Beautiful Split – Croatia

Sanja Pokrajac

Beautiful Split-Croatia

Guide an Conversations in Croatian

Translated by Gabriela Gubenco

Copyright © 2020 Sanja Pokrajac

Introduction

Split is one of the most fascinating and most visited cities in the Mediterranean. It attracts many tourists from all over the world for the hospitality and excellent homemade cuisine that it offers, for its historical architecture, sacred art, nightlife and of course for the sea amusements. The biggest attraction has always been the famous Diocletian's Palace and its Roman architecture which directly overlooks the port of Split and represents a small city within the city, built with marble and white stone. Inside there is a real labyrinth surrounded by 26 meters high ancient walls where religious structures such as the Cathedral of San Domnio – Katedrala Svetog Dujma (Katedrala ssvetogh Duima) and in the north the miniature of the church of San Martino, Crkva Svetog Martina (Tsrkva Ssvetogh Martina) are preserved. There are four doors along the perimeter walls of the Palace. The center of Split is the peristyle of this ancient Palace represented by the central square of the Palace around which, in ancient times, there were several temples built in honor of the emperor Diocletian. Visiting it even today you can imagine its magnificence of those times.

A must see is the Croatian Maritime Museum-Pomorski muzej (Pomorsski museums) located in a 19th century building in the fortress of Gripe (Grippe), Ethnographic Museum inside the Diocletian Palace and the Art Museum of the famous Croatian sculptor Meštrović (Meshtrovich). Not far from the center there is also the Archaeological Museum with its finds from the Prehistoric, Medieval and Early Christian Eras. You do not want to miss the Museum of the city of Split located in a Gothic palace of the 15th century that summarizes the whole history of this city. And finally, to get to know Split and Dalmatia using the senses just visit the Museum of the Senses which offers attractions that erase the limit between the real and the imaginable.

Absolutely not to be missed is the hill of Marjan (Marian) with its gardens and terraces from where the panoramic view of the city and the sea is truly breathtaking.

For outdoor activities, the mountain Mali Kozjak (Mali Kosiak) at 1207 m altitude is very well-known. It is located above the Castles City of Split.

Walking through the alleys of Split you will surely notice the large statue of St. Gregory, Sveti Grgur (SSveti Grghur) which represents the Saint as well as the protector of the Croatian Catholic Church. The story says that it is enough to touch the big toe of the Saint's foot to get one wish fulfilled.

The famous beaches of Split are Bačvice (Bacivitse), Ježinac (Iejinats), Žnjan (Jgnan) and Firule (Firulle).

Excursions and day trips to visit the islands of Brač (Braci), Šolta (Sholta) or Hvar (Hvar) with the famous Blue Cave are also organized very often. You have to absolutely visit the magnificent Plitvice Lakes (Plitvitse) and the Krk Waterfalls National Park.

In the nearby you will find the charming town of Trogir (Troghir) all in stone, elected World Heritage by UNESCO and the beautiful beaches in its surroundings.

The 12 km rafting on the richest water river in Dalmatia, Cetina (Tsettina) is also exciting.

Not far away, even if it is in the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, there are the beautiful Kravice waterfalls (Kravitse), the city of Mostar, full of Ottoman-style bazaars and its famous bridge, symbol of the city of the last wars in the Balkans and Medjugorje (Megiughorie), and the religious site where the Virgin Mary appeared and that is visited by many faithfuls from all over the world.

The capital of Croatia is Zagreb (Saghreb). The Dalmatian climate is Mediterranean with mild winters and average annual temperatures around 15 Celsius degrees. Dalmatia is a geographical region located on the east coast of the Adriatic Sea. In the northern Croatian plains the climate is continental. Unlike in the northernmost sea area of Rijeka and Istria, summer storms in Dalmatia are much rarer. The religion is predominantly Christian Catholic. Croatia is part of the European Union and the local currency is the Kuna. All European phone cards are normally used in Croatia at no additional costs.

Croatian gastronomy

A large number of Croatian restaurants offer a wide selection of spirits produced in their cellars. Excellent grappas are made of vines, lozovača (lòsovacia), pears, viljamovka (vìgliamovka), apples, jabukovača (iàbukovacia), herb grappa, travarica (tràvariza), or quinces, dunjevača (dùgnevacia). There are also many excellent red and white wines such as Malvazija (Malvasia), Dingač (Dinghaci), Pošip (Poship), Muškat (Mushkat) Merlot, Rizling (Risling), Pinot Nero, Sauvignon, Cabernet and many others. Croatian wines are highly awarded in many world events and are perhaps better described by the words of a Croatian producer who said: "If you respect the grapes in the vineyard, the grapes will respect you in the bottle."

