Korcula - Tower Rampada (Tower of Svih Svetih) is currently being restored :

Croatian Ministry of Culture has began with works of reconstruction of this important Korcula Old Town’s tower.

This tower was badly damaged in last winter’s bad weather, when it’s base and parts of it’s facade has been ruined and moved from it’s original position.

In the next couple of months the base of the Tower as well as some large stones of the facade are going to be replaced and reinforced by strong concrete layers to prevent further damage.

Visit Korcula Old Town Towers page: Korcula Towers

The search for an Australian man missing in Croatia has been called off after no trace of him was found. Adelaide man Andrew Modistach, 24, went missing while hiking in Croatia, sparking an intense search. His distraught father, John Modistach, flew to Croatia a month ago, vowing to remain until his son was found. But after weeks of intense searching using helicopters, nine sniffer dog units and over 50 people, no trace had been found. His father has accepted that he may never find out what happened to his son and has flown home. The civil engineer went missing on September 8 when hiking alone up the 961m Sveti Ilija hill on the Peljesac Peninsula in the Adriatic. The backpacker had been island hopping along the Croatian coast with friends before he disappeared.He was staying on the island of Korcula, the birth place of adventurer Marco Polo, when he left the group to visit Peljesac.

source: http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Search-called-off-for-missing-hiker/2005/10/04/1128191681275.html

There are some very worring news regarding young Australian that got missing at Sveti Ilija mountain:

“AUTHORITIES are concerned for the safety of a young Australian hiker missing in treacherous Croatian hills.

A massive search has been launched for Andrew John Modistach, who went missing last Thursday when he left a group of friends to walk up the 961-metre Sveti Ilija hill alone.
Local police in Peljesac say the last time the 24-year-old from Adelaide was seen was on Thursday afternoon walking toward the top of the hill near the village of Orebic.

Stipe Bozic, a Croatian mountaineer who has scaled Mount Everest, has joined the team looking for Modistach in hills which have claimed many lives before.

“It is not going to be an easy job to find him,” Bozic said.

“The last time we were able to detect a signal from his mobile phone was on Thursday.

“Many people have gone missing on this hill before, some of which were never found.”
The Australian embassy in Zagreb said it was aware Modistach was missing and Ambassador Anna George visited Peljesac on Saturday.

“There is not much we can say at the moment, but the Croatian rescue services are doing a great job in trying to find the missing Australian tourist,” George said.

Modistach was visiting the islands dotting the Croatian coastline with friends.

He was staying on the island of Korcula, the birthplace of adventurer Marco Polo, when he left the group to visit Peljesac.

More than 50 people, a helicopter and seven dog units continued the search for Modistach today”

(source http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16572932-29277,00.html)

There was not a lot activities on this website in last few weeks. The reason for that is I broke my leg on 13.07.05, trying to jump into the boat

So instead having a great time this summer in Korcula, I ended up having a great time for a week at Dubrovnik hospital and next 7 weeks in plaster, sitting on the wall in front of my house, accross the road of Sveti Nikola church or in Korcula’s the cafes watching the world passing by…

I tried to find a right solution for accommodating my broken leg at the same time while using my laptop, but due to weird ergonomics of my laptop ( not adjusted for broken legs) I gave up very quickly…

So, summer 2005 was not the greatest for me, but it was really nice and vibrant summer in Korcula generaly, especially in the Old Town, with all those new cafes and restaurants with sofisticated crowd of people from all around the world…

We had some brief spells of unpredictable weather and some dramatic storms too, but for most of the summer the weather was just right for swimming and enjoying and not so hot at all.

My best discovery this summer was a nice little cottage/ restaurant positioned on the southern slopes of Island Korcula, in the area called Defora, where Zeljko and his team of 2 people and a lovely black cat ( with a white spot bellow his chin) prepared most delicious meal for group of my friends and me.

The breathtaking views from cottage’s veranda was definitely the hightlight of my summer…. About that hidden spot I will write later ….

Thanks Zeljko, see you soon again….

It is now about a week since we announced first ever travelogue competition/contest for best Korcula Travelogue and we are already receiving emails with questions and suggestions how to make this competition better and more interesting.

People have various ideas and we are even offered more free stuff for prospective writers.

At the moment we will stick with the first prize - a free one week accommodation for two people in Korcula’s “Marco Polo Apartments” just to see how it goes for time being. We are bit cautious to get involved on the larger scale, as this is our first competition so we want to make sure it is well prepared and organized.

Most questions until now from prospective writers are about possibility to include their photos too. OF course you can include them, that’s even better, as good writings with nice photos are really pleasure to see and read.

Korcula Travelogue Competition

I was reading yesterday about some pieces of concrete that are falling from roof of the house formerly known as “Robna Kuca” (translated as “Department Store”) in Korcula and that some people narrowly escaped serious consequences…

This is the large and gray, sort of derilic house, having that 60’s (pre-freedom) look, located at Korcula’s east pier/ harbour. You will spot that house if you come to wait to embark ferries to Dubrovnik or Split or catamaran to Hvar and Split. It is located on the left hand side, just bellow Korcula Old Town’s walls, accross the road from Pizzeria “Cinciculjak”.

That house belongs to local company (I am not going to name it and shame it) that is not using it , and not looking after it either, so it seems that, after all these years of neglect, house is slowly giving up!

This house is forming a large shade on the pier so people tent to gather around it while waiting for ferries to escape strong sunshine and heat.

I’m not shure what (if anything) local authorities are doing regarding this danger, but I feel alarmed and obliged to worn visitors of my page, and everybody else, not to go near this house as you can be hit by piece of concrete falling from above

So please,look after yourself and keep well clear !!!!

I receive very often emails with questions about car parking in Korcula Old Town or in it’s surroundings. There are questions like ‘Is it possible to park in Korcula Old Town?” or ” Do we have to pay for our parking in Korcula?” so I am going to write a bit about that.

First of all, Korcula Old Town is located on small peninsula. There are two main entrances to the Old Town and both are entrances via steps. Furthermore, all streets ( except one - Kala dei Pensieri ( Reflection Street ) - hence the name) are very narrow and are made of steps, due to Korcula Old Town geographical position which is on tiny (and hilly)peninsula, so I would say it would be impossible to drive through the Old Town even if it’s permitted. Narrow streets are created at the time because the space in the Old Town was (and still is) very scarce.

The rest of Korcula Town is built much later, so streets are wider and traffic is permitted. One can park on the East and West pier of Korcula Town, as well as along some streets where parking is permitted. Most of the parking places are controlled by local authority, and parking is charged on hourly and daily basis.

I would reccommend everybody NOT to come in Korcula by car, especially in the summer when parking as well as trafic can be a nighmare.
There are lot of ferry, catamaran or bus connections to Korcula from Split, as well as Dubrovnik and Orebic, and travelling and arriving by them is much more pleasant and enjoyable way.

Once in Korcula, if you need car or scooter for day or two to drive around the island, you can always rent one with local rent-a-car agencies, or instead of that, go completly green and rent bicycle and explore the island that way.
There is also fairly good local taxi boat and taxi car service that one can use for ad-hoc needs.

Personally, I never drive car on Korcula and instead, always use either bicycle, boat or local bus (public) transport.

It is cheaper, greener, friendlier and very often faster way to get and travel around.

Shurely, you don’t want to spend most of your day in Korcula looking for a parking place?!