osijek

28 OSIJEK Baranja CountyOSIJEK Baranja County29Once beyond the Visitors’ Centre you’re free to explore theReserve on your own, proceeding along the eastbounddyke for 2km before arriving at the shores of Lake Sakadaš,site of a partially sunken forest where you’re likely to spotcormorants and herons.From here you really need a car to get the best out of theplace. About 8km north of Lake Sakadaš are the oak forestsof Tikveš, thronging with wild boar, deer, and secretive blackstorks. In the middle of the forest is the palatial, red-brickTikveš Hunting Lodge (Dvorac Tikveš), built for ArchdukeFranz Ferdinand in the nineteenth century, taken over by theSerbian royal family after World War I, and subsequently usedby communist leader Josip Broz Tito. Perhaps appropriately fora location long associated with spraying the local fauna withgunshot, Tikveš now hosts conservation-oriented seminarsorganized by the European Environmental Centre (EuropskiVillage Guest HouseBaranjski dvori Šandora Petefija 61, Zmajevac, tel.(+385-31) 73 40 55/(+385-) 091 200 58 85, nadj.seoski.turizam@os.t-com.hr, www.baranjski-dvori.hr.If you happen to be in the village of Zmajevac and need alittle rest and relaxation with a side of tasty homemadefood, this cozy bed and breakfast will do the trick. Thehospitable hosts make you feel right at home and it’s inthe perfect location to explore the area or the local wineroads. There are four rooms with thick walls and real oakbeds that guarantee a good night’s sleep. Each room comeswith its own bathroom and bears a local girl’s name. Youshould definitely call ahead to check availability. Prices areper person per night and include breakfast. Q 7 rooms(4 doubles 150kn, 2 quads 150kn, 1 apartments 150kn).LW hhhCrvendać Biljske satnije ZNG RH 5, Bilje, tel. (+385-31) 75 02 64/(+385-) 091 551 57 11, 099 692 7828, pansion@crvendac.com, www.crvendac.com.Set in a well-tended garden, this lovely house offers cleanbright rooms with laminated floors and shared WC/showerfacilities. A mood-enhancing red-and-white color schemeruns through absolutely everything in the house - hencethe name, which is Croatian for ‘robin red-breast’ The homecookingis excellent and half- or full-board arrangements arewell worth considering. Prices are per person per night andinclude breakfast. Q 3 rooms (1 doubles 156kn, 2 triples156kn). 6LWIvica i Marica Ive Lole Ribara 8a, Karanac, tel.(+385-) 091 137 37 93/(+385-) 098 25 26 74,ivicaimarica@ivica-marica.com, www.ivica-marica.com. A farm in the ethno village of Karanac which is run bya young, friendly family. Visitors can choose between rentingrooms, apartments or the entire house, and the family willprovide you with plenty of options as to how to spend yourcentar za okoliš). The area west of Tikveš is largely takenup with meadowland and commercial fish-breeding ponds.Returning towards the Visitor’s Centre this way you’ll passthe Kormoran restaurant, famous for carp roasted on a stick.The restaurant has got a lovely rustic interior, although it canget packed with coach parties at times.By far the best way to see the park is to take a boat trip oropt for a jeep tour with a local guide. It’s important to ringthe visitor’s centre to enquire about these in advance ratherthan just turning up on spec - the boat trips in particulardon’t depart at a regular time every day of the week. Theboat trip on Orao I (“Eagle One”) goes along Lake Sakadašalong the Čonakut canal to Lake Kopačko. Along the routeyou’ll see sunken forests of white willow, crowded in springwith cormorants and geese and in autumn with migratingducks. Additional attractions in the vicinity of the reserveinclude the village of Kopačevo just southeast of the Visitor’sCentre. It’s a wonderfully preserved example of a typicalSlavonian settlement, with neat rows of picturesque singlestoreyfarmhouses, many with strings of red paprika hangingoutside to dry. The Zelena Žaba restaurant in Kopačevo isone of the best places in the region to eat fiš perkelt, thedangerously spiced stew comprising huge chunks of catfishor pike-perch.Heading back to Osijek via Bilje you can’t fail to notice thehandsome ochre palace at the eastern end of Bilje village,built at the end of the 17th century to serve as a huntinglodge for the greatest of the Austrian army’s commanders,Prince Eugene of Savoy. The palace is now occupied by theadministration offices of the Kopački rit Nature Reserve, buttime: excursions, sporting activities or even helping outwith the housework. It really is a sweet combination of themodern and traditional, and it’s bound to warm the cocklesof your heart. Prices are per person per night and includebreakfast. Q 9 rooms (4 triples 225kn, 5 apartments225kn). H6LW