Croatia VS Australia

Croatian Comparison

We have now been in Croatia for 2 months and have covered a great deal in that time. We have been all the way from Istria, all the way down to Dubrovnik and back up again to Zagreb and the Inland Regions. We are coming towards the end of the Croatian leg of our trip. Croatia has few similarities to Australia and many differences. 

Croatia in many ways is different to Australia. There laws are rarely obeyed, and there customs very different. Here no one follows rules, if there is a sign that says don’t smoke, they smoke. On ferries there is a sign that says don’t access cars while the ferry is moving, they all sit in there cars and smoke. EVERYONE here smoke, mum says it’s the Croatian salute, all day, ever day, everywhere they have a fag in there hand And there is not age limit to purchase cigarettes or alcohol here.

When we first arrived in Gvozd, the man across the road died, and his body was kept at home till the funeral, because there is no mortuary. His body was placed on the back of a trailer and taken to the cemetery, instead of a hearse, this is just the way in rural Croatia, I believe.

Cafes here are not for eating, you can only purchase drinks, manly alcoholic, and people start drinking at around 9 O’clock in the morning and don’t stop till late. You can bring your own food cafes. School here. Starts at 8 O’clock and is finished by 1 O’clock and they only get two breaks; five minutes and a ten minutes.

The kitchen is very different here too, for one thing they don’t have gas on tap, there is gas bottle in the kitchen, which usually sits next to the stove. Wood fires are the main source of heat, with one usually in every room, and sometimes used to cook with in the kitchen. Salt is used in everything, and in heavy doses, all you can taste is salt. Tooth picks are everywhere, restaurants, dining rooms, kitchens and people actually use them. Cooking ingredients here are a struggle, with are a million types of flour, but none of the right ones, the have flour for, pizza, bread, cakes, yeast cakes, and so on, however they do not have self raising flour, or just plain flour. Chickens here (rural Croatia) come off the back of truck, still clucking, there are then killed, plucked and put on the table fresh that day. Pork is there choice of meat, which they everyday. Pigs are kept in your back garden and fattened up to kill and eat.

Croatia while a great experience is very different in culture, customs and everything else, even in the larger cities its all very different,  besides the obvious, such the weather winter has just started and at 7 o’clock last night it was 0 degrees. It is has too many differences to name.

Rubby Sestak (16 g.)