The Croatian specialties are mostly those made on the grill and obviously those of fresh sea fish of all kinds but also of mixed meat consisting of ribs, skewers and venison. Famous is Split's pašticada (pashtitsada) made of heifer in sauce, seasoned with bay leaves, nutmeg and pepper. It is served with gnocchi, njoki (gnoki). One of the historical Croatian dishes are štrukli (shtrukli), a kind of puff pastry with cow's cheese and sour cream. Fišpaprikaš (fishpaprikash) is a spicy goulash made from river fish. Winter dishes include boiled pork hock cooked with spices, beans with pork ribs, djuveč (downveci), that is pork with baked vegetables, fish soup, pita (pitta) that is pizza dough with the cheese filling, salted pita with meat (burek), savory vegetable pie, apple pie (jabukovača-iàbukovacia). Typical Dalmatian sweets are kroštule (kròshtule) fried puff pastry in the form of a flake, sprinkled with powdered sugar, fritule (fritulle), small fried balls made of leavened dough with raisins, pandišpanj (pandishpagn) biscuits soaked in prosecco and candied fruit, smokvenjak (ssmokvegnak) dessert made of dried figs, almonds, walnuts and spices, klašuni (klashùni) puff pastry with the filling of almonds and liqueur of a particular species of rose. Paradižet (Paradijet) is made of milk and eggs and looks like white clouds, rožata (rojatta) is a caramel cream with rose liqueur and many other sweet Dalmatian delights. In all the restaurants there are also Italian menus which are highly appreciated in Croatia.

N.B. below all the sentences in bold are in English and you will find the relative pronunciation of the translated Croatian text, which will be highlighted.

Greeting

GREETING/POZDRAVI/ POSDRAVI

Welcome/ Dobro došli/ Dobro dòshli

Cheers/ Nazdravlje/ Nàsdravlie

Good morning / Dobar dan/ Dobar dan

Good bye/ Doviđenja / Dovidʒèɲa

Have a nice trip / Sretan put/ Srètan poot

Conversations

CONVERSATIONS/RAZGOVORI/

RASGHOVORI

How are you? (formal) Kako ste? Kakko ste?

I'm well thank you and yoy? (formal) Hvala, dobro, a Vi? Hvala, dobro, a Vi?

Do you understand me? (formal) Razumijete li me? Rasùmiete li me?

I understand all / Sve razumijem / Sve rasùmiem.

Do you speak English or Croatian? (formal) Govorite li engleski ili hrvatski? / Ghòvorite li èngleski ili hrvatski?

Yes, I speak a little Croatian / Da, govorim malo hrvatski / Da, ghòvorim malo hrvatsski.

I don't understand /Ne razumijem/Ne rasùmiem.

How do you say this word? Kako se izgovara ova riječ? Kakko sse isghòvara ova rièci?

Could you repeat, please? (formal) / Ponovite, molim Vas / Ponòvite, mòlim vass.

What's your name? (formal) Kako se zovete? Kakko sse sòvete?

My name is…/ Ja se zovem…/Ia sse sòvem…

What time is it? Koliko je sati? Kòliko ie ssati?

It's ten to eight/Deset do osam/ Desset do ossam.

It's half past five/ Sad je pet i pol/ Ssad ie pet i pol.

It's a quarter past nine/Devet i kvarat/ Dèvet i kvarat.

What's the weather like? Kakvo je vrijeme? Kakvo ie vrieme?

Today is a beautiful day/ Danas je divan dan/ Danass ie divan dan.

When can we meet? Kada se možemo vidjeti? Kada se mòjemo vidietti?

Where can we meet? Gdje se možemo naći? Ghdie se mòjemo nacii?

I live in… / Ja živim u… / Ia jivim u…

How old are you? Koliko imaš godina? Koliko imash ghòdina?

Yes-No, thank you / Da-Ne, hvala/ Da- Ne, hvala.

Have you ever been to Croatia? Jeste li ikada bili u Hrvatskoj? Ieste li ìkada bili u Hrvatskoj?

Nice to meet you (formal)/ Drago mi je što smo se upoznali/ Dragho mi ie shto smo se ùposnali.

Will we meet this evening? Vidimo se večeras? Vidimo se vecìeras?

Excuse me / Oprostite/ Oprosstitte.

You're welcome/ Molim/ Molim.

Tooday is the 1st of January/ Danas je prvi siječanj / Danass ie prvi ssieciaɲ.

Happy New Year / Sretna Nova godina / Srètna Nova ghòdina.

Happy Birthday / Sretan rođendan / Srètan rògiendan.

