Hi Wanda,

This note of appreciation is long overdue! My apologies….We all had a lovely time in Croatia.  The itinerary was well organized and paced.  We loved every aspect of the trip. The tour guides were superb and your suggestions for food were terrific. We particularly loved Restoran Kukuriku in Kastav — what a special place!!  The service and food were some of the best we have ever experienced.  Slovenia will be a long time favorite as well.  What an interesting country.  We loved the people in every city and the drive through Slovenia and Croatia was breath taking. Many thanks and the attention and care you gave us and thank goodness we got the passport issue straightened out that morning!!

Hope you and your staff are well.

Thanks again for such a fabulous experience.  I have passed your name on to several people.  I am hoping they connect with you.

Thanks again for such a fabulous experience.

Jean & Chris Gearon – Derwood, MD
September 9, 2015

Dear Wanda,

We had a fantastic trip to Trieste, Slovenia and Croatia.

Between your planning and Iva’s services during the trip it was of the best executed and enjoyable of the many trips we have taken.  We would like to send a gratuity to Iva. What is the best way to do this?

We enjoyed the trip you planned so much that we would like to consider working with you on another trip. Our problem is we’ve seen so much of the world I’m not sure we can find interesting destinations for us within the geographic areas where your specialties lie. Do you have any thoughts on this?

Again many thanks for all your considerations.

Dr. Robert & Mrs. Ellen Brookman – Providence, RI
September 24, 2015

Dear Wanda,  

just a quick note to tell you both how wonderful everything has been thus far. You’ve put together an amazing itinerary for us!

We enjoyed Villa Meneghetti yesterday for lunch after our Pula trip. Goran was an A+ tour guide. Last night we did Kantinon for dinner and had all the fresh catches of the day on a platter. We also very much enjoyed the vinoteca next door. We shared too many grappa-like drinks with the general manager of the Maistra owned businesses – Adriatic, Lone, Monte Mulini, etc.  And Nina, our server, was extremely friendly. 

Today we went to the gym and then the pool. Tonight we’re heading to Valentino for a drink, then Monte for dinner. Tomorrow is a spa day and maybe Puntulina or Sidroy (Goran recommended) for dinner. 

Saturday we depart for Zagreb. 

We’ve been so thrilled with everything so far and we’ve been singing your praises the entire time. So, thank you so much!!!!

We will definitely recommend Tasteful Croatian Journeys to our friends.

Joe Areddy & Rachel Jones – Mason, OH
August 20, 2015

Three years ago we had the good fortune of serendipitously meeting Wanda in Felidia’s in NY. She overheard my dad speaking Croatian with Lidia Bastianich and came over and introduced herself. When Wanda learned my dad’s parents were from an island off of the Dalmatian Coast, she told us about her Croatian travel specialty business and said to contact her should we decide to go to Croatia. The following year well travelled close friends visited Croatia and said we must go!  My husband and I had been discussing going to Croatia in 2015 so that we could share photos and travel stories with my 88 years old dad. That recommendation put Croatia to the top of our travel queue.

Wanda created the perfect trip for us. From the very beginning when we were met at the train station in Trieste by her marvelous driver, Neal, we knew we were in good hands. Wanda made navigating Croatia effortless; the country’s beauty, charm and history unfolded before our eyes. Wanda’s choice of hotels were unique…primarily 5 star; each topped the next. Our itinerary matched our interests- Wanda chose memorable restaurants, wineries and sights — we fell in love with Croatia.

We were particularly blown away by the wines.  Both the reds and the whites are made from varietals not typically grown outside of Croatia. At each winery, the wines were poured by family members. We marveled at the wines’ complexity. But beware- ninety percent plus is consumed in country — so shall we say- drink up? We had carried a few bottles to enjoy during the last leg of trip in Rome.

Wanda arranged for us to go to my family’s island, Pasman, and connected us with cousins whom I had never met. I still vividly remember looking at the coast line from the ferry’s deck as we were traveling back to the mainland with tears in my eyes and saying to myself “I am home.”

