(CNN) -- Word on the cobblestone street is Istria is the "new Tuscany." I disagree. The landscape of this northern part of Croatia is less cultivated. It's less wealthy. And, last I checked, the Renaissance didn't happen here. Plus, "Istria" is still a little-known proper noun and "Tuscany" has moved into adjective territory. Show me an American suburb and I'll show you a "Tuscan" kitchen, if not an entire foreclosed development named "Tuscan Hills." Earlier this year when Olive Garden -- the strip mall home of endless breadsticks -- wanted to make itself more appealing, it announced it was making over its restaurants in the style of Tuscan farmhouses. Now, I don't know if they serve shark in Tuscany, but the region has certainly jumped it.
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Croatia's Istrian peninsula inspires comparisons with Italy's Tuscany region
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While there are similarities, this pocket of Croatia hasn't suffered a tourism crush
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Its villages are less cultivated, less wealthy and delightfully unspoiled
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And it's not the part that people are thinking of when they label this area the "new @placeholder."