgezonden. De aflevering "Zagreb-Mostar Express" (Aflevering 3 - Ontwaken in een nieuwe droom - Bosnië) ging over voormalig Joegoslavië, de oorlog van toen, de jongeren van nu en hun dromen over morgen. De aflevering is hier te bekijken.Strikt genomen rijdt de trein van Zagreb naar Ploče, beide

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-41290148470536832482009-08-27T13:36:00.002+02:002009-08-27T15:30:49.607+02:00

Serbian tabloid Kurir, a paper with a questionable reputation I must add, claims to know why Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader quit his job without giving any explanation. Sanader "has AIDS". Kurir does not mention any sources, but refers to the treatment Sanader underwent in hospital, beginning August. Sanader, while cruising the Adriatic, urgently had go to a hospital, where he was

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-8839359291470620722009-08-12T14:57:00.006+02:002009-08-12T16:18:45.508+02:00

U2 gave two concerts this week in Zagreb. It was the biggest event in a decade as famous artists usually shun Zagreb. Tens of thousands of tourists came to Zagreb. It was unusual to see the streets teeming with foreigners, because Zagreb is not a tourist destination and many Croats spend the summer on the coast.After two tumultuous days, Zagreb is as it always is in summer. Hot, empty, boring.

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-24980667195639494972009-07-26T10:19:00.005+02:002009-08-12T16:20:25.271+02:00

After vacation in cooler parts of Europe, Croatia welcomed me with a heatwave. Last week temperatures rose as high as 39 in some parts of the country. This week will be hot too, with 36 degrees expected on Thursday.When back in Zagreb, first thing I did was getting an electric fan in nearby Getro (my apartment is not air conditioned). It was made in Croatia and packed in a simple, white carton

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-52267369138082096052009-07-04T08:45:00.000+02:002009-07-04T08:45:00.903+02:00

This is my 100th post on this blog. Time for a beer and a break. I'm going on vacation for two weeks.I have never had more visitors than the last two days, but almost none of them showed interest for the advertisements on this weblog. I can't even fill up my rent-a-car tank with the money that Google Adsense owes me.The Croatian Tourist Organization wants us spend our holidays in Croatia. With

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-63893172166776593272009-07-02T19:18:00.004+02:002009-07-02T20:14:16.845+02:00

One and a half day after Croatian prime minister Sanader resigned we know as little about his reason as at the very beginning. Croatian society is taken hostage by Sanader's refusal to say why he stepped down. He said it was for "personal reasons", but immediately added that "thank God" he is not ill. So what is he? Tired? I guess so. But name me one prime minister or president who is not tired.

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-56285100700845485762009-07-01T19:39:00.005+02:002009-07-01T19:52:37.297+02:00

This is the new face of Croatia. Or old face, because Jadranka Kosor was always by Sanader's side. This is the bio of his most faithful supporter, from the website of the Croatian government.* Date of birth: 1st July 1953 in PakracEducation* Graduated at the Faculty of Law in Zagreb * Elementary School and High School completed in LipikProfessional career* 1991-1995 As a journalist of Croatian

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-17662403059735747942009-07-01T15:46:00.004+02:002009-07-02T20:15:55.396+02:00

An overview of the reactions and consequences after Croatian prime minister Sanader announced his resignation today. Sanader also stepped down as president of the ruling HDZ party. He won a second term in office less than two years ago.Main opposition leader Zoran Milanović (SDP) said that Croatia needs new elections. Ljubo Jurčić, a foremost economist and half-hearted SPD member, thinks that

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-9272073835647422462009-07-01T14:39:00.006+02:002009-07-01T15:43:49.500+02:00

Update: Asked for the reason of his resignation, Sanader stated that "I can't say that my resignation is not related to those problems", referring to the Slovenian blockade of Croatia's negotiations with the European Union.I turned on the TV to watch the tennis match between Roger Federer and Ivo Karlović on HRT2. Match of the year, the commentator told us yesterday. Instead, the news of the day

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-20117262778871312242009-06-28T11:41:00.000+02:002009-06-28T11:41:01.535+02:00

Statesmen who visit Zagreb and are being driven from the airport to the center always take the Ulica hrvatske bratske zajednice, the Croatian Brotherhood Society Street or something. Croats have a talent for abbreviating lengthy names of streets and squares, but unfortunately there seems to be no alternative for Ulica hrvatke bratske zajednice. Any suggestions? Traditionally, at the end (or

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-16848808847636069552009-06-27T16:56:00.006+02:002009-06-28T14:33:07.366+02:00

Enough about politics, it's time for a culinary event: cleaning fish. Don't read or scroll down if you can't stand bloody pictures.First a general observation. Buy one, get two. Buy two, get three. Supermarkets in Western Europe try to attract customers that way, but it is unheard of in Croatia. Only recently supermarkets started to discount certain products. In pubs it is not uncommon to see on

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-80571895807124634352009-06-27T15:19:00.002+02:002009-06-27T16:35:00.797+02:00

