AFTER the Netherlands included Croatia on its orange list and issued a recommendation for everyone returning from our country to go into a 14-day isolation, we talked to a Dutchman who had just returned home with his family. He told us how delighted they were by their stay in Croatia, as well as that he was surprised by how disciplined people in Croatia were in terms of adhering to the epidemiological measures.

John Palumbo from the Netherlands spent the first two weeks of July in Croatia with his family, enjoying their summer vacation. This is the second time that they have chosen our country for their vacation, and they came back this year because they had a wonderful time in Dubrovnik last year.

This year, they spent their summer in Istria and Kvarner. They first spent a week in Pula, touring Istria along the way, and they spent their second week in Opatija, and later visited Krk.

He revealed why people from northern Europe love Croatia

John says that Croatia provides everything a tourist needs, especially for those living in northern Europe.

"We had a great time, and I would recommend everyone to visit your country. We decided to return to Croatia because we really enjoyed our visit to Dubrovnik last year. Croatia offers everything that tourists living in the north need. We were looking forward to the sun, Mediterranean cuisine, and relaxing, and Croatia has provided us with everything we wanted," Palumbo said in an interview with Index.

He states that they visited many places and had a great time.

"Apart from Pula, we also visited Rovinj, and we went to the Dinopark in Funtana, and the children really enjoyed it, we had a lot of fun. Later, while we were staying in Opatija during the second week of our vacation, we also went to the island of Krk, and we went swimming on the beautiful beach in Brsec, behind Moscenicka Draga. I must add that we also had a great time last year in Dubrovnik," Palumbo told us.

"We wanted to enjoy a certain quality of life in Croatia"

In addition to the fact that they had a great experience last year, he says they had another reason to visit Croatia.

"We came to Croatia because it was one of the few countries that were open to tourists. Going on vacation was a last-minute decision. We also had an excellent experience last year, and we will definitely return to Croatia again," Palumbo told us, stating that they were also lucky because they returned just before the Dutch government issued a recommendation of a 14-day self-isolation upon returning from Croatia.

We also asked him if they felt safe in Croatia.

"Yes. We were quite surprised by how disciplined people were – wearing masks in supermarkets, etc. But nothing is certain these days. Most people who have the virus don't even know they have it. We knew that there were risks everywhere but we did not want to miss the opportunity to go on vacation because of a relatively low risk. Our priority was to enjoy a certain quality of life, to go to a restaurant and eat, and that is exactly what we got. We also opted for travelling by car in order to avoid additional risks of being on an airplane and going through airports. We enjoyed the ride despite some delays at the Slovenian border," Palumbo concludes.