I drove through Croatia in 2000 on my way from Slovenia to Hungary, I think. Apart from the bullet holes and a peculiar sense of subdueness I found it quite interesting and I would like to visit Croatia again.
I went on holiday to the former Yugoslavia in 1987 and stayed near Pula which I believe is now in Croatia. I though the place was very cold war: poor, pictures of Tito everywhere and no shocking 80s fashion but everyone was very pleasant. I remember "dobro vetri" was good morning (or good night, it seems I can't remember after all), eating squid on a pizza and I still have 1 million Dinars in a drawer somewhere.
I probably don't count because I am Italian and of course our two countries face each other across the water, but I live in the UK; anyway I have been there, visiting various places on the coast going as far as Dubrovnik (or as they used to say in Italy a long time ago, Ragusa).
It is widely accepted that Mongolia, St Kitts and Nevis, Norway, Albania and Falmouth are not Croatia, but debate is still wide-open and ongoing about the status of whether Finland, Zambia, Ukraine, Ouagadougou or Northumberland are or are not Croatia. The fact that Southern Laos and Central Vietnam are not Croatia has recently been proved, although this is not yet widely known by most ordinary Mancunian housewives.
In 1990, we had a great family holiday on the little island of Kolocep. There were only two villages and no cars.
I have often wondered what happened to the inhabitants of those villages during the fighting.
Is Kolocep now fully "up and running" again as a tourist destination?
Dalmatia is the coastal region or Croatia, and yes, it is where the dogs come from. While I was there they organised a dog show (they brought some dogs round to show us) and were keen to point out that only dogs bred in Dalmatia were the real McCoy.
Interesting to see that so far as I can make out the respondants all seem to be european...Do any yanks know that the rest of the world is actually out there?
...and yes I know a bit about Croatia, thanks for asking.