PCM1704

Hi

Has anyone on the forum had the experience of moving to Croatia with a young family in recent years? ...

I recently turned 50, have a young family, and am looking for somewhere with nice weather, not more than 2 hours flying time from w. Europe, affordable property, decent infrastructure, no ethnic or religious issues, safe with friendly people.

I have a small business which brings in small money, so a low cost of living works better ...

If anyone knows of a better location than Croatia given the above criteria, would really like to hear about it.

Ray51

There are areas and areas in Croatia , climate-wise and otherwise ;
in Istria , Dalmatia , Zagreb , property certainly is not cheap , by European standards ;
infrastructure leaves alot to be desired , everywhere ;
etnic and religious issues are plentiful - Catholic church is in all media daily and interferes into many aspects of everyday life ;
whilst crime-wise it is relatively safe there , I wouldn't call most of the people friendly - recently it was reliably reported that over 1/3 of those emplyed in tourism refuse to speak english !
As for the cost of everyday living , apples for apples , U.K. and especially Germany are much more affordable , trust me .
Have you considered Slovenia ?

Ka Ora!

Welcome to the forum, If you get any issues give one of the Forum Leaders a shout.

Ray51

Just a few more ( experienced ) words on infrastructure there :
- hardly any fair-priced air tickets , out of main tourist season ( July/August ) ;
- rail network : long-neglected , poor and quite useless , actually ;
- road-tolls : among the very highest in EUrope , the traffic jams and ( too many ) accidents - have to be seen , before one can believe , how it works .
Just why a few million people put up with all this , plus high prices and poor service , for 6-7 weeks every summer , is beyond my comprehension .

Ray51

And another contribution , in utmost good faith ,
( from one who actally speaks the lingo-es , follows Cro-media daily and owns a property there ) ;
this week's scandal ( when is there a weeek without a truly serious one ? there ? ) were the confessions of some former employees of leading food-processing companies ...
...according to them , as reported by 3-4 main newspapers and eventually even the Croatian TV ,
much of the meat used to make sausages , cold cuts , salami and the like
often is :
- over 10 years' old ;
- imported cheaply from Brasil , China , Taiwan , Thailand etc ( Croatia is not yet a member of the EU , so : no EU - restrictions apply ) ;
- frozen , defrosted , than frozen again , time after time .
After all this , the price local consumers pay ( for this revolting abuse of the term : "processed meats" ) is pretty much in the same league , if not higher , than what we pay in BeNeLux, Austria , Germany , France ...!
The police hinted that they might even investigate , but , no doubt : there'll be a few cash-stacked envelopes readily in place , to hush up any trouble/s ?
Welcome to the Balkans , my friends !

PCM1704

Ray51

Thanks a lot for your sharing your experience.

I was already having doubts about the place, and quite frankly you have confirmed - or exceeded - my worst fears about the place.

Funny you mentioned Slovenia, as this is where I started to research next. It seems like a much better option. I understand that the infrastructure is more sophisticated in Slovenia. But I read that the bureaucracy is still quite unyeilding as I understand.

Property prices also put me off as they seem almost higher than many core EU states ... so why would you uproot to go and live in the Balkans? ...

I have now turned my sights closer to home and to Portugal. Property, COL is cheaper and the weather is better ... oh, and the meat has a 'Use By' date on it.

Thanks again, for setting me straight about Croatia.

malcolm

Ray51

Slovenia is a member of the EU and the Eurocurrency-zone ;
it is far more advanced than Croatia , in infrastructure and in many other aspects ;
there is a Brit community , mostly in the rural north ( where properties are cheap , BTW ) ;
food and drinks shopping is much better there , than in Croatia - as is the suply of medicaments and many other things ;
with the borders now open , a quick hop into Austria or Italy is a pleasure ( whereas Croatian border into Slovenia can be a few hours' nightmare , since Croatia is not a Schengen member , either - and likes to tax personal imports ) ;
most Slovenians see themselves as people of the Alps ; in the flatter section , from Ljubljana to Croatia , property prices are not bad ;
then there is also some 30-odd km of Adriatic seaside , wonderful microclimate and great grub - there , the property is expensive and hard to get .
Good luck !

PCM1704

Yeah Slovenia definitely seems a worthy contender.

Do they speak English there ... or, more importantly, do they mind speaking English there? ... Apparently they like Germans.

The Adriatic coast part is definitely more appealing, but is probably crowded expensive and poor value. The temperature seems to be nearly 5 deg. warmer there than inland ... which is a lot.

Probably the place is full of Italians chattering loudly.

