Cafe bar KOTA is launched as a representation of UPI 2M BOOKS, bookstore for architecture, civil engineering, design, art and photography in Zagreb. KOTA is composed being a concept-bar for all architecture, design and also spatial-art fans whether they are architects or experts themselves, or seemly “normal” people who are re-decorating their own living space. It has also newly formed passage connection with the UPI-2M BOOKSHOP. The aim of KOTA is to display and to advance architecture, design and other spatial arts by having different events organized, so the space could delicate be transformed to host diverse activities.

Baska is a small village and port on the south-eastern coast of the island of Krk. Only 9km north of Makarska and just south of Brela, it’s an easy day trip from Split but it’s also a wonderful holiday destination in its own right. First-class accommodation, sports and leisure facilities, unique pristine beaches, more the 2500 hours of sunshine make Baska the right choice for everyone.

Once a humble fishing village, Baska’s beaches, pine woods and lovely setting have made it a favorite for seaside tourism. There are good sports facilities in Baska, for all those fond of sports and recreation. At the Zabla?e Sports Centre, you can play football, table tennis, tennis and mini-golf. For lovers of the sea, the town provides ideal conditions for underwater activities, as well as for water skiing, windsurfing, rides on banana lifts and so on.

Situated on a cliff next to the ancient walls of Dubrovnik, Grand Villa Argentina is a luxury complex consists of five separate objects – Villa Argentina, Villa Orsula, Villa Glavi?, Villa Sheherezade and Hotel Argentina. Just a ten minute walk from the Old Town of Dubrovnik, the complex combines the highest standards of elegance and comfort, offering excellent opportunity to many activities and unrivaled hospitality which makes visitors feel special, comfortable and relaxed.

Grand Hotel Villa Argentina offers 169 guestrooms furnished and equipped with stylish furniture which, along with all the other details, gives you the feeling of a combination of the modern and the traditional. Each of rooms comes with high-speed Internet access, individual climate control, direct dial telephones, satellite television, safe deposit box and mini bars along with private baths feature bathtubs, bathrobes, and designer toiletries.

With a range of fantastic facilities on offer including bars, restaurants serving delicious Croatian and International cuisine, full-service wellness center offers a heated pool, hydromassage, whirlpool, sauna and Turkish bath, private beach, indoor and outdoor pools, Jacuzzi and fitness room, the Grand Villa Argentina will impress on every level. Very close to Dubrovnik attraction’, the Grand Villa Argentina provides the ideal base for exploring this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Cres and Losinj are two Adriatic islands linked by an isthmus – a thin ribbon of rock running for 99 km alongside the mainland, and there are often treated as a single entity. One theory of their origin goes back to Greek mythology, the legend of the Argonauts. Back in the 3rd century BCE, Jason and the Argonauts were busy fleeing from the Colchians who wanted to get their hands on the prestigious Golden Fleece.

According to ancient legend, their flight brought them to the Kvarner region. Perfidious Medea, who was in love with Jason, guided her brother, Apsyrtos, to her lover’s hideout. But Jason outwitted Apsyrtos and killed him. Medea subsequently cut his body into several pieces and scattered them into the sea, whereupon they were then miraculously transformed into a cluster of islands.

With around 2600 hours of sunshine a year, the island of Lovinj has become a popular destination for Slovenian, German and Italian tourists in the summer months. There are numerous newly built hotels, which are continually being upgraded with new facilities. Some of them already boast four stars, offering Wellness Centre programs and swimming pools with heated sea water, while others are transformed into smaller family hotels and guest houses. Give your family an unforgettable holiday, enjoy entertainment programmes for all ages, relax and forget your worries in magical settings and island fragrances.

Croatia has 1,778 km of mainland coastline, together with 1,185 islands and islets within its territory, making a total of 5,835 km for a surface area of 56,538 sq km. ten per cent of this surface area consists of 450 preservation zones, the pride of the country’s natural heritage. If one adds to this all maritime areas also under protection, Croatia has a total of 6,129 sq km of ecologically protected zones. One of the most picturesque zones of the country is the small town of Bol.

Situated on the south coast of the Island of Brac, Bol is a popular Croatian holiday destination – renowned for its most popular beach, the Golden cape (Zlatni rat). Known as perfect sunbathing and windsurfing spot, this sandy beach stretches itself 500 m into clear Adriatic sea and changes direction of its top influenced with strong sea currents and is considered as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

Bol itself is a very popular tourist destination and has a number of harbor side bars and restaurants. It is a popular place in the Adriatic sea, known for good opportunities for water sports such as wind surfing and scuba diving. The resort also offers possibilities for active vacation (biking, tennis), relaxing (welness centers), interesting landscapes and sightseeing (Blaca, Dragon Cave, excursions). Bol is just about an hour away by boat from the city of Split, which is second biggest Croatian city, well connected with the rest of Europe.