Korcula was our favorite. We extended our stay on this beguiling island an extra day. Wanda’s hotel choice – The Lesic Dimitri – was superb. Tony, the hotel’s manager and owner’s cousin of this Relais and Chateaux property profoundly deepened our love affair with Croatia. Toni’s warmth, hospitality and intimate knowledge of his birth place made our trip.

Wanda’s ground crew provides seamless wrap around support. Iva, one of Wanda’s on the ground concierge was always a text or phone call away providing that wonderful peace of mind. Wanda provided us with expert guides and top notch car and drivers.

Many of our friends have talked about visiting Croatia through a cruise … we’ve now given them Wanda.

Lisa & Russell Jones – Mooresville, NC
August 29, 2015

Dear Wanda,

Adjusting to the time change, but otherwise we are safely back in DC after a very successful trip.

Could you please charge $50 to our credit card for gratuity for Iva. We appreciated her help.   Everything turned out fine. We really liked the Hotel Lone in Rovinj.  Having a corner room  was definitely worth the extra money; otherwise we would have had a small room with a limited view.  I could have spent the week there. The Hotel Park in Split was very nice.

All of our drivers were great, especially Salvo. He was the driver from Rovinj to Split via my wife’s family village. That was a great day and Salvo was the perfect person to have with us that day. 

Thank you for your restaurant suggestions. The Meneghetti was good, especially the wine. We really liked the Kapetanska Kuca in Mali Ston, Damir & Ornella in Novigrad, Zlatna Ribica and Konoba Varos in Split and the Dubravkin Put in Zagreb. (I don’t think most Americans would like the Zlatna Ribica, but we were thrilled to have smelts. And, they were nice people.)

Another meal that we had that we liked was in Livade, outside Motovun. (I think it was called Konoba Darajana.) We had scrambled eggs with wild asparagus, scrambled eggs with white truffles and gnocchi with black truffles.  It is a small restaurant/bar near the truffle auction. A good stop.

We were very pleased with all of our drivers. They were very congenial, helpful,and accommodating.  Phillip did a great job driving in the rain to Sarajevo. And, Nareem gave us the grand tour of Mostar and a wonderful late lunch at Mali Ston. We were happy. Unfortunately we can’t remember the name of the driver to Pula (we think it was something like Raymond). Again, a good day. 

We went to Hum on the way to Rovinj, with Cedomir. He did give us a good history of the area from atop the fortress in Trsat. And, we did enjoy the restaurant that he took us too. It was a fun day.

The driver Salvo was great, he drove us to my wife’s family village on the way to Split. He went above and beyond what we expected. In fact one of the villagers was so pleased that he climbed the plum tree and shook it to give us some of the best plums we have had in years to take with us. Salvo was our favorite.

We got to see and do everything we wanted to.We are very pleased with your service. In fact, we hope you  will do the Baltic countries for us. That will be our trip next summer.

Christine & Dennis Rudy – Washington, DC
October 24, 2015

Dear Wanda,

I just wanted to thank you for organizing such a wonderful trip for us! Everything worked seamlessly. It was one of our favorites in recent memory.

The people of Croatia are wonderful. The staff at the hotels especially so. I would like to particularly point out and thank two of our drivers – Josip and Mladen. They both were excellent and went well above and beyond what was expected.

Your restaurant suggestions were superb as was the suggestion of a private yacht transfer from Split to Korcula. The latter may have been my wife and daughter’s favorite part of the trip. It did not really feel like a travel day, but just another part of the adventure.

Tour guides were all excellent as well. Iva as a concierge was helpful and responsive.

Again many thanks.

Paul Zelenetz & family – Sea Cliff, NY
August 27, 2015

Dear Wanda,

AMAZING!  Is the word Jason and I will always use to describe our Honeymoon vacation to Croatia.  We were in great hands from the time we left Cincinnati, OH to the minute we returned home.  The way you and your team tailored our 2 week trip was as though you knew us personally and was completely flawless. 