Ray51

Yeah , the Itaes do chatter loudly and amply , never-stopping for a breath ( except for yet another cigarette & espresso ) ,
from about mid June to 15. August ( Ferragosto ) , which is when they all summarily leave , en-masse !
Some also visit , to blow Euros on fish-dishes , casino and tours , Easter and/or X-mas .
They ( the Itaes ) also are ( by far ) the best and biggest cash spenders , on the SLO-coast and on ski-pistes , incredible as we might think !
( In Croatia , the biggest spenders are loud and rough , suspect Russians , laden with $$$ and quite undemanding/unsophisticated , yet : suicidal in showing their wealth off ! )
Most Slovenians fancy themselves as somewhat Germanic , and so are their food , drinks , music , TV and dress , predominantly ;
very civilised , too !
There you have it !( For now...)

Ray51

[QUOTE=PCM1704;8827530]Yeah Slovenia definitely seems a worthy contender.

Do they speak English there ... or, more importantly, do they mind speaking English there? ... Apparently they like Germans.

The Adriatic coast part is definitely more appealing, but is probably crowded expensive and poor value. The temperature seems to be nearly 5 deg. warmer there than inland ... which is a lot.
QUOTE]

In most towns , better educated people pride themselves on speaking some kind of English ! Here I refer to doctors , chemists , cops , even odd shopkeepers ...the younger they are , the better chance of them speaking English , besides German and Italian !
Last I looked , for english press , on the coast you need to drive into nearby Trieste ( Italy ) , unless you are satisfied with Herald Tribune and/or Wall St. Journal , which you get daily in Koper , Portoroz etc ...
Usually , the SLO-coast is NOT really crowded , also : not really poor value ; the weather is great ( comparatively speaking ) 12 months a year , on that coastal stretch ; as is the air-dried ham , seafoods ,cheese and wine !

imprtedvixen

I am Croatian, and I just want to say that I'm living in the UK, and I will certainly say that here in the UK most of the people are not really friendly, a specially towards foreign person like me....I never saw anybody in Croatia refusing to speak English, I know that many many young people speak English very well.. may be those who don't like to speak english to you have also very bad experience in the UK, where a lot of people are very narrow minded and don't like foreigners..don't expect to be treated nice if you don't treat nice...
now i know that Croatia have some problems and i will not say it is all OK just because I'm Croatian...but then again tell me which country have 100% all OK... at least we don't have "benefit" culture like lazy people in the UK.. Croatian people are very hard working people. I know a lot of English people who have houses in Croatia and who integrate very well to the society.. If you want to speak only english and look around for only english speaking people you will never integrate, so for you is better to go to Tenerife where you can eat fish and chips, speak english with low class Britons, and drink lager somewhere in resort,, Croatia is definitely not the country for you..

Mitzyboy

I think if your attitude is "lazy low class Brits", then that might be a little bit of a clue why you dont find many friendly Brits

Ray51

In general and without prejudice , it is safe to say that most Croats don't like the Brits ( nor the French : even less , same with Belgians ) , especially in the last 20 years i.e. the last bouts of Balkan wars , when Anglo-Saxon and most other western media tarred all the sides with pretty-much the same brush ( rightly or wrongly ? who's to say...) .
Still , the Brits are welcome to visit for a visa-free package holiday on the Adriatic coast , blow the maximum money ( even Croatian media recognises them as almost-highest spenders : just below the Russians , but much more generous than those Croats' beloved Germans and Austrians ) , then depart .
Such is the relations' building exercise , between the 2 countries .
On top of this , Brits are criticised ( by laymen i.e. ordinary , ignorant folk ) for being EUrosceptics , for not having joined the single currency , for colonialism of hundreds of years ago , for ( allegedly ) having blocked Croatia's entry into the EU ...tsk , tsk , tsk , this could go on for much longer , but : what's the point ?

imprtedvixen

no my attitude is def. not lazy... I'm talking about that TIPE of holiday makers,I don't say that all Britons are lazy... By the way my husband is British...I have indeed a lot of great British friends and family..I am not rich or extravagant person, but my husband and me don't socialise with "chavs" and close minded people...I have to tell you that many times i don't even open my mouth and people have prejudice that I'm some terrible foreign person who "take their job",,(those people never look for a job, but complain that i take theirs)Usually they don't ask question:"where you coming from"? they ask:" are you poooolish?"...LOL..
I don't make a war here in the forum, I just try to make a bigger picture..A lot of British people think that all world have to speak English, that all world have to wait for them in their own country with British food, etc...
all I wanted to say is: WHEREVER you go, try to integrate,speak language, and don't expect everybody have to adjust to you...When I come to UK, I try to adjust to the UK mentality, food,customs, etc..It is not easy, but is definitely good..

imprtedvixen

well yes i agree.,., this is the fact.. you and me can't change anything about that...history, politics, etc..you know what people say: opinions are like asshole's everybody has one..LOL...I personally think that UK should NEVER change currency.. I personally think that Croatia should never join the EU.. but who care what I think...I can only be responsible for my own behaviour and actions..