The town was once the residence of Roman patricians. Now, visitors enter the walled medieval city via the postern gate. The main square is surrounded by 17th-18th century baroque houses and a medieval tower. Above the entrance to the Church of St George, the patron saint is shown slaying his eternal dragon.

Volosko, fresh fish all around
Volosko is a fishing village huddled behind a port, its stark canvasses of white houses adorned with blind arcades, adapting simple Mediterranean architecture to provide elegant abodes for rich ship owners. Along the jetty, restaurants vie for custom. One such establishment, the Plavi Podrum, with its motto “honest wine and fresh fish” is considered one of the best restaurants in Croatia. Their menu is a list of the best: red mullet, monkfish, sea bass – all fished locally and freshly prepared. Traditional dishes such as rockfish soup and boiled rascasse with seaweed polenta are held in high regard.

Situated in the northern part of the Adriatic where the Mediterranean penetrates deepest into old Europe, the Kvarner region provides central Europe with a splendid balcony overlooking the sea. A haven for tourism, the Gulf of Kvarner is a particularly rich and varied region. Lovran, Opatija and Volosko make up a succession of small fishing ports, villages and seaside resorts wedged between the sea and the surrounding hills, which provide an alternative Riviera for visitors. Picturesque and welcoming, these quaint towns bask sleepily in the sun amidst its stunning coastal views and glittery, transparent water.

Overlooking the Gulf, Opatija is a mass of grand palaces and villas, overflowing with architectural wonders from the 19th century in pure Austro-Hungarian style, all the rare in Vienna at the time. Pink-fronted patisseries awash with decorative stucco bas-relief, brilliant Pompeii reds and flaming ochre yellows, lined with cream-colored friezes and intricate balconies overhung with fragrant garlands of roses and carved eagles.

Lungomare, a 12 km shaded seafront promenade which links Volosko to Lovran via Opatija, was created to that visitors could benefit from the robust, bracing sea air during walks. Strolling along Lungomare was declared healthy by 19th century respiratory specialists back then, and so clinics, thermal and health establishments thrived. Today, sauntering at sunset along Lungomare has become a local habit. In the heat of the day, when not taken cures, people relax in the park in the shade of the pine-trees, chestnuts, bamboo, cypresses and fragrant roses all flourish here. The highly advantageous combination of Mediterranean and mainland create a microclimate which is stable and mild all year round.

To be continued…..

Unlike much of Croatia, Sibenik was not founded until the 7th century by Croats. The town was inevitably tossed around between the country’s many successive invaders: Ottomans, Venetians, Hungarians, French and Austrians. Despite all this, and the heavy bombing during the Second World War, the old part of Sibenik has survived. The city boasts typically urban Croatian architecture – houses of pale stone and red-tiled roofs.

As has the pleasure of wandering along the lanes and alleys which fan out from each other, of stumbling across the time-worn façade of an elegant mansion or the secret garden of a priory, of idling away time in a small café alongside a chapel. In the glimmer of the street lamps, delicate medieval stone carvings are vividly brought to life – a noble coat of arms above a doorway, a drinking trough for dogs beside a channel, a weaver’s measure still marking the wall on a street corner.

In an almost fantastical setting, amid waters of unbelievable transparency, the Kornati Island archipelago resembles from afar a rope of baroque pearls strung out along the sea. Now a National Park, the islands are exceptionally beautiful and unusually dense, with 147 islands and islets packed in within a distance of less than 300 km.

When sailing from island to island – the easiest way to travel around the Kornati Group of islands – it feels as if one exists on another planet. Our at sea, a karstic cliff rises up, pleated like a Fortuny dress; in what appears to be the reflection of some cosmic feature, a cluster of creamy islets barely rise above the water’s surface. Elsewhere, a piece of rock, streaked in ochre, crumbles onto a beach, occasionally, voluptuous hillocks of celadon green, like moonstone set in gem, rise from the surface, softening the horizon.

One sails or glides, depending on the wind, from one isle to the other, mooring in a creek to swim or coming ashore to picnic. Most of the islands are wild and deserted, some are privately owned, others are sparsely dotted here and there with a few dwellings which share the land and the odd blade of grass with the occasional sheep or two. Chief among the Kornati is Kornat Island, with a hamlet, a chapel and look-out tower, though it is still fairly monastic when compared to Murter, the only islands with hotels, restaurants and some modest fishermen’s huts. These huts have a charm of their own, and are so inviting that they are much sough-after, being rented out for princely sums to a new generation of tourists in quest of the Robinson Crusoe experience.

The town also dear to many famous artists, writers, sculptors, cabinet-makers and stone carvers who have chosen to set up abode here, establishing various artisan workshops in the town’ elegantly restored houses. Trogir was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997.  Such artistic proliferation is not recent here. The colorful Gothic polyptychs of the 15-th century artist, Blaz Jurjev, a native of Trogir, were representative of the blossoming artistic movement known as the Scholl of Dalmatia.

