Kurth Family – June 2019

Tasteful Croatian Journeys did an amazing job coordinating travel, restaurant reservations and activities for our trip to Croatia. The recommendations they provided made it easy to navigate multiple islands, leaving us relaxed and ready to enjoy the wonderful sights and beauty of this country. We especially loved our private yacht charter out of Dubrovnik. Swimming, snorkeling and sight-seeing by boat gave us a new perspective of the area and kept us cool during the summer heat. If you’re thinking of heading to Croatia, I highly recommend Tasteful Croatian Journeys to make your trip unforgettable.

Dawn Kurth – New Canaan, CT
June 2019

Mr. & Mrs. Dan Wilder – May 2019

Wanda,

Your help and guidance along with Fulvio’s made for a wonderful time. 

Many thanks to you, Tia and your staff as well as everyone who guided us there. 

Dan & Donna – Weston, CT
May 2019

Mr. & Mrs. Barry Cain – May 2019

Hi Wanda,

Now back home, I want to take a moment to express my thanks for all your help and that of your staff including Tara and Mirela in making our journey all that we hoped. Except for dreadful weather in Prague as a prelude to our arrival in Split and then cool and quite wet weather from time to time in Croatia, we had a most amazing time. We loved each of our hotels and certainly our guides and drivers along the way. I wouldn’t have changed anything. With one exception, each of our restaurant choices worked out well and we were treated as special travelers. The lone exception was Restaurant Dubravka in Dubrovnik. While it has a wonderful view overlooking the walls and we were well treated with needed blankets in the cold (and rain), its food was barely passable. For both my wife and me, the food on the plates was “dead” in taste and look. They seem to be resting on the strength of their view. Small matter in the overall enjoyment of our experience.

Thank you again!!

Best Regards,

Barry – IL
May 2019

Skaljac – May 2019

Good afternoon, Wanda.

A most memorable and special journey!

How does one put into words the feelings of heartfelt joy and deep soulful connection with one’s ancestral and familial roots? I am no Hemingway, but I can assure you that we were emotionally moved to our very core, with hearts welling up, tears aflow, lips quivering and arms embracing, as we visited the village of Skare. We will always remember and never forget that your team, especially Mirela, researched, reached out and networked in our behalf with Djuro Pavicic, Jovo and Savka Poznic to make the arrangements for our visit to the village even more enlightening and memorable. We are so grateful to Mirela for her selfless efforts from the outset and throughout our journey. Hvala puno, Mirela!

We would be remiss if we also did not give thanks and extend our appreciation to all the members of your team. They were not only very knowledgeable and informative about the history and current events of Croatia, but also, and perhaps more importantly, so warm, gracious and welcoming. Special mention and acknowledgement to our favorites, Lea, Jure and Josip for their unique engagement with us. We truly enjoyed our time spent together with them. Also, we thank Tia for her responsiveness and communications regarding the administrative matters from the early planning stages to the final itinerary of our journey.

Finally, thank you, Wanda. You listened to our interests, thoughts and dreams of a journey to our families’ homeland. You advised us and presented a plan that took into account our interests and thoughts and made our dreams into reality. You assembled your team and executed the plan to perfection. The accommodations, tours, recommendations of restaurants and activities, team members, the entire itinerary, everything was so very enjoyable, special and memorable to us. You are a true professional. We are delighted to have worked together with you.

Once again, many thanks. Puno vam hvala za sve!

Daniel Skaljac – Brecksville, OH
May 2019

Shen Family – May 2019

Dear Wanda,

We came back home this weekend from Paris. Still a little jet legged.

We had a great time in Croatia. All the logistics went smoothly.

1) the hotels (Split and Korcula): Both are very good. We particularly loved the Hotel Korsal! The staffs there are super friendly, the room and the food are very good. The only downside: the ice cream shop near the hotel was not yet open when we were there!  

2) Tour guides: The one in Korcula introduced us to many of her friends and neighbors, showed us her childhood house and taught us the history of the city of Korcula. The one in Dubrovnik is simply superb.

3) The transportation: airport pickup and drop off worked very smoothly. The one picked us up from Split airport spoke very good English and gave us lot  of information during the drive. 

4) The private boat excursion/transfer: it started with an unexpected glitch— the skipper and his boat was stopped by the coast guard for random check. But he phoned the hotel so we knew it was delayed. The hotel staff let us sit in the breakfast room and have extra coffee/tea. Skipper is a quiet person (perhaps he is not very fluent in English), but he is nice and professional, pointing out the names of islands we passed and their characters. The weather was not good enough for swimming, and we did not go to the “blue lagoon/cave(?)”. We discussed lunch options and decided to go to Hvar. He led us to a very good restaurant, and after lunch he waited for us while we explored the town and the castle on hilltop. When we arrived in Korcula, he called the hotel and asked the staff to come meet us at the boat landing. 

5) the private car excursion/transfer: Mirela reached out to us the evening before to ask if we would like to take the 9:30 ferry or the 11:30 one. We chose the early one. Our driver took us wine tasting and we stopped at a couple of scenic spots before getting to Ston. He is a very good singer and serenaded us, we requested the song of “three balconies”, which we have heard from our guide in Korcula, and he of course knew it with all it’s lyrics. We had oysters at one of the restaurants in Mali Ston. But the service of the restaurant was not good and the French Fries they served was the worst that we have ever had. 

6) Dubrovnik cable car was closed down by the city government because of the cable car company did not pay money to the city (or some dispute like that), but we took a taxi to the top of the hill. Beside the great scenery, we learnt so much from the very nice older taxi driver, who had spent 5 of his best years in the War with Serbia. 

We loved the people of Croatia, and hope to have another chance to visit the rest of the country some day.

Thank you for arranging our trip!

Hsiaolin Shen & Family
May 2019