When Chinese president Hu Jintao left Croatia, his presidential plane was escorted by two Croatian fighter jets. These two jets seems to have violated Slovenian air space. Hardly surprising, I thought. You almost need a helicopter to take off from Zagreb airport if you don't want to enter Slovenian air space, as Zagreb is very close to the Slovenian border.Some Slovenes are very angry about the

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-50362318931606984172009-06-26T12:32:00.004+02:002009-06-26T14:10:03.881+02:00

"The term diaspora refers to the movement of any population sharing common ethnic identity who were either forced to leave or voluntarily left their settled territory, and became residents in areas often far remote from the former." Thus says Wikipedia and so I've always thought. Therefore, it strikes me as unusual to describe Croats living in Bosnia as "diaspora". Yet, this is very common in

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-45056552875854778102009-06-26T11:46:00.005+02:002009-06-26T12:29:22.201+02:00

A service to the poor bastards who are so unlucky to live anywhere but on the Croatian coast. Croatia Airlines lowered the prices of selected domestic flights. If you choose an early or late flight, you can fly from Zagreb to Split, Zadar or Dubrovnik for a price much lower than if you go by car. Zagreb-Dubrovnik by car is a lengthy (at least 9 hours of driving) and expensive trip: 187 kuna toll

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-23669583303761151142009-06-24T15:55:00.002+02:002009-06-24T16:48:27.523+02:00

Last week China's president Hu Jintao visited Croatia. It was only for 24 hours, but Croats were understandably proud. A man who represents a nation of 1,3 billion people takes the time to come to a country with a population that's smaller than Jinan, China's 15th largest city. Hu Jintao spoke friendly words to his Croatian colleague Mesić: "Croatia is China's biggest trading partner in South

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-33456762001908149802009-06-24T15:17:00.001+02:002009-06-24T15:54:42.189+02:00

Browse the morning papers and news sites for a week and you will find numbers about anything. A short selection of this week's offer:Every single day 65 Croats find out they have cancer. Daily 35 die from malignant diseases.Annually 1000 qualified scientists leave Croatia to continue their career abroad. Almost 9000 Croats a year migrate to an EU country to seek a better life. 1 on every 14

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-77754962248143413112009-06-17T12:05:00.004+02:002009-06-17T12:40:04.766+02:00

Train travelers in the Balkans are used to waiting at borders. Officials check your passport and ask: "Nešto za prijaviti?". Something to declare? No one ever declares anything, last of all the Croatian women who smuggle cheap textile from Italy to Zagreb.When Slovenia joined the Schengen area I expected the endless waiting to be over. But no. Villa Opicina, at the Slovenian-Italian border is one

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-37702232754189185192009-06-16T16:41:00.001+02:002009-06-16T16:46:05.116+02:00

Yesterday I wrote about the competition Dubrovnik faces from Montenegro. The bigger problem, of course, is the world wide economic crisis. Dubrovnik's tourist sector saw a 20 to 30 percent fall in business. To counter this downward trend, Dubrovnik mayor Andro Vlahušić said two million kuna would be set apart to finance a management body that will deal with Dubrovnik as a tourist destination.

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-61489022842142893112009-06-15T16:45:00.005+02:002009-06-15T17:44:32.019+02:00

When the government strikes a deal with the Catholic Church you can be sure our liberty is in danger. And so were denied the pleasure of shopping on a Sunday afternoon. For the sake of a handful of childless priests and nuns, many hard working shop owners and parents lost income or even their job as they suddenly had to close their business on Sundays. According to Večernji list already 1152

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-47623986464526457782009-06-15T16:20:00.000+02:002009-06-15T16:32:46.212+02:00

When the Croatian government gave in to the demands of protesting farmers, the minister of Economic Affairs said that he would forbid the import of cheese. Long live Croatian cheese, down with Gorgonzola and Roquefort. I could also say: long live paški sir, but then few of you would know what I meant. That's the problem with Croatian products: even the handful of products that are worth exporting

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-81725947642042114362009-06-11T13:39:00.005+02:002009-06-11T15:00:51.737+02:00

A group of thirty Croatian farmers have blocked a border crossing between Croatia and Bosnia at the village of Slavonski Šamac. They will keep blocking the border until "Zagreb" produces an agreement that makes "farming profitable again". In Zagreb, meanwhile, vice prime minister Jadranka Kosor and Economics minister Damir Polančec are negotiating with the farmers. They refuse to talk to Božidar

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-12369931580969608512009-06-11T11:00:00.001+02:002009-06-11T15:58:15.605+02:00

Hundreds of farmers from Istria, Slavonia and Baranje drove their tractors to Zagreb yesterday and gathered at the Ministry of Agriculture, demanding higher guaranteed prices and financial support. They want to talk to prime minister Sanader and threaten to block Zagreb if their demands are not met. So far the traffic wasn't hindered too much. Today is a national holiday, many took a day off

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-35392405663308174922009-06-10T10:23:00.005+02:002009-06-10T10:55:24.569+02:00

