Stuck In Croatia With Loads of Wine | Exotic Wine Travel—Matthew & Charine

How A Short Sabbatical Turned Into A Four Year Odyssey Through The Most Exotic Wine Regions All Over The World. And It’s Still Going. This is the audio-only podcast edition of the eighteenth episode of the JOURNEYS Webcast—Adventure & Discovery In The Time of Corona where Allan Karl and Matthew Horkey and Charine Tan chatted […]

Journeys Webcast #25 | The Magic & Mystery Of Croatia and Its Wine | Mirena Bagur

Meet Mirena Bagur—This is her journey. From Traditional Croatian Folk Songs & Dance To High-tech startups, MIT, Harvard & Croatian Wine Influencer and Co-founder of Croatian Premium Wine Imports Meet Mirena Bagur—This is her journey. From Traditional Croatian Folk Songs & Dance To High-tech startups, MIT, Harvard & Croatian Wine Influencer and Co-founder of Croatian […]

Podcast #41 | Emmy-Winning TV Host/Producer & Croatia Singing Star Ashley Colburn

From Emmy Award-winning Travel Show To Croatian Singing Star. This podcast originated as the sixth JOURNEYS Webcast—Adventure & Discovery In The Time of Corona, originally Livestreamed on May 18, 2020, with our special guest the two-time Emmy award-winning television producer, Ashley Colburn. Ashley’s work includes “Wow Croatia!”, “Wonders of Europe,” “Wonders of Asia,” and “Through […]

From Refugee To Winemaker—The Stories On Our Hands—Ivan Buhac

It’s about 10:30 am when Domagoj shows up at the Old Cellar here in Ilok, the medieval town nestled into a hillside along the Danube River in eastern Croatia. My new friend from the local tourist office, Ivica, arranged for Domagoj to take me to his winery and cellar on the other side of town.  […]

Castles, Cellers, and Saints: Tasting History in Ilok, Croatia

The next morning Ivica meets me at the Iločki Podrumi, the Old Cellar. While wandering the medieval town, we connect with Guido Derksen, a travel and guide book writer from The Netherlands who is writing a new guidebook on the region and scheduled to tour the town with Ivica. They both let me tag along […]

The Cold Ride and Warm Welcome: Ilok On The Danube

It’s brisk as I pack my bike outside of Lobagola in Zagreb. A guy walking his dog passes me, stops, and looks at my bike. “Are you Allan?” he asks. I’m stunned. Not only does he speak perfect English, he knows my name. “I am,” I admit, and before I can ask him how he […]

At The Zagreb Crossroads Waiting For A New Radiator

Packed, suited up, and ready to go after my club to the Ljubljana castle, I wait for the owner of my apartment. He shows up with a colleague who wrestles a pair of crutches before climbing out of the car. We climb the stairs to the apartment, but his colleague struggled. His left leg was […]

The History & Magic Behind Hiša Franko And Its Rise to Become One of The Best Restaurants In The World

I stop by Movia one more time before I leave Goriska Brda and head north—Vesna had asked me to bring a few bottles of wine to Valter at Hiša Franko. About this time, I hear from Demo who offered to pick up the new swingarm bearings from BMW in Ljubljana and bring them to Kobarid. […]

Podcast #32 From Slovenia—Riding the Balkans 2018: A Live Update

When I set off on this 2018 Eastern European Tour, I had no real plan except to search for the best stories in food, wine, and culture. I wanted to discover the truth about the region. Like me, most North Americans do not understand what is happening over here—my aim was to find out. Now […]

Back Roads to Rijeka​

I’m told the friendliest people in Croatia are from Rijeka. With my exhaust, sparkling and sounding as if new, I decide to explore one more place before crossing the border between Croatia and Slovenia.  Located at the Southern end of the Istria peninsula, Rijeka is a port town and the gateway to the islands of […]