There’s something magical about the quality of the light in December. It seems to have a soft warm glow to it, even although the air temperature can be fairly brisk in the early morning. Sunrise is, of course, a little later and noticably further south than it was in summer. As far as Vrboska is concerned, the sun now rises behind the hills of the eastern part of the island, as opposed to nearby Glavice headland.

Before sunrise

For added effect in colder weather, the sunlight reveals a soft mist rising from the sea. That’s steam fog, otherwise known as sea smoke, formed whenever cold air moves over a warm body of water. The warmer air next to the surface rises and condenses just like steam over a hot bath. Here it’s fairly low level, but apparently sea smoke in the Polar regions can get as much as 20-30 metres high!

Sea smoke at sunrise

It’s a beautiful effect over the calm waters of the inlet. In the early morning the water is usually so calm – at least until one of the returning fishing boats disturbs the surface!

Returning fishing boat

For my sunrise walk in the winter, I need to wrap up warmly. I made the mistake one day of leaving off my gloves, as I thought it might be too unwieldly to operate the camera. But by the time I got home again an hour later my fingers were achingly chilled to the bone. Lesson learned!

Fishing nets

The harbour is endlessly fascinating to me. I find boats, especially the working boats, so much more interesting than cars. Could it be because of all the colourful bits and pieces attached to them? Or maybe the curvy elegant shapes? I particularly love the old wooden boats – they have such character!

Vrboska harbour

The early morning light has such a delicate quality, especially when it hits the warm stone of the buildings and the red roofs. The church-fortress of Sv Marija has a rosy glow where the sunlight catches it. And the sun takes a little longer to reach the houses of the upper harbour, just glancing across the surface of some.

Upper harbour, morning light

And of course the reflections are amazing at any time of year. Not a ripple disturbs the water on this part of the harbour. The water makes a fine mirror, and the blue and orange is a lovely colour combination!

Which way is up?

The lower sun at this time of year makes for some other interesting effects, too. Shadows of bare trees make such an interesting pattern on my neighbours’ walls.

Tree patterns

Afternoon walks have also been a joy at this time of year. Usually setting out after lunch, we’d explore some different paths, sometimes arriving back into Vrboska by an unexpected direction. That church is pretty distinctive from any angle, and that must be the island of Brač in the background!

Approaching Vrboska

And one afternoon, our walk around the coastal trail of the Glavice headland took rather longer than expected, so we arrived back just as the sun was setting.

Sunset over Vrboska

For December, Vrboska has its own special version of a Christmas tree. It’s the palm tree on the little island, looking very festive all dressed up with fairy lights! And I love that the guy had take his boat over to set them up!! How beautiful is that?

Christmas palm tree

“The grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never dried all at once; a shower is forever falling; vapour is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.”

~ John Muir