If you are gay and want to visit Zagreb, it might be good to know which spots in town you'd better avoid. Unfortunately, you'll need to go hiking in Medvednica or take a swim in Jarun as the center of Zagreb is crawling with people who might, in the best case, insult you. Zagreb Pride published a map (click to enlarge) that shows the most dangerous locations in town for gays. Not surprisingly,

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-32027573387954676572009-06-04T12:39:00.007+02:002009-06-04T14:01:42.726+02:00

Serge Brammertz is probably the best know Belgian in Croatia. As the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia he is a key judge on Croatia's progress towards EU membership. Brammertz is often bracketed together with "artillery logs", or "topnički dnevnici" in Croatian. The Tribunal thinks to find evidence of excessive shelling of Knin (the Serbian stronghold and

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-34481335952713666752009-06-03T15:25:00.005+02:002009-06-03T16:00:40.782+02:00

There is no end to anti-Croatian propaganda from the Brits. This time Croatia ranks pretty low on the 2009 Peace Index, whatever that might be. The safest country is New Zealand, the least peaceful is Iraq. Croatia ranks 49, in the good company of mostly African nations. Croatia scores especially bad on "Perceptions of criminality in society", "Number of internal security officers and police

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-58592032981228066452009-06-03T14:23:00.005+02:002009-06-03T15:17:15.738+02:00

In 1861 a man called Ante Starčević founded the political party Hrvatska Stranka Prava (Party of Croatian Rights). The HSP's virulent nationalism was not only directed against Vienna and Budapest, but also against the Slav brothers of the Croats - Serbs. Starčević considered Serbs at best as a lower and dirty race. By the end of the nineteenth century, some considered the HSP not radical enough

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-88267058411115362192009-05-30T16:05:00.002+02:002009-05-30T16:38:47.492+02:00

Google News offers news from an impressive number of countries. It even honors the linguistic divisions of some countries: there is Google News België and Google News Belgique. The latter one extensively uses French media, like Le Monde, but that should only please the francophone Walloons. Google News België, in turn, also has articles from the Dutch press. The same goes for Suisse and Schweiz (

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-67099535765827973712009-05-28T11:30:00.004+02:002009-05-28T11:43:41.979+02:00

A man who is suspected of planning to kill Belgium queen Fabiola has been arrested. John B., a Belgian of Scottish descent, claimed to have images of Tito and Boudewijn having sex in a cellar in Belgrade. Click here for more details.Update: John B. is a free man again. He was interrogated but denied to have anything to do with the Tito-Boudewijn case. The police are still investigating his

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-24790006041332082762009-05-28T10:24:00.000+02:002009-05-28T11:27:51.095+02:00

I recently installed Google Analytics on my weblog and decided to share some data with you. Or rather, data about you if you are a regular reader of this blog. By the way, I have absolutely no idea who's actually following this blog. I secretly hope I have a small but faithful group of readers, but so far this blog is basically one-way traffic. That sounds better than saying I wish for more

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-87498819773417169852009-05-27T17:05:00.004+02:002009-05-27T18:22:57.265+02:00

The Croatian alphabet has a number of diacritic marks that modify the pronunciation of a letter. Or better: a letter with a diacritic mark is a separate letter by itself. The letters are often transcribed in translations, so that the word četnik becomes chetnik, ustaša ustasha, Jelačić Jellachich (in older books), and so on. The Jelačić-Jellachich case shows the problem of transliteration. There

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-22909390535127122092009-05-27T14:44:00.003+02:002009-05-27T17:03:07.261+02:00

Sunday is the second and decisive round of the local elections. In Zagreb, Osijek, Velika Gorica, Split and Dubrovnik (and some smaller towns) voters will decide which candidate they like best. The campaigns have been dirty and election rules have been violated. People who abstained from voting in Dubrovnik's first round received a letter from the HDZ party to support HDZ candidate Dubravka Šuica

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-76865791614339953662009-05-25T16:01:00.004+02:002009-05-25T16:32:07.062+02:00

The exceptional high temperatures have caused the death of four elderly people in Sisak. The heat was too much for them while waiting for the bus. Sisak's meteorological station recorded a temperature of 31 degrees around three in the afternoon. More east, in Slavonia, farmers are desperately waiting for rain. The catastrophic drought threatens to ruin their crops in a very early period of the

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-23294299179879797202009-05-24T18:39:00.009+02:002009-05-24T20:29:40.722+02:00

As a continental town Zagreb has no beaches, but it has a green mountain range, Medvednica. It doesn't really make up for the lack of a sea, but it offers a bit of coolness in this exceptionally hot spring. When I went hiking in Medvednica, on the 10th of April, it thought it was pretty warm already, but today's 30 degrees make April feel like a mild winter. Nature was in full bloom, and even

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-41196221467928648022009-05-21T12:41:00.006+02:002009-05-21T13:35:14.212+02:00

