There’s a large stone cross on Glavica, the hill overlooking Stari Grad on the north shore. It makes a very useful marker, as it can be seen from miles around. Conversely, of course, from the top of Glavica, you have great views over the surrounding countryside, and the approach into Stari Grad harbour. The cross…
We walked up to Sv Nikola yesterday, that’s the island’s highest peak. I won’t try to pretend that we walked all the way up, in fact we drove most of the way. The road leads up from the end of the Selca tunnel, the turning nicely signposted. The larger, more noticeable sign is for Kolumbić…
January is a quiet time on Hvar, when many locals take the opportunity to visit relatives or simply have a holiday. So it’s not easy to find restaurants open at this time of year. Most have cleared their outside terraces, stacked up the tables and chairs, pulled everything inside and locked their doors. Not even…
Our artists have been on Hvar for 5 days already, and we still haven’t been into the town everyone thinks is actually the complete island itself. So for our Saturday evening we’ll hit the big city, but first, a bit of painting at the beach. One of my favourite subjects is rocks and water, and…
Our original plan for Friday was for a bit of a beach day – let the artists out to paint and play by the water. However… the weather once again didn’t cooperate, and the day dawned clear, cool and windy, a classic bura pattern. Over a breakfast of coffee and the remainder of the birthday…
Following last week’s perfect sunshine, we were now in the midst of some rather unsettled weather. All of the forecasts we checked offered a different take on the next few days. The best way seemed to be just wait and see. Thursday dawned looking very pretty in Vrboska – excellent, so we’d have a good…
Day One of our artist retreat began with an early morning walk around Vrboska to orient everyone. I wanted to cover the practicalities of staying here as well as giving the opportunity to take photographs as the sun comes up. It is the absolute best time to be out and about with a camera, everything…
The trip up to Velo Grablje from Stari Grad provides you with marvellous views as the road winds its way uphill. The slopes are covered in a distinctive lattice of drystone walls and mounds. As you reach the top, the view to the south opens up, with Vis floating in the distance. And just off…
Walking around Vrboska at night is delightful, if a bit tricky in places. We have street lights that kind of cover most areas, but some familiarity with the pathways definitely helps for those darker corners! Of course, the most important buildings are always floodlit throughout the night – so the churches of Sv Marija and…
I really enjoy getting up early in Vrboska, especially on a sunny day. Even with the grilles on our shutters firmly closed, I can still tell that the sun is about to appear and it’s time to be out and about. From the top floor of our house, we have a view of the sunrise…
