I spent couple of days looking for a car to buy (used Opel Corsa, several years old). I checked out online ads but by the time I phoned to ask about the car, the car was already sold.
Then, I decided to take a tram to the part of town that has a lot of dealerships. I looked and looked and once again, everywhere I went, they were sold out of the car I was looking for. This was late in the day and I was hot and tired, but I decided to walk to the last dealership on the strip. It was a Peugeot dealership (French car) so I did not expect to find an Opel here, but you never know. They told me that the only Corsa they had was reserved. As I started to leave, I heard someone say that they thought that another Corsa came in but was not preped. I begged them to let me see it and after a longer begging session (I am getting good at this, unfortunately) they let me see the car.
Yup, it definitely was not preped but I had to see through the dust and dirt and realized that this was the car that I have been looking for. 5-door, 2005, 36,000km, manual transmission, AC, power locks/windows, mp3 player - all for CAD$12,000. And that is a deal here! For some reason, cars are really expensive here. I will post pictures of the car once I pick it up, but here is a picture of a car similar to ours. 
I put down a deposit on the car yesterday, but I cannot get the plates for it yet as I still don't have papers confirming my residence!$#@ I keep going back and forth between police and the Ministry of Interior (MUP) asking what is holding up the process. Each side is blaming the other side (how original). In the end, MUP said, "Well, it takes a month and we cannot do anything about it."
At least the people at the dealership are trying to help. They will try two different approaches to see if they can help me register the car by Thursday. I hope they succeed!
I just looked up Opel Corsa on Wikipedia and found that it is known in Australia as Holden Barina. Opel brand is owned by GM, but used to be a German brand and people still think that Opel is German. I looked to buy this brand as I think it is going to be much easier to sell if/when we move than Fiat or Renault cars. People here still think German made cars are good, and they poopoo the French and Italian made machinery.
I guess it's good to know this information before you buy. I could looked to buy a Volkswagen Golf or Polo, but they are the most stolen cars around and therefore have higher insurance premiums on them.
I have already talked about Dolac and what a great place it is to buy fresh produce. Couple of days ago, I was told that there are a lot more stores below the open market!?
I went there today and was surprised to see so many stands selling meat, pastries and fresh cheeses. Reminded me a lot of our experience with farmers' markets in Adelaide and Sydney.
As you know, I have been having problems finding lean ground beef. Well, I found a solution! Dolac has a lot of butcher shops, so I just picked out a nice red piece of beef (leg part - I was never good with sirloin/toploin/whateverloin names) and they ground it on the spot. Now I have a nice lean chunk of ground beef to make cevapi!!! Price comparison (1kg of nice lean leg of beef = CAD 13).
I also found a fresh fish market. Lots of cool types of fish. I was tempted to buy a weird looking fish to take a picture of it, but realized that I really don't like the smell of fish. It is way too strong for me.
I used my brand new 'Foreman' grill and it was a success! Chicken was little overcooked, but as this was my first time using this grill, I would rather have my chicken overcooked than undercooked. :-) Next time it is going to be perfect. The grill is super easy to use and clean, much easier than using the oven.
I am off to look for a car. No luck so far finding what I am looking for (used Opel Corsa).
Yesterday was a scorcher of a day, and today is supposed to be even hotter (33 C). It's a humid hot, so you really feel it. Luckily, the way our apartment was built (over 100 years ago), it takes months until it starts to feel hot inside. That means that in the summer, the apartment is cold and in the winter it is warm. Works for me! :-)
The next seven days are supposed to stay in the high twenties, and all I can say is: "Bring it on!" This is one major reason why I moved here. I need to make up for 16 years of freezing weather and windchills of -40 C and below. :-)
I spent the last few days looking for shopping centres and grocery stores. Google and the Internet are life savers. I was able to find quite a few shopping centres (7 near downtown) and at least a dozen big grocery stores. The problem is that they are all to far to get to by bus or tram, so I will have to wait to get a car before I can go visit them.
I was able to buy a 'Foreman' grill as that is our main cooking appliance these days. For those of you looking for price comparisons, the grill cost me about CAD 80 and it is a bit smaller than what you get when you buy these grills in Canada.
The next item to purchase is a microwave, but I am stalling as I would like to go to one of the big box stores as they have a better selection and better prices. I find microwaves to be on small side here, but then, everything is. Except for prices of gym memberships. :-(
I cannot talk about living in Europe and not mention Eurovision, which took place this Saturday.
Eurovision (already in its 53rd year) is a competition where performers from all European countries got together to be judged and chosen as the best song in Europe.
Each country sends a band to represent the country. As the number of European countries participating in this event has risen to 43, two semi-finals are held to narrow down the number of bands that will be competing in the Eurovision to 25.
It is a really enjoyable experience watching bands from all over Europe perform. Some performers sing in their native language while others sing in English. You hear all kinds of music, from pop, rock, and heavy metal (Finland), to balads and folk music. The judging is the funniest as you see blocks of countries giving points to friendly countries (Nordic countries , old USSR statesr, ex-Yugoslav republics). It is amazing, that despite all this passing of points between friends, good songs do rise to the top (well, maybe not all the way to the top but pretty close).
Last year, a Serbian singer won Eurovision 2007 (a pretty good song!) so Eurovision 2008 was hosted in Belgrade. This year's winner was Russia, while Ukraine and Greece placed second and third. I was personally hoping that Greece or Ukraine would win as both songs were really good, but they don't let me vote. ;-(
Picture above shows the final standings after all 43 countries have voted. If you would like to see more videos from the Eurovision, go to eurovision.tv.
I have been in the country for only two weeks and I already had police come to my place. It is not as bad as it sounds. The police is required to come to my place to confirm that I live here so that I can get my "certification of residency", which is needed for all other documents.
I am actually surprised that they came this quickly. Maybe it had something to do with me going to the police station yesterday and begging them to come soon?!!! :-) I really did not expect them to come when they did. They came around 7pm today. In Croatia, today was a holiday so they really took me by surprise when they rang the doorbell. Actually, it rang the intercom phone so it sounded like a phone ringing. I almost did not answer their ring because I was watching a movie and trying to take it easy for the evening.
When I heard them say "Police", I jumped and quickly let them in. An older man and a younger lady. The older man would have been a formidable poker player. The younger lady kept smirking when I talked as she could tell I was using wrong words. People here tell me I sound American. Oh well, at least they can understand me.
Anyways, the police took the information they needed, then they went next door and talked to my neighbour! They also told me that they have to talk to the owner of the apartment, who lives in Split. I really do think they get paid by the hour. :-) It's good work if you can get it.
Well folks, I will be going dark (no internet) over the next few days. That means no blogging until next week. Hope you all have a great weekend, I know I will!
