Tag: Balkans
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Krolo Winery: Slow Food and Wine in the Croatian Countryside
In a cozy country winery near the town of Trilj, where Croatia’s Continental and Mediterranean climates meet, winemaker Dražan Krolo of Vinarija Krolo is making magic with Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay and Zinfandel grapes. Together, with our friend, Srđan of the Art of Wine, we journeyed to the Krolo’s country home in the Dalmatian hinterland not…
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Silver Legacies: The Making of Croatian Filigree Jewelry
Master filigree jeweler Viktor Čivljak has a gentle and humble manner despite regularly wielding blow torches and hammers in his making of Old World jewelry. It turns out that the 73-year-old Split, Croatia jeweler also has a penchant for survival, something that we would learn while spending a Saturday afternoon with him, watching step-by-step how to make a pair of intricate filigree silver earrings. Viktor…
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Visiting Croatia’s Mighty Klis Fortress
For two thousand years, Croatia’s Klis Fortress (Kliška Tvrđava) has held a coveted position among Central Dalmatia‘s craggy landscape. The fortress has been the scene of dramatic battles over the millennia. In more recent years, it served as one of the filming locations for season 4 of Game of Thrones. Given its fabulous setting and…
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The Art of Making Croatian Filigree Jewelry – Split Croatia
When he was just 13 years old, Split jeweler Viktor Čivljak started learning the fine art of making filigree jewelry from his father, a second-generation jeweler. Today, the 73-year-old master jeweler incorporates breathtaking designs into entirely-handmade brooches, bracelets, earrings, hair pins, pendants and rings. Seemingly spun out of delicate silver thread, Viktor also creates cuff-links, decorative spoons…
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Split, Croatia in Black and White
One of our first nights in Split, an older gentleman dressed in a trench-coat approached us on the cobbled streets of the city’s old town. “May I help you with something?” he asked in polished English that was subtly embellished with a Croatian accent. We explained that we were not lost, and that we were…
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Fresh Delights: A Cooking Class in Split, Croatia
Jakša Bedalov’s earliest winemaking memory was when he was just five years old. Tasked with cleaning his family’s fermentation room near the coastal Croatian city of Split, Jakša remembers his father pushing him so that he could squeeze into the small space. It was a challenging feat since he was a broad-shouldered child. “It was like being…
