Ivica shows us the peka

Dinner with a view in Pitve

One of the most memorable dinners I’ve had on the island of Hvar (and there have been quite a few)  was at the Konoba Dvor Duboković in Pitve. That’s lower Pitve, not upper Pitve, though it’s quite high enough to have glorious views. Pitve was the site of an ancient settlement, believed to be the…

Hum Sv. Vid

Off the beaten track to Hum’s hillfort

After finding our way to all the other sites on the Archaeological Paths map provided by the Stari Grad tourist board, we thought it would be a doddle to visit Hum – Sveti Vid. Who needs signposts, anyway? You can see the hill perfectly well, it’s just a matter of working out which path takes…

Hanibal Lučić summer residence - the garden

A Renaissance Garden in Hvar

Tucked away in a little backstreet of Hvar town is a lovely walled garden. Back in 1530, it was built as the summer residence of Hannibal Lucić, spent a good few years derelict and is now coming back to life as the Hvar Heritage Museum. Hanibal Lucić was a lawyer, in charge of local works…

Massive walls at Purkin Kuk

Purkin Kuk – a prehistoric hillfort

Following my previous blog on Hvar’s drystone walls, I’m moving backwards in time beyond the Greek colonists to the Illyrians, who lived here before them. Between 2,000 and 1,000 B.C. the population began to settle on hilltops. Their huts were defended by ditches and stone ramparts some of which were massive. One of these hilltop…

Rock Rose with admirer

Flowers, Flowers, everywhere

Hvar in spring is just a complete flower-lover’s delight. Other kinds of lovers would be delighted by it too, but we’ll leave that for a different post. On a recent walk to an ancient Illyrian hilltop site, I could not resist the charm of so many different kinds of flowers. I took some pictures, but there…

Nest construction

Nesting activities

Our local housemartins are busy. You can see them swooping up under eaves and into small corners to build their nests. It’s just amazing how they can get a grip on what looks like a sheer wall to me! Here’s a time-lapse video of the birds coming in to select their sites. This house overlooking…

Clear water

On the Glavica headland trail

In the heat of summer the Glavica headland near Vrboska is popular for its beaches, and I see that there are plans afoot to improve the car parking – or at least the collecting of fees! Out of season, it’s a lovely walking, jogging, cycling trail with pretty views. We set out on the north…