It is clear now: the Brits have started a war against Croatia. After negative reports and articles, the Brit Stephen Wolfram (the guy behind search engine Wolfram Alpha) tries to rewrite Croatian history and enlarge Slovenia at the expense of Croatia. Take a look at Wolfram's map of Croatia. You will notice that Slovenia gained the northern part of Istria and in that way secured its access to

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-78087902573103590372009-05-21T11:02:00.005+02:002009-05-21T12:19:38.124+02:00

I woke up this morning with Croatian Radio 1 playing Fleetwood Mac's "Little lies". A little later an angry sounding man started to talk about some American of Croatian descent who's all the time trying to blacken Croatia in the foreign press. This frustrated American-Croatian unsuccessfully tried to buy some real estate and directed his anger against Croatia by writing about corruption in our

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-17464501092760713832009-05-18T10:10:00.007+02:002009-05-18T16:14:55.919+02:00

Croats cast their vote in local elections yesterday. A summary of the results, ordered by the size of towns.In Zagreb incumbent mayor and swanky social democrat Milan Bandić goes to the next round, in which he will have to fight independent candidate Josip Kregar, dean of Zagreb's Law faculty. Bandić received 48 percent of the votes, a bit short for a win in the first round.Entrepeneur Željko

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-9848848134443199592009-05-16T13:25:00.005+02:002009-05-16T18:54:14.355+02:00

A short post in the "weird stories" category. Belgium queen Fabiola received a threatening letter, written in bad French, that accuses her of having poisened her (late) husband king Boudewijn (Baudouin for Francophones). Her motive was her husband's sexual affair with Tito in the marshal's basement in Belgrade. The author of the letter claims to have pictures of Tito and Boudewijn doing what they

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-32084944239513535512009-05-11T11:55:00.005+02:002009-05-11T14:29:53.787+02:00

The social democrats try to warm the electorate for the upcoming local elections with manekenke or models (I wonder how many Croats know of the Dutch origin of this word - photo Jutarnji list). Political and educational temperatures ran high already. The economic recession and budgetary problems forced the Croatian government to cut the salaries of a public sector workers. Public sector workers

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-21801183321416681922009-05-11T10:22:00.005+02:002009-05-11T11:44:38.613+02:00

Branimir Glavaš, a right wing politician and former general, has been sentenced to ten years in jail for committing war crimes against Serbian civilians in 1991 in his home town Osijek. As a member of parliament, Glavaš still enjoys parliamentary immunity, so he could not be arrested and brought to jail. It is expected that the Croatian parliament will lift Glavaš immunity today, but the convict

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-83891015647202406162009-05-05T16:55:00.005+02:002009-05-07T14:56:47.800+02:00

From tomorrow onwards, smoking in public places in Croatia is forbidden. Bars and pubs are considered public places, which means no more cigarettes while sipping your morning coffee. Personally, I think coffee shops are private businesses and therefore the owner should decide does he allow guests to smoke or not. However, being a non-smoker, I do hate the stench of smoky clothes after a beer with

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-75890758903485951492009-05-04T18:48:00.005+02:002009-05-05T11:39:23.559+02:00

I don't dare to say there is a causal relationship, but after my previous post about riding the tram for free in Zagreb, ZET decided to extend the "free tram zone" to Kvatrić. Kvatrić is of no interest to tourists, unless you are interested in urban planning failures and want to wonder how Zagreb's mayor Milan Bandić could ever brag that Kvatrić would turn into "Zagreb's most beautiful square".

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-80044242755188978492009-05-04T14:13:00.005+02:002009-05-04T15:50:00.280+02:00

Josip Broz Titoborn May 7, 1892, Kumrovec, near Zagreb, Croatia, Austria-Hungary [now in Croatia]died May 4, 1980, Ljubljana, Yugos. [now in Slovenia]Yugoslav revolutionary and statesmanThat is how the Encyclopedia Britannica starts its entry on Tito, who died today 29 years ago. Today's TV Kalendar featured a short item about Tito, otherwise I would have completely forgotten about it. Except for

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-26177185531512408522009-04-30T09:33:00.004+02:002009-04-30T13:39:24.142+02:00

A 22 year old girl who returned from Chicago to Osijek, in the far East of Croatia, was suspected of having swine flu. In a special press conference, Health minister Darko Milinović told the girl was being kept in isolation and monitored. Večernji list put a picture of the girl online, with a bar over her eyes as if she is some kind of criminal.A day later we know that the girl is not infected

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-82307505493670306492009-04-28T17:16:00.001+02:002009-04-28T17:51:15.720+02:00

Did you know that it is cheaper to ride the dazzling efficient subway of Tokyo than to hop on a old tram in Zagreb? A single ticket in Croatia's capital costs more than a euro (8 kuna). Even if you are lucky to get onto one of the new trams, it still is a lot of money. As the tram often shares the lane with cars, in the main shopping street Ilica for example, it moves pretty slowly.Responsible

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-4400084513087688912009-04-24T14:06:00.005+02:002009-04-24T14:50:02.097+02:00

