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  • 20. Apr, 2021.

Hand signals

When it comes to safe biking you should obey some rules. First and foremost, always wear your helmet. The second important rule is to be predictable. When in a group, always ride in a single file. Don't ride side by side. If your group is formed of 4 or more people cycling together, you should spread out and make few smaller groups so that cars can easily overtake these groups. Namely, it is much easier to overtake 2 cyclists than a group of 6.

 

When riding in a group, you should always talk to each other and use hand and voice signals. For instance, if you want to stop, raise your hand aside and give an audible signal: „I'm stopping“. Even if the riders behind you hear only „stopping“, that would be enough. Namely, most bikers end up taking pictures during their rides in Croatia. It is not uncommon that they forget to warn other members of their group that they are stopping to snap a shot. This is a common mistake because if another biker behind is also looking aside they can easily hit each other and cause an accident. This situation can be avoided if everyone stopping shouts or makes an audible sound: STOPPING! The similar goes for other vocal cues such as: „Turning“, „Car back“, „Car front“ and so forth.

 

 
Take possession of narrow roads.
 
Use hand signal before the turn.

 

Avoid pulling too hard on the front brake lever. Brake smoothly! Hard braking is a common cause of cycling injuries. This can cause the brakes to lock and the rider to fall over the handlebars. Moreover, if there is a hazard on the road, you should point your right index finger at hazards. Those right behind you may not see the pothole or rock in front of you and they will go right into it unless you point it to them. Furthermore, by using your hands to point that you are turning left or right you will be safer on the road. Moreover, cars, motorbikes, and other vehicles will take you more seriously if you take possession of narrow roads. This means that you should not ride a bike on the far right side of the road because in this case, other vehicles will regard you just as another pedestrian. If you take possession of the road by riding about 14-18 inches from the edge of the pavement, other vehicles will be forced to wait for clearance before they try to overtake you. You should also pay attention to parked cars since the occupants can open the doors at any time.

 

These and other rules will make your riding experience in Croatia carefree.

 

Last but not the least, do not forget that in Croatia driving is on the right side of the road, that there is no turning on red and that right of way in roundabouts is for those in the traffic circle.

 

Always ride a single file.

 

Don’t wear headphones. You need to hear what’s going on around you.
Always wear brightly colored clothing. It is harder for motorists to see you if you are dressed in dark or dull colors.  Fluorescent fabrics markedly increase your visibility to other road users.

When in doubt, walk.  If a hill looks too steep or a curve too tricky, get off.

If you are not in a good shape, it is always better to spin faster rather than ride in hard gear thinking you will reach your destination or climb the hill faster. When pedaling hard your muscles get cramps, you lose your power faster, and probably will not recover enough for tomorrow’s ride!

 

Take care of yourself and others and enjoy your cycling holidays!

 

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  • 20. Nov, 2020.

Hib - Island Vis superfood

Hib cake is a perfect example of Mediterranean cuisine dating back to the ancient times. Traditionally, it was prepared by peasant women from Vis Island and is a powerful energetic bar, which in modern world marketing can easily be branded as superfood. The hard working men of Vis Island – farmers and fishermen – could easily restore their strength with just a small slice of this cake.

The Greeks, who came to the Island of Vis in the 4th century B.C. were the first ones to introduce fig and fig leaves into the kitchen, by wrapping up the vegetables, meat and fish to keep these products fresh and preserved for longer periods of time.

The Hib cake is a perfect mixture of figs, aromatic herbs, almonds, homemade brandy, rosemary and fennel. Nowadays, it is made for Christmas when it is served with homemade rakija (brandy and grappa). Since the cake is being kept in rosemary and bay leaves, it gets a special aroma and can be consumed months after it was made.

         

 

To spicy up the Hib story, below you will find a historical description of a fig tree;

 

    The fig tree can be seen in some images of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve used fig leaves to cover their nudity after eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. According to the Greek mythology, Priapus is the God of fertility, vegetables, nature, livestock, fruit, beekeeping, genitals, masculinity and sexual desire. He became a popular figure in Roman erotic art and Latin literature. Some of the drawings and pictures show him covered with fig leafs only and one can only guess which parts they covered.
     