We were able to visit a variety of places throughout Croatia and everyone who had contact with us was sincere, friendly and so generous. Our drivers treated us like family and we loved that they did not just drive us from here to there, they were personal tour guides as well. The short 2 hour tours around the variety of different cities were as if we were walking the cities with our friends.  The Hotel Accommodations were Beautiful and the Restaurant Recommendations were Excellent!  

We will always cherish our Honeymoon travel and we have promised each other we will not wait 10 years to return to Croatia!  We will definitely be in contact with you and your team. 

Thank You All For Everything!

Courtney Givens & Jason Brown – Bellevue, KY
October 26, 2015

Dear Wanda,

We had the trip of a lifetime in Croatia and wanted to thank you and Iva for all your help and guidance.  We thought our itinerary was a perfect balance of Dubrovnik/Split as well as Istria and Zagreb – we feel like we had a great overview of Croatia.  In every city your guides and drivers were great – very friendly and knowledgeable. Your suggestion of spending a day on a boat made for an amazing and memorable day.  And all the hotels you suggested were perfect, as were your restaurant suggestions.  We packed in a lot in 10 days but  everything was so well planned we didn’t have to worry and could just relax and enjoy beautiful Croatia.  We can’t wait to go back to Croatia soon!

Thanks again,

Cyrus Hormazdi – New York, NY
September 2015

Dear Wanda,

The Spillane girls have returned from their most wonderful Croatian interlude. Everything went beautifully and for that we thank you and your staff. The hotels were perfect, the restaurant recommendations spot on, and the drivers and tour guides professional, knowledgeable and fun. The country is beautiful and its people were all friendly and kind. We all were pleased with the itinerary and happy to have seen as much as we did. However, we all wished that we had had more time in each location and would like to see even more of the country…ah.. Never enough time for vacation.

It is difficult to say which hotel was the favorite as they all had their charmsand worked well for our plans. Lesic Dimitri in Korcula (despite the stairs) with the Chinese suite worked quite well for a place to gathereach day, relax, and to have that final glass of wine with a recap of the day’s activities. The staff at Vestibul Palace was exceptionally nice and accommodating.

As for restaurants, our favorite was Kukuriku in Opatija. It was a beautiful night and as you know the meal and service were outstanding. We enjoyed our waiter and the owner/chef chatted with us. Next to Kukuriku, it is a hard to choose. Perhaps Konoba Rino or Zigante, or Puntulina, or LD Terrace. In Korcula, we had a delicious lunch at Nonna’s. And there was a light afternoon breeze. In Dubrovnik, not sure we made the best selections for the restaurants (Nautika and Sesame),but that may only be so in comparison to the other fabulous meals and venues we enjoyed elsewhere and the exceptionally hot weather. And, not to go unmentioned… the wines. All good..and we tried them all… many times.

All of our drivers were exceptional. Cedo’s history lessons were interesting and helped the time pass with the long ride to Split and Josef’s singing (on the drive to Dubrovnik) was great fun. I hope that we tipped them appropriately for their service. We tipped at the high end of your suggestions and at times a little more.

It was of great comfort to have Iva accessible for questions and she was a great help in making (and changing a few times) our restaurant reservations.

Wanda, there are many other comments and highlights I could share; however, I am sure you know them all.

We cannot thank you enough for your kindness, advice, and a fabulous itinerary. We look forward to a return trip, to revisitsome favorite spots and to see what we missed. And, of course, we will be in touch with you to make those plans.

With great appreciation,

Jo-Anne Spillane, Barbara Heisler, Margaret & Deborah Tonelli – Charlestown, MA
July 27, 2015

Dear Wanda,

Thank you  for planning a such a great trip for us. We appreciate your diligence in making sure every detail was attended to during our wonderful Croatian vacation. Our drivers and tour guides were perfect, the geography was gorgeous, the walled cities and their history were amazing, the food and wine was divine, and everyone we met was so warm and welcoming – our trip exceeded our expectations!

Croatia and it’s people will have a special place in our hearts, and we will encourage our friends to visit your beautiful country, via “VisitCroatia” of course!

Debbie Stofer – Edina, MN
May 2015