Summer Never Ends

Steeped in history and blessed with as much as 2718 hours per year, the Croatian island of Hvar features in almost every world Most Beautiful islands list. All the way from Dubrovnik to Rovinj, Croatian coast is packed with picturesque sun-traps, invoking cobalt coves and gorgeous beaches. A perfect setting for an endless summer, where your to-do list says: unfurl your towel on a beach, snorkel or frolic, sail or enjoy a lazy lunch in a rural tavern on Dalmatian coast… There is something about the summer that is simply timeless. If you’re addicted to summer – like we are – you’ll definitely want to bottle it up, one way or the other. Today, many think of summer holiday as an Insatrgrammable travel experience. But there’s plenty of other options: ones that engage not only sight but touch, smell, and taste. Yes, we’re talking proper souvenirs now!

 

OUR LIST BEST CROATIAN SOUVENIRS

We travel a lot. And have never met anyone who is immune to souvenirs! When traveling outside the country we are rather rational when it comes to memento investments. That’s when we buy prints from local artists. It’s a double value: being artisans ourselves, we love to support local artists wherever we go. Plus, those things are easy to transport and present no problem with customs.
However, when we’re moving around our own country, we have a different list. For example, agritourism is big in Croatia. Whenever we can, we cruise small family-owned farms and fill our bags with tasty goods. First there are wines. For some time now, Croatia has been conquering world stage with its award-winning wines. And since those very much differ from one Croatian region to another, we take our pick. And then pair it up with regional cured meat or other delicacies. Istrian Malvasia with truffles, Slavonian Chardonnay with spicy Kulenova Seka sausage, famous Plavac Mali with exquisite prosciutto and sheep cheese, and so on.
And now we’ve covered the smell/taste department, is there anything else? Definitely! We like to regularly update our decent family collection of Startas sneakers. These adorable things are 100% Croatian, 100% vegan, loved by Vogue, looking good with everything, totally cool!

THINK SUMMER AND ROMANCE ON THE RAINIEST OF DAYS

Croatians don’t think of themselves as especially romantic. However, some of the most popular handmade souvenirs from Croatia are connected to love and romance. There’s the original tie (yes, we invented it several centuries ago, and its story is related to love and war) and Licitar hearts, traditional gingerbreads with folk design that includes little-mirrors. Is there such a thing as summer chocolate? Apparently yes, because you can get a really tasty handmade chocolate with a very-sunny taste – that of lavender.
When suffering from summer-nostalgia, we tend to lean onto the practical side. We have few umbrellas, though not the famed Šestina ones, but umbrellas made in Rijeka, the Croatian rainiest city. These merry umbrellas were designed by the famous illustrator of children’s books Vojo Radoičić and are sure to lighten up the gloomiest of days.

SILENT CROATIAN HANDICRAFT REVOLUTION

During the last twenty years, Croatia has transformed a lot, even when it comes to souvenirs. Previously a sort of souvenir-wasteland, it now has a burgeoning sector of arts and crafts. Traditional handicrafts have been revived. We even have many UNESCO heritage handcrafts. And lots of studios and factories that build on traditional knowledge, blending it with world-wining designs and novel technologies.
Here, in BeCraft, we are actually very proud to be part of this silent Croatian handicraft revolution. Like many of our colleagues, we draw on centuries-old roots and are totally dedicated to artisan precision and inventive design. Keywords: handmade, local, sustainable, creative. In brief: joy to produce, joy to have 🙂

WHAT’S IT WITH SOUVENIRS AND SUMMER?

Being Dubrovnik-based, we cannot escape Mediterranean colors and light. In truth – we don’t want to 🙂 Our aim is to capture Dubrovnik’s summer, its brilliant southern colors and light, its stories, its open-air, joy of free movement and ever-changing vistas into a single piece. A perfect, never-ending summer that you can take with you. We actually believe a proper souvenir can and must be a most delightful thing: an ambassador of its place of origin, a memento of glorious vacation, a serene portal in space and time, beautiful utility object. All at once!