Political parties in Europe are warming up for the European elections in June. Using EU Profiler you can inform yourself about parties and their stances on several issues. Croats are not eligible to vote, but they can nevertheless use EU Profiler to find out what Croatian parties think of many (European) issues.I answered 30 questions and got to know where I stand in the Croatian political

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-17024836982188385032009-04-20T13:50:00.004+02:002009-04-20T14:06:11.355+02:00

My wish to reach ever more readers has led me to Twitter, an essential tool for communicating with your public it seems. I am not sure yet how Twitter will enrich your and my lives. So far my Twitter page doesn't show much more than the first 140 characters of each new post, followed by a link to the source: the Croatian Crescent blog. I don't quite understand why that would be any better than

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-1569142696993273402009-04-18T15:53:00.000+02:002009-04-19T15:33:26.270+02:00

There has been a lot of talk lately about crime and corruption in Croatia. Corruption statistics are hard to get by, as the nature of corruption doesn't encourage people to talk about it. Concerning crime, I found the following data on the HRT website, under the title: "Foreigners are not only victims".Compared to 2005 the number of criminal acts of which foreigners were victim fell from 4630 to

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-81442191691423403922009-04-18T09:58:00.003+02:002009-04-18T11:49:59.819+02:00

Croats love conspiracy theories. Also, they are very touchy when it comes to their beautiful homeland. Therefore, if someone criticizes Croatia it must be that that person has a reason, a hidden motive for doing so. After a critical BBC report about crime and corruption in Croatia, Croatian politicians resorted to stereotype conspiracy theories.More about that later. First the critique on Croatia

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-64097719973045809792009-04-16T14:25:00.008+02:002009-04-19T11:36:46.597+02:00

On the day that media speculate about the political future of Tourism minister Bajs, there is even more bad news for the man already under fire. First, the BBC has a lengthy article on its website about Croatia with the title "Croatia cursed by crime and corruption". It reads:"Britain's Foreign Office is warning visitors to Croatia this summer to beware of a threat from organised crime, following

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-89894252217646750232009-04-16T10:12:00.004+02:002009-04-16T13:51:58.564+02:00

On 17 May Croats will go to the polls in local elections. To inform myself, I checked the main newspaper websites and TV stations. Surprisingly, it is Nova TV's website (a commercial station) that offers the most extensive information on the local elections. Their news program, Dnevnik, is usually rather sensational and focuses almost exclusively on Croatian affairs, in which respect it resembles

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-25061770066340766602009-04-12T09:22:00.009+02:002009-04-13T11:41:40.192+02:00

Each nation has its peculiarities, habits and preferences that are sometimes unexplainable to foreigners. The culinary field is no exeption. As far as Croatia is concerned, I never quite understood why Croats love bananko, an artificially banana-flavored sweet, coated in chocolate. Its taste is, in one word, terrible.Much of Croatia's chocolate and sweets are made by Kraš, a company with a

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-11641141398828123272009-04-09T14:52:00.004+02:002009-09-13T12:20:03.604+02:00

Waarde lezers,De schaarse regelmatige bezoekers van dit weblog zullen hebben gemerkt dat ik de laatste maanden weinig heb gepost. (Wie denkt: "He, dit heb ik al eerder gelezen!" heeft gelijk. Scroll door naar het tweede plaatje voor nieuws.) Opvallend genoeg blijft het aantal bezoekers constant. Dat wil zeggen: een handjevol per dag. Enerzijds is het verheugend om te merken dat sommige berichten

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-69147162710110814812009-04-08T19:29:00.005+02:002009-04-08T21:49:20.431+02:00

Generally, I write about serious things. The terminal decline of Croatian literature, the beauty of Dubrovnik, the economic crisis, language issues - you name it. Sometimes, a literary prize is awarded to a celebrity known for her unconventional sex life, Nives Celzijus. "Serious" literary critics subsequently showed their anger and a scandal was born. I dedicated a post to it. It went

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-50649515116913484332009-04-08T17:25:00.006+02:002009-04-08T19:25:15.152+02:00

We have been waiting for several months, with clamped firsts and and in full hope. Today it was finally delivered: the baby of Damir Bajs, Croatia's Minister of Tourism. Alas! The baby, with the name "Action plan for tourism", is stillborn.Let me start mentioning a proposed measure that makes sense. Bajs wants to ease the visa regime for tourists from Russia and Ukraine. Also, some local fees

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-52009917215176877692009-04-08T16:07:00.005+02:002009-04-09T19:52:38.626+02:00

"Following the English alphabet, Croatia's flag flies after the Canadian and before the Czech," was one of the comments that was repeated over and over again in Croatian news programs yesterday. Below is a report from Nova TV. Even if you don't understand Croatian, the flags, anthems and speeches make clear that Croatia is very proud of being a full member of NATO as of yesterday. Croatia's flag

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-14636121228921506052009-04-03T13:33:00.004+02:002009-04-03T14:48:37.365+02:00

