Tag Archives: Croatia

Today I’m ashamed to be a Croat

I've been thinking December 2, 2013 Comments: 35

It seems we are a nation that is either intolerant of differences or generally doesn’t care at all.

Croatia had to vote today on a referendum whether it will be put into our constitution that marriage is a union between a man and a woman.

So, after today, we are going to have an additional clause in it, saying exactly that.

To think that I live among smart, tolerant people was obviously a serious judgment error on my part. Because it seems 65% of voters today think it’s okay to limit the right to marriage. That is, 65% of the 38% of people who actually care one way or the other. As that was the percentage of voters today – 38%.

My heart aches knowing that I live in a country where this can happen and no one can do anything about it (too many idiotic things allowed, leading to such a stupid outcome).

The most incredible thing is that none of the arguments why limiting marriage would be ok is actually based in logic, Catholic religion or common human decency. But the other side kept bringing those up like it were, and now it seems to have worked.

I do wish I lived someplace else where things like this don’t happen and people actually listen to common sense. Aren’t hypocritical. Mean. Or just plain stupid.

Still, it hurts. And I feel ashamed.

So, if anyone has a job offer anywhere that isn’t Croatia, I would be more than willing to consider it.

Meeting Nat of Another Perfume Blog

World of Perfume August 7, 2013 Comments: 21

Honestly, I really didn’t think I would actually get a chance to meet a perfume blogger in my home city. 🙂

I mean people don’t usually choose to visit Zagreb when deciding on what European city/country to visit but luckily for me, Nat and her husband decided to spend some of their vacation at the beautiful Croatian seaside so Zagreb found itself on their itinerary as well.zagreb

I got to meet with Natalie, twice, first when she arrived and then again when she was leaving which was great, as the first time I got to know her and answer her questions about Croatia and the second time around, I got to hear of what it was like for them spending a vacation here.

What can I say, I certainly hope they share their thoughts on Croatia to as large a group as possible. 😉

Those of you who met Natalie probably already know what a lovely, beautiful person she is. We certainly didn’t lack subjects when we met and I was so very happy that when we visited Top perfumery, our host Borut provided us with some yet unreleased perfumes to smell (he is just a great perfumista himself with a large knowledge of perfumes).

zg1

So that’s a place you need to visit once in Zagreb.

I was very happy to learn on our second meeting that I installed a bit of a curiosity in Nat and her husband when it came to Croatian drinks and I also realized that in their commitment to try them all (or as many as possible), they landed upon one of my favourites called Pelinkovac (meaning done from the plant mugworth/wormwood – I needed a dictionary for that one).

I know you all know what an incredibly lovely experience it is meeting perfumistas in real life but I still need to say it.

It was great fun meeting Natalie and I certainly hope we get to see each other again.

But you know, I cannot but help thinking that recently that trend has been on the rise so I have feeling we all might be meeting each other more and more often in the future.

And that is just such a happy thought for me. (I could probably do a Patronus on it!)  😉

 

P.S. If you’re wondering where did the Patronus part come from, I am, again, re-reading Harry Potter. 😀

 

Croatia is in the EU

World of Perfume July 1, 2013 Comments: 9

flagI admit, I could be counted among the Euro-sceptics (although I’ve been told that’s actually fashionable and trendy these days) but ever since Croatians voted for entering the EU, I can’t help but think of the bright side of the situation.

I can freely order from all the sites that delivered only to EU!!! 😀 Top of my list being Serge Lutens of course.

I don’t expect it to become available today but hopefully in the near future, Croatia will be added to the list of EU countries many sites ship to.

I was happy to notice that Paula Begoun International site welcomed Croatia  to their shipping world today. 🙂

In anticipation of new fragrant (and other) delights, to all my fellow Europeans – a warm hello from a new member!

 

What is happening?

I've been thinking November 15, 2011 Comments: 15

It seems my blog is turning into my thoughts on everything else but perfume but I can’t help it at the moment.

Spurred by reading for my thesis, news from the world and just some thoughts of my own (which do tend toward depressing these days), I can’t help but wonder where are we as a world headed?

It hit me 5 minutes ago that my life dependant on resources outside of me was in a downward spiral and as optimistic and positive as I am, I must confess that at this point, I don’t see the trend either stopping or reversing.
Quite the contrary, it seems to be accelerating toward the deep end.

So, that is why I asked what is happening? But more to the point, why are people so mean and selfish as to have brought this upon the world at large, and more specifically, my own country?
Croatia is the slowest European country to start coming out of the recession, meaning, we still haven’t begun to climb out of it, and talking to everyone here (who still has work), it doesn’t seem it will happen any time soon.
I won’t go into details why that is so, but it has a lot to do with the mean, selfish, hypocritical and just plain bad people.

Basically, if I am starting to think it can only get worse, and I have a good job and live relatively protected from the worst of this recession, how do other people fare?
And not just here but all around the world?

And as I’m being honest here, I really wish I wouldn’t worry about things like this. It’s hard for me these days to feel truly happy and satisfied with the world I live in, this is only making me feel worse.

And the bottom line is, is there anything I can do about it? On a larger scale than being part of an ignored demonstration…?

A bit of everything

Uncategorized July 2, 2009 Leave a comment

I’m just going to go through things I want to say, in order to clear the jumble in my head.

I tried Elixir de Merveilles on me and it is nice, but wasn’t as uplifting as when tried on a strip. It’s fresh and citrusy (unfortunately chocolate is not prominent enough for me) and the drydown smells like oranges (turning somewhat to orange juice) with a nice but barely there incense hint. I’ll definitely be wearing my decant but I’m not sure I’ll be buying a bottle.

This morning I made a mistake – I put on a perfume I swapped for last summer and well, it almost made it into scrubber category, but I’ll survive today and never spray it on again. I’m talking about Yuzu Ab Irato by Parfumerie Generale. It smells like a strong lemon lollipop (having that artificial candy lemon smell). I’m all for citrusy fragrances, but this one is just not me.

Notes by http://www.nstperfume.com/ :yuzu, spearmint leaves, pepper, magnolia, jasmine, hyacinth, absolute of thyme, hyssop, myrtle, and bamboo.
I finally got a package containing Bal a Versailles (been on my list of things to try for a while) and while I did spray it on yesterday, I was so busy the whole day I wasn’t able to give it my full attention. But what I fleetingly got, I liked very much. 🙂 More to come…

Now, onto something non-fragrance related. I don’t know how much people follow Croatian politics (or politics in general) but our PM resigned yesterday. And while that is not a strange thing by itself, PMs resign often enough following scandals – at the moment, the only scandalous thing in Croatia is the fact that due to our governments politics, Croatia is facing bankruptcy. And getting into European Union seems to be further away than ever. There were enough scandals over the years which would force other PMs out of their offices, but ours would never. Now, when we face the biggest crisis since independence and war, now he decides to leave. Does this seem like he’s a rat abandoning a ship to someone else as well? Well, I’m not going to dwell much on that, it’s frustrating as hell, and I never liked him. I hate when people are full of themselves and know what’s best and all they do is perfect. He was an awful PM if you ask me and I sincerely hope whatever happens now, whoever comes next will do better.
That’s all from me today, hopefully tomorrow I’ll be happy when I put my perfume in the morning. 🙂

Picture from:www.viette.indigofiles.com

P.S. I was looking for a picture of a lemon lollipop but it turns out there is a flower with that name, so I took the flower instead.
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