The long narrow inlet between Rovinj and Vrsar is a very distinctive natural feature in the landscape. If you’re driving from Bale in the south to Poreč, as we were, you have to cross it one way or another. It’s a spectacular canyon, and well worth taking the time to see it properly. Lim gets…
From Bale, it was an easy day trip to the island of Brijuni, a place we had long wanted to visit. Since the 1990s it’s a National Park that anyone can go to, but before that, it was the summer residence of Yugoslavia’s President Tito and off-limits to all but government officials and foreign dignitaries.…
We’re following part of the beautiful Adriatic highway up the coast from Split to Rijeka, the Jadranska Magistrala in Croatian or more prosaically the D8. Various earlier sections of road were connected up during 1945-1965 to form a complete coastal route from Trieste via Rovinj and Pula all the way down to the Albanian border.…
On the way into Stari Grad from Dol, there’s a small chapel by the roadside, with a rather curious carving of a bear above the door. This is the 16th century chapel of Sv Jelina, and it stands where the Slavic goddess Mokoš was previously worshipped. The sacred triangle of Perun – Veles – Mokoš can still be read in the landscape if you know where to look!
As we walk around the island, my eye is often caught by interesting details – arrangements of colours or textures that are like small pieces of art in the landscape. Some simply occur naturally, such as weathered rocks or tree bark, while others are the result of human activity (good or bad). Here are a…
I love the winter on Hvar. It’s a time when we can enjoy having that gorgeous scenery all to ourselves. Although we have had some rain, there have also been lots of sunny days when the great outdoors just has to be explored. January and February are perfect months for hiking, with comfortable temperatures and…
It’s all very well taking the boat out for afternoon excursions to a quiet cove for a swim, but we have plans to go further afield, and we’d like to be safe! To that end, we’ve been studying for our RYA Day Skipper certification, taking the theory part of the course online. Now, distance learning…
Summer arrived on Hvar rather later than usual this year, but once the sun came out, we haven’t looked back! We can only expect to get hotter over the next couple of months, and that can feel pretty uncomfortable, especially on more humid days. So it’s been good to get out on the water, and…
Dubovica cove is popular in summer, you can tell by the number of cars parked by the roadside above it. In contrast, yesterday ours was the only car to be seen as we set off down the trail to the beach. The sign points to Dubovica and Sv Nedelja, which is several kilometers further along the coast, and the path is clearly marked by our local hiking society, the Hvarska Planinarska Društvo. For the moment, though, we were just taking advantage of a glorious winter’s day, and had brought a picnic to enjoy on the beach.
Where better to start a visit to Istria than standing on its highest peak, from where you can pretty much see all of the peninsula laid out before you. On a clear day, all the way to the Italian coast! The coastal range of Učka (1396 m = 4580 ft) is the stunning backdrop for…
Go Hvar 
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