In an earlier post I wrote about the sculptor Ivan Meštrović (1883-1962), one of Croatia's most famous artists. "Zagreb isn't exactly a top destination for art lovers," I wrote then, "so it is a pity that it neglects its greatest artist. After all, Meštrović is omnipresent in Zagreb."Maybe his omnipresence has led to neglect. Otherwise, how can you explain that a construction company, in order to

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-54631083895007726172009-03-26T11:44:00.005+01:002009-03-26T13:36:14.878+01:00

The Croatian government has finally announced its budget revision to combat the consequences of the economic and financial crisis. From the first of April onwards, wages of public sector personnel will be cut by 6 percent. Considering the fact that Croatia's public sector is oversized and terribly inefficient you wonder why this measure wasn't taken a whole lot earlier. I know that cutting wages

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-23346840016695115482009-03-12T18:40:00.004+01:002009-03-12T19:22:03.088+01:00

Life is not easy for gays and lesbians in Croatia, as the almighty Catholic church is one of their principle enemies. Croatian bishops recently asked people to sign a petition against rights for homosexuals and against abortion. One signer explained why he put his signature under the petition: "Gays are not only annoying, it goes without saying that they are weird". The church and minorities (

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-54867681292721717992009-03-05T10:21:00.005+01:002009-03-05T11:53:02.692+01:00

Which is the fate of the Croatian press? This question was being debated at yesterday's round table conference on the future of Croatian newspapers, magazines and other periodicals. The media landscape in Croatia is not very diverse anyway, and newspapers are being hard hit by the economic crisis. Newspaper sales went down by 20 to 40 percent and advertising revenue with 30 percent.One of the

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-61156204169795189482009-02-19T09:49:00.003+01:002009-02-19T11:56:45.551+01:00

Slovenia had the chance, earlier this week, to literally become Croatia's ally. Or rather, to ratify Croatia's NATO membership so that Croatia could join the club Slovenia is already in. However, instead of easing tensions NATO membership proved to be another source of discontent between the two countries.Slovenia did ratify the protocol that extends NATO membership to its neighbor, but it hasn't

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-51217191716117866002009-02-14T17:36:00.001+01:002009-02-14T19:41:53.001+01:00

When in 1899 Dragutin Gorjanović-Kramberger, a Croatian paleontologist, found remains of Neanderthals in Croatia, the so-called Homo sapiens neanderthalensis was already known for decades. What made Kramberger's discovery unique was the richness of the site. He did not find a bone or a single skull, but literary hundreds of fossils. You can admire a Croatian Neanderthal skull in the Natural

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-37292710261670655592009-02-14T14:03:00.002+01:002009-02-14T17:31:43.886+01:00

Miroslav Krleža is a towering figure of 20th century Croatian literature. His tremendous activity and great contribution to Croatian culture don't allow for a summary in a post like this, so I gladly refer to the Wikipedia entry for more information. Surprisingly, that entry makes no mention of the fact that Miroslav Krleža (1893-1981) was the editor in chief of the Enciklopedija Jugoslavije.

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-76560465931080463392009-02-13T10:00:00.000+01:002009-02-13T10:00:01.379+01:00

Please watch the short video below and answer the following question. Do you think this dish should receive the label Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), like Gorgonzola? According to Wikipedia PDO aims to "protect the reputation of the regional foods and eliminate the unfair competition and misleading of consumers by non-genuine products, which may be of inferior quality or of different

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-83327512071355090022009-02-12T10:35:00.001+01:002009-02-12T10:52:46.852+01:00

On 17 September 2008 the Australian girl Britt Lapthorne went missing in Dubrovnik. She was last seen in Club Fuego, a night club in Dubrovnik, a bit after midnight. Three weeks later her body was found in the sea. Since that day Croatian and Australian media have been speculating about the cause of here disappearance and death. Croatian police haven't found a murderer and a Croatian autopsy

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-30088982163940716762009-01-15T17:18:00.006+01:002009-01-15T18:47:38.260+01:00

The dispute between Croatia and Slovenia over the Bay of Piran is not been solved yet. On the contrary, the relationship between the former Yugoslav republics worsens by the day. About a month ago Slovenia blocked Croatia's advancement towards EU-membership and Slovenia hasn't budged yet. Slovenian prime minister Borut Pahor said yesterday that his country will not yield to pressure from Zagreb

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-91873393581725904312009-01-14T15:45:00.004+01:002009-01-14T18:11:28.507+01:00

Croatia was the guest country of last year's Leipziger Buchmesse, the biggest German book fair after the Frankfurter Buchmesse. A great opportunity to present Croatian literature to the (German speaking) world, one would say. The weekly Stern remarked that Croatia is a literary terra incognita for Germans: "No wonder," explained Stern, "as Croatian is a very young national language."Croatia,

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-9703623199953003512009-01-13T15:12:00.004+01:002009-01-13T17:21:44.330+01:00

The Bishop's palace that encircles the cathedral of Zagreb is an interesting sight. Build in the 15th century, it not only provided the clergy with accommodation, but was also designed to keep the Turks out. Therefore, the palace resembles a fortress. We can only guess how the interior looks like, as the premises are firmly closed to visitors. A shame, if you ask me, but not uncommon in Zagreb.

