While walking around Lumbarda with our friends John and Rachel from Korcula Explorer, they asked whether we had ever seen such cabbages. The cabbages in question were lovely looking healthy plants, obviously cabbage but without the usual solid round head. What we were looking at was a variant of Brassica Oleracea, or wild cabbage, commonly…
For our third day, we retreated to Dol, and the wonderfully creative space that is Marinka’s studio. Overnight, the long summer’s drought had broken, and we’d been treated to a crashing sound and light show with so much rain that it sounded like a waterfall off our roof. Thankfully, Wednesday dawned bright, clear and sparkling.…
Being now happily settled into Vrboska, on Tuesday we set off to paint in the oldest town on the island – Stari Grad. Our sites for today would reflect the history of this place and the legacy of the ancient Greek and Roman settlers. We started around 9:30, intending to visit the Dominican Monastery, which…
Legend has it that the skill of making lace from agave leaves arrived from the Canary Islands around the mid-nineteenth century. A seaman brought back a sample of Tenerife lace from his latest trip, you could imagine as a gift for his sister, who may have been a nun, or attended convent school. The sister…
One of the delights of Hvar is the variety of aromatic plants that grow naturally here. The island is well-known for its lavender (lavanda), but for many centuries, rosemary (ružmarin) was more important to the island’s economy. Rosemary is actually a close relative of lavender, both belonging to the Lamiaceae (mint) family of plants. The…
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…
The Pakleni otoci lie off the south coast of Hvar, towards the western end. It’s a short expedition by boat to visit any one of this chain of islands, just take your pick from the choice of excursion vessels and taxiboats lining the waterfront in Hvar town. For those with their own yacht, of course,…
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…
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…
Go Hvar 