Among the most famous of these artists are Trogir-born sculptor Ivan Duknovic, and fellow sculptors and countrymen Andrija Alesi and Nikola Firentinac, living in Trogir in the second half of the 15th century, whose chapel for the town’ first bishop, St Ivan of Trogir is a masterpiece of Dalmatian Renaissance art. The chapel forms part of the Cathedral of St Lawrence, itself built in 13th century on the town’ main square. 

Hvar is the longest and sunniest Croatian island – one of the most beautiful islands in the world. Both rustic and worldly, bucolic and chic, Hvar is an island of fields. Inland, it is as rugged as ever – strong-smelling dense maquis, rocky mule tracks, and abrupt cliffs dropping down to the sea. Elsewhere, there are entire fields where fragrant lavender bushes grow, hillsides overrun with wild herbs, slopes covered with carpets of green vines and clear creeks. With its architecture, beautiful nature and mild climate many would describe it as a true fairy-tale city. Not surprisingly, many of a famous writer has been bowled over by Hvar, Croatia.

Back in the Hvar Town, the port and its marina offer plenty of diversion for leisure-seekers: not only is there an abundance of restaurants, trattorias and konobas, but spiritual replenishment can also be found in the form a theater, purportedly Eupore’s first for the people and aristocracy alike, housed on the first level of the Arsenal building. Thanks to the mild climate, the warm winters and pleasant summers Hvar receives many guests, scientists and travellers, who are attracted by the dense Mediterranean nature, rich tradition and architecture, and nightlife.

A slightly different form of spiritual replenishment is found in the Cathedral of St Stephan housing one of Croatia’ oldest icons; the Benedictine monastery where lace is still made from dried agave leaves; and the garden of the old Franciscan monastery with its 200-year-old cypress tree and painting of the Last Supper, in the refectory, undoubtedly influenced by Leonardo da Vinci’s world-famous masterpiece.

The composite town of Vis is made of two villages – Luka and Kuta, separated by a bay 3 km long with local islanders’ dwellings cheek by jowl with the wealthier abodes. Over the west coast, in Komiza, there are as many cafes and sobe (rooms to let) as fishing boats, and further around the coast, miniscule ports, clear creeks and cliffs with nothing but the sea below. Inland is just magical – hillsides criss-crossed with dry-stone-walled fields, terraced with vines, olive groves and fruit trees.

An adrenaline rush is never far away; water sports, scuba diving, tennis and rock climbing are simply a few of the hotel’s extensive menu of activities on offer. If inner calm and serenity is a priority, the Diocletian Spa and Wellness center offers a wide range of treatments and facilities, including a Tepidarium, several pools, saunas, steam baths, simulating cold plunge pools and adventure showers. The relaxation zone offers herbal walks, aqua safaris and yoga.

The hotel boasts the largest guestrooms on the Dalmatian Coast. The warm, inviting guestrooms and public areas have been created by famed Italian designer Lorenzo Bellini specifically for Le Meridien Lav and are exquisitely equipped to the latest global standards in order to ensure a luxurious and comfortable stay. The impressive list of technological gadgetry that welcomes each guest includes flat-screen TVs, high-speed Internet access, personal climate control, private Jacuzzis and well-placed balconies with amazing views of the nearby islands.

Croatia is a country with a long history, its monuments, cathedrals and palaces, as well as its natural attractions, belong at the top of many sightseeing itinerary, while its tranquil land- and seascapes are just as capable of taking one’s breath away. The small town of Rovinj exudes charm, with its red, brick and saffron-colored rooftops cascading down the hillside, the steeple of St Euphemia’s cathedral grandly rising above it to rival that of San Marco in Venice.

Saint and martyr, it is said that her bones miraculously floated into Rovinj in a marble sarcophagus in 800 BCE. This very same marble sarcophagus of the town’s patron saint is proudly ensconced in the church, an object of great devotion. In the Middle Ages, separated from the mainland by a channel, Rovinj was an island encircled by ramparts with seven soaring gateways. Although now connected to the mainland, the town still has boats moored at its feet, and tall medieval houses with lines of bright washing hanging between their balconies overlooking the narrow streets, with weathered café tables stacked up on the hillside.

The very picture postcard of a rustic island gateway, Rovinj is the perfect place for spending a few lazy days away from the hectic travel schedule. 

The Brijuni archipelago, consisting of 14 distinct islands, now forms a protected marine national park. In the 1st century BCE, the Greek geographer, Strabon, mentioned these islets scattered about the bay of Pula, Croatia. According to Pliny the Elder, the earliest documents on the subject that can be verified refer to the Insulae Pullariae, the islands of crows, most probably due to the moorhens which used to nest there in great numbers.

The jewel in the crown is Veli Brijuni, the largest of these islands, where Venus is said to have been born and where Tito built his residence. This, and Mali Brijuni, are the only islands open to visitors, the others are almost untouched. A 10-minutes crossing by boat-taxi from the port of Fazana is all that is needed to reach Veli Brijuni. The blue sea, warm gentle climate and azure light soon won over the Romans who adopted the island as a favorite leisure spot.