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-40229740056589341892009-01-13T14:21:00.000+01:002009-01-13T15:08:44.439+01:00

Ireland, Croatia and literature figured in the previous post. Inevitably, James Joyce sprang to mind. When I walked around in Pula, I saw a wall plaque close to a Roman arch. It commemorates the fact that from October 1904 to early 1905 Joyce taught English to Austro-Hungarian naval officers in Pula. Joyce had wanted to go to Trieste or Zürich, but the Berlitz language school he worked for

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-2835096231381192882009-01-10T13:01:00.009+01:002009-01-13T14:05:09.134+01:00

With 4,5 million inhabitants Croatia is a small market. And it is getting smaller. Over the last few years, Croatia has witnessed an annual natural increase of about -10.000 (minus ten thousand). That's a quarter of Dubrovnik's population. If nothings changes, the Slovenes will outnumber the Croats in the future.The Croatian population is now about the size of Ireland's. That is probably they

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-51313943473939152492009-01-08T16:11:00.006+01:002009-01-08T17:48:35.561+01:00

Many Balkan countries are in trouble after Russia cut the gas supply to Ukraine. I saw reports from Sarajevo, Serbia, Bulgaria - places colder than Croatia and without gas. The premier of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nedžad Branković, has sent a letter to Gazprom, saying that the current situation in Sarajevo reminds of the war period 1992-1995. He strongly urged Gazprom to resume

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-2636691567668949652009-01-06T14:23:00.000+01:002009-01-07T16:44:46.640+01:00

"I realized again that I would never understand the German people. The misery of these travellers was purely amazing. It was perplexing that they should have been surprised by the lateness of the train. The journey from Berlin to Zagreb is something like thirty hours, and no sensible person would expect a minor train to be on time on such a route in winter, particularly as a great part of it runs

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-63105795757424198672009-01-04T16:13:00.002+01:002009-09-13T12:20:06.914+02:00

Waarde lezers,De schaarse regelmatige bezoekers van dit weblog zullen hebben gemerkt dat ik de laatste maanden weinig heb gepost. Opvallend genoeg blijft het aantal bezoekers constant. Dat wil zeggen: een handjevol per dag. Enerzijds is het verheugend om te merken dat sommige berichten nog gelezen worden, anderzijds is het teleurstellend dat het nauwelijks uitmaakt of ik veel of weinig

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-82526154661449339572008-12-24T10:58:00.005+01:002008-12-24T17:18:59.806+01:00

Yesterday I wrote about Asian restaurants. As you know many Chinese eateries are called Great Wall of China. That reminded me of the Great Wall of Dubrovnik. I don't mean the city walls here, although they are great, but the walls on the Pelješac peninsula, some 55 kilometers north of Dubrovnik. The Republic of Dubrovnik bought Pelješac in 1334 from Serbia. It's hard to believe, but in those days

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-8696309906021401652008-12-23T10:47:00.004+01:002008-12-23T12:49:11.454+01:00

One of communism's legacies is its distinct architecture. Whichever ex-communist country you visit, you'll always find buildings that are evidently built for the New Man, as no living non-reeducated human being would want to live in an apartment block that is a pain to the eye.Zagreb has its fair share of ugliness too, even in the historic center. The city government allowed in the 1950s the

Boris Levallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228691649230977391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-53011160271151666932008-12-19T14:00:00.006+01:002008-12-19T14:57:47.632+01:00

I read in the newspapers that Croats on the internet call for a boycott of Slovenian products to revenge for the Slovenian blockade of Croatia's negotiations with the European Union. I didn't know at first where on "the internet" the boycott is being promoted. Papers here are not very strong in listing their sources.After a bit of searching I found the Facebook community "BOJKOT Slovenskih

Boris Levallenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-21908639596575673402008-12-19T09:38:00.002+01:002008-12-22T11:32:38.091+01:00

Once upon a time Slovenes and Croats said they lived in a country that stretched "od Triglava do Vardara", from the Triglav mountain in the extreme north-west of Slovenia to the Vardar river in south-eastern Macedonia. Close to the Macedonian town of Gevgelija, or Đevđelija, the Vardar crosses the Greek border to empty into the Aegean Sea, not far from Thessaloniki. Therefore, also the variant "

Boris Levallenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-64074466718626553962008-12-15T10:33:00.002+01:002008-12-15T18:06:39.499+01:00

Former mayor of Karlovac, Josip Boljkovac, has taken the initiative to establish the Josip Broz Tito Society of Karlovac. "If there had not been unity of the Serbian and Croatian peoples and the Communist Party, Croatia as we have it today would not exist", he explained.Most people agree with that, although many would add that Croatia today could have been a better country had it not been ruled

Boris Levallenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-49720562134803785162008-12-12T12:01:00.002+01:002008-12-14T10:38:02.120+01:00

