500 SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE
Shopping & Entertainment
Souvenir-hunters in Croatia will be spoilt for choice,
with a range of traditional crafts such as costume dolls,
exquisite handmade lace and hand-painted ceramics
and jewel lery to choose from. Ties and fountain pens,
both of which originated in Croatia, also make good
purchases. A variety of accessible and engaging enter-
tainment caters for all age groups and tastes, ranging
from opera and ballet to folk music festivals and night-
clubs. In summer, performances are sometimes held
outdoors in places with a particularly pretty setting.
MARKETS
The street markets of Croatia
are colourful, lively places to
stroll around. In Zagreb, the
Dolac is a daily market where
food is sold under bright red
umbrellas. In Split, a morning
market is held every day
on Pazar, selling absolutely
every thing: fruit, vegetables,
shoes, flowers, clothes and a
vast assortment of souvenirs.
Bigger shopping centres
are mainly found in larger
towns and cities where most
mer chandise is sold under
one roof, and usually include
a department store or super-
market. In Zagreb, the busiest
shopping centres are the
Importanne Centar in the
city centre and Avenue Mall
in the southern suburb of
Novi Zagreb.
OPENING HOURS
Shops and department stores
are usually open from 8am
to 8pm Monday to Friday
(sometimes 7am to 9pm)
and from 8am to 2 or 3pm
on Saturday. It should be
noted that smaller shops
often close at lunch time,
usually from noon to 4pm.
Shops are generally closed
on Sundays and holi days,
although many remain open
in the high season in
tourist resorts.
NIGHTLIFECroatia is never short of
nightlife. For an all-night
party, however, the capi tal or
the coast are the best places
to be. There are lots of lively
bars along the pedes trianized
Tkalčićeva ulica in Zagreb;
while clubs like Aquarius
Club (house and techno) and
Močvara (alter native rock)
provide plenty in the way of
DJ action and live music.
Apart from Zagreb, other
places have an equally lively
night life. Rijeka has over the
last 20 years seen the birth of
several new bands, manyJEWELLERYThere is one item of jewellery
that can only be found in
Croatia or, more precisely,
in Rijeka. This is the morčić,
a small figurine in the form
of a black Moorish character
wearing a turban. It was ori-
ginally produced as earrings
but today tie-pins and
brooches can also be found.
Considered a symbol of good
luck, the item is traditionally
made of glazed ceramic,
although precious stones
may be used to decorate it
on request. The best place
to buy a morčić in Rijeka
is the Mala Galerija.HANDICRAFTS
Croatia has a long tradition
of producing fine handicrafts.
In Zagreb, Valentino Moda
has an array of dolls in tradi-
tional costume, embroi dered
items, terracotta, cera mics
and wooden objects. In Split,
an assortment of souvenirs,
FOODAmong Croatia’s gastronomic
specialities, mustard (in tradi-
tional containers), honey and
cukarini biscuits are particu-
larly worth buying. Truffles
from Istria and olive oil from
the Dalmatian Islands are
highly prized by gour mets.
Another valued delicacy is
paški sir, a mature cheese
made from sheep’s milk,
pro duced on the island of
Pag. Food specialities can be
bought from Zigante Tartufi
and Natura Croatica in Zagreb.including objects inspired by
maritime themes is available.
Visitors can also find good
repro ductions of Roman
objects in the under ground
area of Diocletian’s Palace
(see pp468–9). In Osijek, the
most interesting buy are
textiles, finely embroidered
with gold and silver thread.
A typical Croatian craft
is needlework with red geo-
metric patterns stitched on
to a white back ground. This
char acteristic design, pain-
stakingly sewn by hand, is
mostly used to deco rate
table linen, pillow cases and
blouses. The art of lace-
mak ing is also widely admired.
A centuries-old tradition, the
lace was originally used to
embel lish women’s blouses.
The patterns produced are
the lace-maker’s interpretation
of designs that have been
passed down from generation
to gen eration. Beautiful lace
can be bought in most places,
but two well-known shops
are Bakina kuća and Includo
in Zagreb.SOUVENIRSThree good souvenirs from
Croatia are ties, fount ain pens
and lavender. The country can
claim to have invented the tie,
or cravat, which was originally
a scarf used by Croatian
cav alrymen to distin guish them
from other soldiers during the
Thirty Years’ War in the 17th
cen tury. A good selection can
be found in leading clothes
stores in Zagreb such as
Boutique Croata and Heruc
Galeria. Another little-known
fact is that the inventor of the
fount ain pen, Eduard Slavoljub
Penkala, was an engineer from
Zagreb. Pens are avail able
in most department stores
in the capital.
The country’s best-known
natural product is lavender,
which is sold dried, in small
bags, or as essence, in bottles.
It can be found more or less
all over Croatia but is particu-
larly linked with the island of
Hvar (see pp474–5).