“Winging It” – paintings inspired by birds and travel
by Floy Zittin and friends – Nancy Calhoun, Jan Grady and Marion Podolski
3-28 November, 2015
Viewpoints Gallery, 315 State Street, Los Altos, California 94022
Artists Reception – Friday 6th November, 5-8pm with Croatian wine tasting, and slideshow of images from the trip
It’s good to see traditional island products being made, especially when given an innovative twist. And although everyone and their granny has their recipe for marmalade, it’s highly unusual to find a tomato marmalade – and very yummy it is too! We found it pairs excellently well with cheese. The marmalade in question is made…
Arriving on Pag at the southern end across a big blue bridge, it felt like we’d landed on Mars. This is a very stark landscape, with red rocks strewn everywhere, no vegetation whatever, and the massive wall of Velebit looming across the channel. The lack of anything growing on the side of the island facing…
Our normal mode of driving north from Hvar is to take the inland motorway. It’s fast and easy, and we’re usually on our way to Zagreb with no time for scenic diversions. But this May we treated ourselves to a more relaxed trip up the magistrala, that wonderfully scenic Croatian coastal road. Setting out from…
We just spent a happy couple of days exploring the latest in Croatian wines at this year’s Dalmatia Wine Expo. We’ve enjoyed going to this event since the first one in a sports hall in Makarska. It’s now a very polished conference complete with educational seminars and exhibiting winemakers, held at the Radisson Blu hotel…
I’ve recently learned a new trick – how to make my own baklava! It’s very popular in Croatia, where the local version generally uses walnuts more than pistachios and almonds. But as I don’t actually have a walnut tree, that made no difference. However I did add another very local ingredient – my own homemade…
I do love a good pudding wine to round off dinner! And in many of Hvar’s local restaurants, they’ll offer a glass of prošek or travarica as they clear away the dishes. The sweet prošek is a traditionally-made straw wine, while travarica is an aromatic herbal grappa. Both are good, but for me, Croatian prošek…
We were fair delighted this week to hear that Miki Bratanić’s konoba has received the status of a protected cultural heritage site. The building and its contents have been recognised as a fine example of the traditional Dalmatian konoba. It’s a great tribute to the care and preservation of the old building and equipment, much…
The Dalmatian fjaka doesn’t really have a simple translation. Even the Spanish concept of siesta, taking a snooze on a hot afternoon, although related, doesn’t quite cover it. Fjaka is more of a trancendental mood where time stands still and mind and body drift in a totally relaxed state. Nothing happens. Any movement is simply…
Having really enjoyed the seminar about the top Plavac wines, we wanted to learn more about the best wines from other parts of Croatia. The seminar by the wine authority Darko Baretić promised an insight into the thought processes of some of the best known winemakers and what is in store from them over the coming months and years. Excellent!
Go Hvar 
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