Xmas Special – Srčeka or Little hearts

The time has come for a story about – a heart. Srčeko, or small heart, as their creators call it. This also happens to be this year’s last Xmas Special. The small heart fits the season perfectly. 

Enjoy the podcast episode here, or scroll down for the text version:


I’ll start with an unexpected random question that popped up in my mind? How much is a srčeko worth?

In Northwestern Croatia, where I live, there is a very typical cookie. It’s made out of just a few ingredients. Let’s see, what does it take to make it? Flour, some yeast, water, and honey. You know what, it doesn’t really have to be honey. Simply add some sugar instead, makes very little difference. 

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Xmas Special – St Lucy’s Little Christmas

I’m back with some more Croatian Christmas customs. I hope you survived the St Nicholas eve. You don’t know about it? That means you haven’t listened to the previous episode – make sure to go back and get to know the “fun” traditions related to St Nicholas feast day. For those of you who did listen to it, I hope the last episode didn’t scare you off and that you came back for more unusual Croatian traditions. Let’s meet St Lucy! Listen to the episode or scroll down to continue reading.

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Xmas Special – St Nicholas Feast Day Joys and Scares

There are many symbols of the Christmas season, and the joy of children is definitely one of them. That joy is often connected with receiving gifts. In some parts of the world that celebrate Christmas, things are easy. There’s the good old Santa, he comes down the chimney with his gifts, and that’s it.

In other parts, it’s a little bit more complicated when it comes to Christmas gift bringers. Croatia is one of those parts. Croatia is still mostly roman catholic. There are many Christmas saints in different parts of Croatia associated with bringing presents. There’s, for example, St Barbara, St Nicholas, St Lucy, Baby Jesus, even Three Wise Men.

Instead of reading, why don’t you play the podcast episode? If you prefer to read, scroll down under the player and enjoy the rest of the story:

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Shout Out – Perunfest

I decided to record this episode after spending most of the weekend at Perunfest. I hope to spread the word about this festival of fantasy, fairy tales, and forgotten folk believes. Usually, this festival takes place in the last days of May/first days of June. This year, that wasn’t possible due to the Covid pandemic. I know this reason is self-understanding at the moment, but I am emphasizing this because I like to imagine someone listening to this episode a few years from now without a single clue why would anyone postpone a festival unless it has something to do with the weather 🙂

The weather forecast for the Perunfest weekend wasn’t perfect either. But I guess the organizers decided to risk it since the main topic was creatures from the local folklore connected to – thunderstorms. You might say it was a good test of whether or not the festival would please them.

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