  In Greek mythology, Dionysus (Bacchus to the Romans) was the God of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness, fertility, theatre and religious ecstasy. He is often shown riding a leopard, wearing a leopard skin, or in a chariot drawn by panthers, and can also be recognized by the thyrsus he carries. Besides the grapevine and its wild barren alter-ego, the toxic ivy plant, both sacred to him, the fig was also his symbol.

 

 

Recipe:

  • Grind 1 kilogram of fresh figs, 5 leaves of bay, leaves from one rosemary sprig, one sprig of fennel and 1 deciliter of homemade (herbal) brandy.
  • Knead the dough from all grinded ingredients and form the small cakes which should be left to dry in the sun for approximately 10 days. After drying, let them ripen with bay and rosemary leaves to get some additional aroma.
  • Serve the cake cut in small slices with some homemade rakija (aromatic herbal brandy).

 

You can also try to make it at home to surprise your family members and guests during Christmas holidays.  Of course, with some herbal brandy as a special touch to it. It does sounds tasty, doesn’t it?

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  • 28. Apr, 2021.

Is it summer yet? Season update

 

Let's start with the breaking news – travel to Europe is officially in sight. European Commission announced that American travelers who have been vaccinated will be able to visit the EU this summer. If we look in more detail, Croatia is open to visitors since April 1st,2021. To enter Croatia, you need to have one of the following;

  • A negative PCR or rapid antigen test result not older than 48h
  • Vaccination certificate (with its second dose (if needed) received more than 14 days prior)
  • Presentation of positive PCR test, performed in previous 180 days and older than 11 days from the date of arrival.

 

But here I want to stop writing about numbers, test names, dates, deadlines, and so on…

The whole world situation in the last year created some positive changes. In Split, my hometown there are so many foreigners since the beginning of this year. Travel nomads and ex-pats mostly. (Croatia introduced VISA for travel nomads in 2021). It is so nice to see foreign people mingling with locals, at the market, in the local shops and doing activities they normally do. I do love and want to preserve the Dalmatian culture and tradition, but it needs a little bit of “refreshment”. Travel nomads and ex-pats are not leaving a big (negative) impact on the local community, actually, they want to assimilate with the community but still, their behavior is slightly different, so they do add a bit of the “spice” to the whole scene and make local people interested in different things and cultures. Think globally, act locally!! Open minded globetrotter Dalmatians J!

 

     

 

 

In hopes for the bright future ahead, we are preparing for the upcoming season. Vans and bikes are being serviced, we have a new fleet of Cannondale Carbon Di2 (state of the art) road bikes, guides are checking out the routes, we are slowly receiving requests and bookings, mostly starting from June. We do see an increase in private travel, which was to be expected and we are ready! During our downtime (almost 1 year) we created a few different but great active, adventure, and cultural tours for families or a group of friends. From “proper” road cycling to summer sea-based activity tours.

 

 

   

 

We are ready and really looking forward to this summer. Join us and beside beautiful nature, culinary specialties, history let us show you how Dalmatians transformed in globe trotters without leaving their country.

 

Andro

 

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  • 02. Jul, 2021.

Klapa - traditional Dalmatian singing

Customs of Dalmatia 

Try to imagine hot summer day, with the fresh breeze and group of friends located inside the small alley or square of the ancient island town, in the shade where you have great acoustics. Friends spending time together and singing about life, sea, love, wine, Dalmatia…. 

 

Topics of the songs usually are simple but if we translate literally from Croatia – they do have power, meaning most of the people who respect and who know the Dalmatian and Mediterranean tradition can relate to them. 

 

Klapa, or acapella singing is mostly performed without any instruments, but there is always first and second tenor as well as baritone and bass (voice). Sometimes mandolin can accompany the song. It is inscribed in Unesco Cultural Heritage of Humanity.  

 

Now we will stop writing so you can enjoy video  

Klapa Tragos – Dalmatino, poviscu pritrujena

 

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Dalmatino, povišću pritrujena
(Ljubo Stipišić Delmata)

 

Pute, laze pizon dubli tovari
Gustirne žedne, mijun sići i lati
Konkulana škina težakov od motik
Po žurnatin, žurnatin pritrujena

Prage kalet žnjutin dubli puntari
Naboj dalmatine rebati na drači
Kroz kadene dicu čičan pasli
A judi driti ka kolone
Dalmatino, povišću pritrujena

Intradu pravice s tilin štrukali
Rod puntarski resa na drači
Ditinstvon gladnin povist štukali
Dalmatino, povišću pritrujena

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