Following my last post, it was pointed out to me that a Croatian drystone field shelter (the Istrian version, called a kažun) was built last summer at the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire. Located beside the Peak Trail at Parsley Hay, the kažun fits nicely into the local environment, which is also a limestone…
Along the road past Stari Grad international airport, some new signs sprang up last summer, not so much giving directions, but indicating interesting things to look at. Very helpful! And that was how we finally noticed the largest trim I’ve yet seen, tucked away behind some trees, its weathered stone walls looking so natural in…
Do old vines make wine with more character? It certainly seems as if they should! We drove past this wonderful vineyard near Svirče a couple of months back, when the vines were all neatly clipped. With no leaves, the old twisted trunks showed boldly against the rocky terrain. From the road, it almost seemed as…
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…
From our visit up to Sveti Nikola, the highest peak on the island, on the way down we followed the road towards Svirče. Now I have to say that your modern small car is not best suited to the island’s backroads. It simply doesn’t have the clearance of, say, an old Renault 4 which is…
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…
This morning, at Total Hvar HQ in Jelsa, we were treated to a behind the scenes look at the filming of Total Hvar’s language lesson series. If you haven’t been following along as the Professor gives us the benefit of his expertise in the Hvar dialect, you’ve missed one of the cultural highlights of the…
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…
Following coffee at Cafe Splendid in Jelsa one morning, on the way back to the car we happened upon a sign for an arts and crafts fair. This had been part of the May Fair celebrations which had been held when we weren’t able to go, so we were delighted to find it had been…
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…
Go Hvar 
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