The historical Hvar theatre reopened its doors this week, looking quite exquisite after extensive renovations. Over three nights, there were celebratory performances, including poetry, music and plays. The Croatian Minister of Culture came for the official opening, shown live on Croatian national TV. We had tickets for the third day, which was a fine evening’s…
Hvar in February is beautiful, appearing in a completely different light from the heat of summer. This morning, for instance, I was drawn to take my camera for a walk by the most perfect atmospheric sunrise. Somewhat unusually, we were enveloped in dense fog, with very little of the wider landscape showing, meanwhile the sun…
There are wonderful abstract compositions everywhere you look. Many times on our walks around the island my eye will be caught by some object which just begs to become an artwork. So I’ll take a photo and sometimes the ideas will show up in my paintings as patterns of colour, or shading. The best images…
I couldn’t let the summer go past without sharing some photos of the crazy vessel race, one of my favourite events on Hvar’s summer calendar. In an effort to avoid the forecast rain that evening, the race started unusually promptly. We therefore managed to miss the first leg, and caught up with the teams as…
Wooden boats are an important part of Dalmatian history, a crucial item for generations of people as a way to put food on the table, and for transport. After all, there would be no islanders if there were no boats. The current exhibition in the Vrboska Fishermen’s Museum provides a fascinating glimpse into a time…
Tis the season for figs, and we’ve been enjoying them freshly picked when they’re at their best. But they don’t last for more than a couple of days in that condition, and we decided to dry a batch in the sunshine – the natural way. We’d successfully produced a nice little jar of sun-dried tomatoes,…
Vrboska has a proud heritage of both fishing and boat-building. Traditional curvy wooden boats, that is, with latin sails. The local Udruga Lantina society hold their annual summer regatta on St Peter’s Day, as they reckon he was a fisherman too! This year was expanded to a two-day event, including a special workshop on boat-design…
It’s the end of June, so it’s lavender harvest time! Shame, really, as I love to see the purple hummocks decorating the hillsides. Unlike Provence, where the lavender is grown in great long stripes, here the bushes are kept separate, giving more of a pattern of dots. And, given the steepness of the fields, the…
On the last day of Karneval, it’s traditional to celebrate with a parade, and in some places a masked ball. The day is marked in Vrboska with everyone dressing up for the parade, which ends in Jure Karnevol being burned. Poor George! The tradition goes way back to Roman times, and is related to the…
Last night was a real treat. The Croatian national folk ensemble, LADO, gave a concert of Christmas songs in Vrbanj church. They’ve been responsible for researching and preserving music and dances from all around Croatia, and we were very happy to find their Christmas tour included TWO dates in nearby Vrbanj. The musicians were playing…
Go Hvar 
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