It’s been a little quiet on the Croatian front in London, but here’s a round-up of some interesting items.

CSYPN’s Big Spring Feast

The Croatian Student and Young Professionals Network held a splendid Sunday Lunch at the popular Hammersmith pub The Old Ship on 29 April. Over 20 people attended, and everyone stayed for drinks later. A good time was had by all.

In the Press

Britain is to be paired of with Croatia for the Davis cup tennis tournament. “Great Britain face toughest opponents” was the headline in the Times on 11 April. The British have “been handed the toughest draw possible. The matches will be played over September 21-23. The Times returned to the story the next day, saying that the British team are looking to find Croatia’s ‘Achilles Heel’. The British hope to have an advantage in that the matches will be played on home territory. They will be keeping tabs on Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic, the Croatian team. Neil Hammond reported on 1 May that Ljubicic does not like grass courts, apparently considering “grass as an arachnophobe does a spider’s web”. This is unfortunate as it would seem the match will be played on a grass court at Wimbledon.

Henry Winter, writing in the Daily Telegraph on 17 April declared that UEFA at its meeting in Cardiff should award the hosting of the European football championship to ‘Eastern Europe‘. They took his advice, but sadly gave it not to the Croatia/Hungary bid but to Poland/Ukraine. The decision was reported in much of the UK press. Hopefully next time Croatia will be awarded it.

The Daily Telegraph of 12 April reported on the finding of a previously unknown Vincent van Gogh that was found in Croatia. The 1882 picture was found in an uncatalogued collection that had been stored in the Mimara Museum in Zagreb.

Croatia still continues to get coverage of its delights as a tourist destination. The 3 May Daily Mail ran a special offer on Croatia saying that it is perceived as one of the “‘trendier’ holiday destinations“ as well as “…enjoying a renaissance in popularity with every type of traveller.”

Gregor’s Foot

BBC Radio 4 broadcast a programme on 13 April by the noted writer Alan Plater, on Grgur Ninski (Grgur of Nin). Entitled Gregor’s Foot, it was part of a series entitled ‘Stories for another day’, which were based on unfinished works by Plater. It concerned the statue of Gregor in Split, and its history, especially during World War 2. It was well regarded by many who listened to it, although Italians may not have been too amused by an Italian character pointing out Croatia is older than Italy.

Death of former Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan

The death of former Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan on 29 April made some of the British press. Newspapers such as the Independent, Times and the Guardian ran obituaries. The Croatian embassy in London opened a book of condolence for people to sign for two days.

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