I was born on the 10th February/ Rođen-rođena sam desetog veljače/ Rògien-rògiena ssam dessetogh vegliacie.

I'm 30 years old and you? Imam trideset godina, a ti? Imam trìdesset ghòdina, a ti?

I'm not married/ Nisam oženjen/ Nissam òjeɲen.

Meet my friend/ Predstaviću ti mog prijatelja/ Prèdsstàviciu ti mogh prìateglia.

Have we already seen each other? Jesmo li se već vidjeli? Jessmo li sse veci vìdieli?

How old do you think I am? Koliko mi daješ? Koliko mi dàiesh?

I would say you're 25 years old/ Dao bih ti dvadeset pet godina/ Dao bih ti dvàdeset pet ghòdina?

You are very nice(formal)/ Vi ste puno ljubazni/ Vi sste puno gliùbasni.

Can we meet tonight? Možemo li se vidjeti večeras? Mòjemo li sse vìdietti vecìerass?

It's love at first sight/ To je ljubav na prvi pogled/ To ie gliubav na prvi pòghled.

I'll come pick you by car/ Doći ću autom po tebe/ Doci ciu àutom po tebe.

Can I have your phone number? Mogu li dobiti tvoj broj telefona? Mòghu li dòbitti tvoi broi telefona?

Let's have lunch together/ Ručajmo zajedno/ Rùciaimo sàiedno.

Shall we go for a walk? Hoćemo li prošetati? Hòciemo li proshètatti?

I'm sorry I'm late/ Oprostite što kasnim/ Oprosstitte shto kassnim.

Shall we dance? Hoćemo li plesati? Hòciemo li plessatti.

It was a pleasant evening/ Večeras je bilo lijepo/ Vecìerass ie bilo liepo.

Thank you for your hospitality/ Hvala na vašem-tvom gostoprimstvu/ Hvala na vashem-tvom ghòsstoprimstvu.

Is she your girlfriend? Ona je tvoja djevojka? Ona ie tvoia dièvoika?

He's my brother/ On je moj brat/ On ie moi brat.

See you on Saturday at…/ Vidimo se u subotu u… / Vidimo sse u ssùbottu u…

I'm sorry I can't come/ Žao mi je, ne mogu doći/ Jao mi ie, ne mòghu doci.

I'm glad I met you/ Drago mi je što sam te upoznao/ Dragho mi ie shto ssam te upòsnao.

Cardinal numbers

CARDINAL NUMBERS / KARDINALNI BROJEVI / KARDINALNI BROIEVI

0 zero / nula / nulla

1 one / jedan/ iedan

2 two / dva / dua

3 three / tri / tri

4 four / četiri/ cietiri

5 five/ pet / pet

6 six / šest/ shest

7 seven / sedam / ssedam

8 eight / osam / ossam

9 nine / devet / devet

10 ten/ deset / desset

11 eleven/ jedanaest / iedanaesst

12 twelve / dvanaest / duanaesst

13 thirteen / trinaest / trinaesst

14 fourteen/ četrnaest/ cietrnaesst

15 fifteen / petnaest/ petnaesst

16 sixteen / šesnaest /shiessnaest

17 seventeen/ sedamnaest/ ssedamnaesst

18 eighteen/ osamnaest/ ossamnaesst

19 nineteen/ devetnaest/ devetnaesst

20 twenty/ dvadeset/ dvadesset

21 twenty-one/ dvadeset jedan/ dvadesset iedan

30 thirty/ trideset/ tridesset

40 forty/ četrdeset/cietrdesset

50 fifty/ pedeset/ pedesset

60 sixty/ šezdeset/shesdesset

70 seventy/ sedamdeset/ssedamdesset

80 eighty/ osamdeset/ossamdesset

90 ninety/ devedeset/devedesset

100 one hundred/ sto/ ssto

200 two hundred/ dvjesto/dviessto

300 three hundred/ tristo/ trissto

400 four hundred/ četristo/cietrissto

500 cinquecento/ petsto/ petssto

600 six hundred/ šesto/ shessto

700 seven hundred/ sedamsto/ ssèdamssto

800 eight hundred/ osamsto/ òssamssto

900 nine hundred/ devetsto/dèvetssto

1000 one thousand/ tisuća/ tissucia

2000 two thousand/ dvije tisuće/ dvije tissucie

3000 three thousand/ tri tisuće/ tri tissucie

3330 / tri tisuće tristo trideset/tri tissucie trissto tridesset

8022 / osam tisuća dvadeset dva/ ossam tissucia dvadesset dva

55000/ pedeset pet tisuća/pedesset pet tissucia

1 million/ milion/milìon

1 billion/ milijarda/miliarda