Road trip day 2 saw us in the delightful medieval town of Šibenik. It lies on a bay created by the river Krka, directly facing the fairly narrow channel where the river exits into the Adriatic. The natural harbour has made the town an important trade centre over the years, and this place is seriously…
Our normal mode of driving north from Hvar is to take the inland motorway. It’s fast and easy, and we’re usually on our way to Zagreb with no time for scenic diversions. But this May we treated ourselves to a more relaxed trip up the magistrala, that wonderfully scenic Croatian coastal road. Setting out from…
Having renovated an old stone house ourselves, we’re always interested to see what other people make of theirs. Dalmatia has such a wealth of old stone buildings and it’s good when an old derelict comes to life again as a new home. One fine example is The Quaich, tucked away in deepest Vrbanj. Ten years…
The roses are in bloom early this year, so I thought I’d get started on the rose syrup. It seems a shame to waste all those fragrant petals! I’ve made it for the past couple of years and I love adding it to summer desserts, and making rose cordial on a hot afternoon. In Dalmatia,…
Furešti u Dalmaciji – Foreigners in Dalmatia – was a wonderful wine-tasting seminar given by the Taste of Croatia team – Goran Zgrablić, Morena Zibar and Lada Radin, with a special guest appearance by Miquel Hudin. The foreigners, of course, refer to grape varietals that are recent incomers to the region – chardonnay, merlot, cabernet sauvignon,…
We just spent a happy couple of days exploring the latest in Croatian wines at this year’s Dalmatia Wine Expo. We’ve enjoyed going to this event since the first one in a sports hall in Makarska. It’s now a very polished conference complete with educational seminars and exhibiting winemakers, held at the Radisson Blu hotel…
Since I wrote my article on Red roofs as part of the landscape last month, I’ve been looking with different eyes at buildings – and paintings of them. So many artists over the years have taken architecture as their subject, including red roofs (Camille Pissarro) and even blue roofs (Paul Gaugin). So let’s have a…
I love painting rocks and water- it’s almost as good as a walk by the seashore on a day when I can’t get out there myself. Physically I may be in my studio, but mentally I’m on that path around the headland on a sunny day in September! Today, my reference photo is chosen for…
I love the look of the traditional Dalmatian houses – they fit so perfectly into their environment. Which, when you think about it, makes a lot of sense, as the building materials are also likely to have come from the very same landscape! The stone and red clay would at one time have been locally…
Traditional Dalmatian Pašticada is slow-cooked beef in a rich red sauce, usually served with njoki (gnocchi) or home-made pasta. In its original form, this dish can take a couple or three days to prepare, as the beef is first marinated, then roasted slowly. One recipe from Dubrovnik dates from the 15th century, and related dishes can…
Go Hvar 
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