I was inspired by my visit to the Dvor Duboković to have a go at making my own rose liqueur. Their Rožolin was rather wonderful, and although we had bought a bottle to enjoy later, it was all too small. The process, as they told it, seemed simple enough, and I have some lovely fragrant…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Set here and there amongst the walled fields of Hvar’s agricultural landscape, you’ll see stone shelters. I’m not talking here about the newer type of weekend houses that have sprung up – complete with BBQ and shady terrace for Sunday lunch. No, the ones I mean are much older, of drystone construction, and some have…
Dry stone walls are as much part of the landscape here on Hvar as they are in my native Scotland. Over there, they pretty much hold sheep in, but on the Dalmatian coast they’re entirely necessary to hold in the soil. There would simply be no agriculture in this steep, karst environment without the back-breaking…
Here’s a great song for New Year’s Eve… or any occasion with glass of wine in hand! No klapa concert is complete without this catchy song. It has a chorus that even foreigners can sing along with – and indeed will probably be singing it all the way home! We first heard this, appropriately enough,…
There are a couple of songs that take me right back to Hvar. This is one of them – Oči boje lavande – a lovely song we first heard at the Hvar Wine festival, and many times since. The locals all know the chorus and will sing and sway along, and if you’re going anywhere…
There are lions on Hvar. You can see them lurking on walls and gateways, looking out with a rather pained expression. It’s the symbol of St Mark, the winged lion of Venice, showing that this island was once part of the Venetian empire. From 1278, when the locals petitioned Venice for protection from the pirates,…
Go Hvar 
You must be logged in to post a comment.