For a long time, we encounter rakija from the Istrian Aura distillery. The gentle tastes of olive and almond brandy on the Liburnian coast and the strong herb brandy (travarica) in Dalmatia have just made us more willing to visit the distillery in the Istrian town of Buzet, otherwise known for truffles. The summer heat of Central istria turns into a cold bliss of a cellar decorated in an old rural Istrian style. Here, Danijela Kramar and her associates welcome us, and they gi

Već dulje vrijeme se susrećemo s rakijama iz istarske destilerije Aura. Nježni okusi rakije od masline i badema na liburnijskoj obali i snažne travarice isprobane u Dalmaciji samo su nas tjerali da posjetimo i samu destileriju u istarskom gradiću Buzetu, inače poznatom po tartufima. Ljetna žega Buzeta pretvara se u hladno blaženstvo podruma uređenog u starom seoskom istarskom stilu. Ovdje nas dočekuje voditeljica Danijela Kramar i njezini suradnici, te nam prvo daju probati o

The sun pushes its rays through the evergreen trees and makes a beautiful backdrop of crystal blue sky and equally perfect snow. Peace and tranquillity rule over the small valley in midst of mountains. In the centre of it, yellow walls of the Serbian Orthodox Monastery of St. John the Baptist, near the village of Gomirje, invites us to be humble and enter the realm of spirit in Gorski Kotar. As it turned out, we almost didn’t come to this place. Snow was falling heavily last

When poet Antun Mihanović was writing a poem in 1835 that will later become the Croatian national anthem, he surely didn’t even think that in a protected nature forest of Zelenjak, where is a monument dedicated to him and his poem, will be also one of the top quality restaurants in whole Zagorje. Family Ventek runs the restaurant Zelenjak and is proud of dedication to beautifully made, eye pleasing, and traditionally authentic Zagorje foods. Immediately next to the Sutla rive