Croatia is gradually imposing a ban on smoking in public places. Smoking was recently outlawed in educational and health institutions and Croatian Railways announced yesterday that you are no longer allowed to lit up a cigarette in waiting rooms and trains. Smokers are even banned from dining cars, although I have never seen a dining car on a Croatian train. Even worse, there are no trolleys to

Boris Levallenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-10915075072010567472008-12-11T12:34:00.003+01:002008-12-14T10:37:41.670+01:00

No, the title of this post does not refer to a Greek drama. It is related to a pure Croatian drama, or better scandal, in the small literary world of Croatia. The main character is a woman with the intriguing name Nives Celzijus. I tried to find out what her profession is but as she has no entry in Wikipedia (the Croatian Wikipedia is in its entirety a stub) I don't know much more than that she

Boris Levallenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-5883365327628734742008-12-10T17:24:00.014+01:002008-12-14T10:37:28.388+01:00

Until 15 February 103 etches made by Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn can been admired in Zagreb's Museum for Arts and Crafts. Rembrandt's paintings are often too expensive to be moved around, but his etches are easier to transport. Most of them are quite small - you could cover one with your hand - and they come from nearby: the Landesmuseum Joanneum in Graz. After this exhibition the etches will

Boris Levallenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-40739290633577535082008-12-09T16:18:00.007+01:002008-12-14T10:37:16.959+01:00

Croatia is enjoying its 15 minutes of fame as it presides this month over the UN Security Council. The honour of leading the most powerful (officially) and most divided (obviously) council in the world has sparked a lively debate here about the topics that Croatia should put on the Council's agenda. I suspect the same debate kept Costa Rica busy when it took the presidency last November.Croatia's

Boris Levallenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-50098167919527624572008-12-07T13:24:00.006+01:002008-12-14T10:36:56.163+01:00

The siege of Dubrovnik ranks high on the list of senseless acts of war. The people of Dubrovnik commemorated yesterday that the Yugoslav National Army shelled the old town on 6 December 1991, St. Nicholas Day. Dubrovnik had been under fire for months already, but that day saw the worst shelling. Some 2000 projectiles were fired at the "pearl of the Adriatic" of which 500 hit the old town that is

Boris Levallenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-92181368595706099322008-12-06T17:52:00.005+01:002008-12-14T10:36:39.031+01:00

President Bush said in spring 2008 that he was happy to invite three Balkan nations to join NATO: Croatia, Albania and Macedonia. When Bush spoke these words, I realised how angered Croats would be by this formulation because more than sixty percent of the Croats don't consider Croatia as a Balkan country. You can read this and many other findings in the Gallup Balkan Monitor.The fact that

Boris Levallenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-9539976315906118172008-12-05T17:18:00.006+01:002008-12-14T10:36:22.547+01:00

Dinamo Zagreb has been kicked out of the UEFA-cup. The team lost 2-1 to Udinese and did not qualify for the next round. "Goodbye, Europe" say the headlines here. Europe might respond: "Goodbye, Croatia. Hope not to see you for a while". Over the last years the hard core Dinamo fans, better known as the Bad Blue Boys, wreaked havoc in Graz, Udine, Prague, Bergamo and other cities. During the match

Boris Levallenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-65620253929663044702008-12-04T07:34:00.001+01:002008-12-14T10:36:05.397+01:00

Yesterday was a historic day for lovers of books. The very first book outlet in Croatia has opened its doors. Books, new and used, are still expensive in Croatia, so a bargain book shop is no luxury. Until now, Croats could only buy a small selection of discounted books during the Zagreb book fair, Interliber, which is held once per year. Other events, like book sales of discarded library stock,

Boris Levallenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-10711981582191947222008-12-03T14:59:00.006+01:002008-12-14T10:35:49.850+01:00

In World War Two Croatia was torn apart by warring factions, of which partisans, fascists (ustaše) and četniks were the most prominent. After the war, the četniks disappeared from the scene, only to reappear in the 1990s in Vukovar, Knin and other places that Serbian rebells considered theirs. The partisans and ustaše, however, never left the stage of Croatia's post war history. In a way the

Boris Levallenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-42783480379669308332008-12-02T17:16:00.003+01:002008-12-14T10:35:35.356+01:00

At Interliber, the annual international (Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro are present too) book fair in Zagreb, the book Language and Identity in the Balkans by Robert David Greenberg attracted my attention. I did not buy it, but decided to borrow it from the Zagreb public library. It doesn't have the original English (or should I say: American?) version, but it did have a Croatian translation. At

Boris Levallenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453784897613067309.post-74337188306280090982008-12-01T13:04:00.001+01:002008-12-14T10:35:09.703+01:00

In times of crisis, economic nationalism lies in wait. Governments around the world abuse taxpayers' money to support industries that were already in decline before the financial crisis arose. In order to save a countable number of jobs in established industries, governments waste uncountable amounts of money and destroy in that way the jobs of tomorrow.The Croatian government is already heavily

Boris Levallenoreply@blogger.com0