The word for a door in Croatian is vrata, which comes from the old Slavic word vorta. It’s always plural, in the same way that trousers or pants are in English. And vrata means both the opening, and the object we use to close it up. Now that may be a wooden door, glass door or wrought-iron gate, inside or outside, in the house or garden or field – vrata covers all types.
Where I grew up, in Edinburgh, only the older stone houses had working shutters, and those were on the inside of the windows to keep out the cold in winter. In much of southern Europe, houses are shuttered in the summer to keep out the heat. I also really enjoy the ability to close out the world when it gets cold, dark and wet in winter, especially when there’s a bura blowing! It’s all terribly convenient, and so much cheaper than extra heating or air conditioning.
Following my recent post on the artistic nature of the ropework on some of the boats in local harbours, I came another couple of lovely examples. There’s no doubt that those rope bow-fenders just add so much character! First up, this double fender makes it seem like this boat could talk! And then we have…
There’s something rather timeless about ropes. You find them everywhere in and around boats, useful for all kinds of tasks. But they can be artistic, too. As I stroll around the waterfront with my camera, I like to focus in on small details that could be easily missed if you walk by too fast.
Over the past few years, our house renovations have been concentrated on the building itself, first making it habitable, then improving our comfort – mainly on the inside! The outdoor area was left pretty much to itself, beyond clearing away all the debris which actually included a rusty old barbeque. What a difference! This year…
Ringing in the New Year takes on a slightly different twist in Hvar. The entire evening is punctuated with loud cracks and BANGS that fairly resound around the old stone square. The local lads – young and not so young – were having fun throwing firecrackers at their friends, recreating the effect of some 16th…
The Jelsa wine festival continued on day 2 with some traditional fun and games. First up, a donkey race. Until very recently, donkeys did a lot of the heavy lifting around here. Every family would have one, and you can tell that many of the old routes through the hills are suitable only for people…
Remember when the night skies were full of stars? Not just a few random bright dots on an otherwise dark backdrop – but whole drifts of fine-grained pinpoints where the more you look, the more you see? The structure of the Milky Way on clear view as it wheels above you? Shooting stars? Such is…
When we first started looking at properties on Hvar, one of the houses that really caught my imagination was in Prapatna. It was a gorgeous stone house with walled garden, right on the seafront. Sure, it needed a bit of work, but boy, what a stunning location! In the end, because the practicalities of life…
In the Adriatic, you’d think there wasn’t really much extreme weather to talk about, especially if you visited in the high summer. OK, the odd thunderstorm over the mainland in the afternoon, but not out on the islands, surely? Yet you’ll see examples of windroses here and there, with the winds clearly named. There’s one…
Go Hvar 
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