hhhKukuriku Kolodvorska 18, Karanac, tel. (+385-) 09825 21 79, kukuriku-karanac@net.hr. This old, originalPannonian house in Karanac has plenty of preserveddetails. It’s perfect for families with children and it offers acarefree holiday since it has all the necessities for babiesas well as educational toys and a backyard with sand pit.Bicycle rental is available and pets are welcomed. Pricesare per person per night and include breakfast. Q 3 rooms(2 doubles 150kn, 1 triples 150kn). T6LMazur Kneza Branimira 2, Bilje, tel. (+385-31) 7502 94/(+385-) 098 82 61 15, infomazur@gmail.com,www.mazur.hr. Friendly family house in the middle of Biljeoffering recently refurbished rooms with a/c, bathroom, minibar and TV. Lovingly-restored old cupboards and wardrobesfeature in a couple of the rooms. Prices are per person pernight. Q 4 rooms (1 doubles 156 - 306kn, 3 triples 156 -306kn). P6LNGW hhhSklepić Kolodvorska 58, Karanac, tel. (+385-31) 7202 71/(+385-) 098 73 91 59, denis.sklepic@inet.hr,www.sklepic.hr. Eight kilometres east of Beli Manastir,this charming B&B occupies a lovingly-restored Baranjafarmhouse, complete with red peppers hanging up todry in the porch, and geese honking merrily in the yard.The rooms have modern bathrooms but attractive oldfashionedfurnishings elsewhere, including some lovely bitsof embroidery on the curtains and tablecloths. Prices areper person per night and include breakfast. Q 8 rooms (7doubles 185 - 247kn, 1 triples 185kn). 6LGWThe Belje wine cellarThe story of the Belje wine cellar begins in the vineyardswhich cover the southern slopes of the Banovo brdo hill.An 8km-long wine road meanders through this idyllicspot, leading to Kneževi Vinogradi (the Counts Vineyards)where, five hundred years ago, a two-storey wine cellarwas built with extensive archives and a tasting room.Visit the cellar and our wine shop every day from 10:00 -18:00. Please call ahead to arrange a tour of the vineyardand the wine cellar.you’re free to stroll through the main gate and admire thebeautifully proportioned courtyard. QOpen 09:00 - 17:00.Admission 10kn. Guided tours 50 - 70kn per person. Guidedtours for more then 25 people 50 - 65kn per person.PalacesMailath Palace (Dvorac Mailath) Donji Miholjac.Thirty kilometers northwest of Valpovo, on an ox-bow spur ofthe River Drava, Donji Miholjac is a town which fell under thesway of the Hilleprand von Prandaus in the eighteenth-century.Ana Hilleprand von Prandau built a long, single-storey arcadedpied-à-terre in the center of town in 1818, inherited 70 yearslater by Mailath von Székhely, when the male Hilleprandvon Prandau line came to an end. Mailath von Székhely’senlargement of the palace with the frivolous addition ofmock-Tudor turrets and medieval-chateau towers, makesDonji Miholjac one of the most eccentric country houses inthis part of Europe. There’s no museum in the palace, butthe overgrown neighboring park provides a good opportunityto stretch your legs.Pejačević Palace(Dvorac Pejačević)Pejačevićev trg 5,Našice, tel. (+385-31) 61 34 14, www.zmn.hr. Located 50kmnorthwest of Osijek onthe road to Virovitica,Našice is the kind ofpeaceful one-streettown that you’ll find allover Slavonia. Slap bang in the middle of town is the PejačevićPalace (Dvorac Pejačević), a deliciously custard-colouredstructure framed by a splendid pair of bulbous green towers.The palace gets its name from the Pejačević family, grantedownership of the town in 1732 in reward for their services tothe Habsburg court during the anti-Ottoman wars of the lateseventeenth century. The Palace, built in 1812 and modifiedhalf a century later, is probably the best-preserved aristocraticseat in Slavonia, and the only one which is regularly open tothe public. Inside, a grandiose double staircase curves itsway up to the first-floor Regional Museum, a large part ofwhich is devoted to Dora Pejačević (1885-1923), Croatia’sfirst female composer. Dora’s grand piano takes centre stage,surrounded by sepia family photographs, and a milky marblebust of a veiled female corpse that the moody composerkept in her room. The museum curator will gladly play a tapeof Pejačević’s works as you look round (and there are CDsfor sale should you like what you hear). Two other talentedlocals who get whole rooms to themselves are sculptor HinkoJuhn (1891-1940), represented here by some sensuousfemale nudes, and Izidor Kršnjavi (1845-1927), a painterand art critic who had a profound influence on the Zagreb artscene in the years prior to World War I. Watch out for VlahoBukovac’s striking portrait of Kršnjavi, dressed up in strikingorangey-red tunic and coat. Open 08:00 - 18:00, Mon, FriOsijek In Your Pocketosijek.inyourpocket.comosijek.inyourpocket.com2011 / 2012