Croatia

Croatia is quickly becoming on honorary member of Western Europe on the basis of prices, quality of transportation, and number of tourists. However, the Croatians are still welcoming and friendly to tourists, which makes staying here a much more pleasant experience. The Croatian coast, called the Dalmatian coast, is now becoming famous for its islands, beaches, and old towns. Honestly, nothing here is all that spectacular but it is a nice relaxing place for a vacation. Dubrovnik truly is the pearl of the coast and nothing quite compares to it. The dialect on the coast is noticeably Italian-influenced but once you go inland a bit, this disappears and the dialect, like most other aspects of culture, become much more Eastern European.

Beer of Croatia: Crotia is home to several beers, seemingly all lagers like Ozujsko, Karlovacko, and Pan. None are spectacular but they aren't terrible either. Zagreb, surpisingly, has some microbreweries, including a Zagreb-exclusive chain called Medvedgrad, which produces a variety of truly top quality stuff. Grade: B.

Ice Cream of Croatia: Due to its proximity to Italy, I had high hopes for Croatia's ice cream. And for the most part, it delivered. The best stuff I could find was in Dubrovnik, though pretty good stuff was available in Split and Hvar as well. Zagreb's was quite disappointing, as only mass-marketed/low-quality ice creams were available, which were just not worth the bother. Grade: B+.