Visiting friends were recently treated to a real spectacle when they came to stay with us in Istria – the Oprtalj Festival of Fire, on Sunday 23rd June. This is apparently a very old tradition, which is being revived in this beautiful town – on the eve of the feast of St. John the Baptist, […]
By sheer coincidence, the second hotel we booked on our recent trip to Mallorca – the Lluna Aqua Hotel in Sóller – just turned out to be the sister hotel of the Brondo Architect Hotel where we stayed in Palma. We had no idea that they were connected but both just exuded real style for […]
Ipša, in their own words, is …a family estate which has been producing extra virgin olive oil and wine for many years…situated in Ipši, a small hamlet surrounded by olive groves in the vicinity of Oprtlaj, a picturesque medieval village in north western Istria… We’re very lucky to live somewhere so close to somewhere that […]
We finally we have come out of hibernation. After returning a few weeks ago from hot & sunny Mallorca, winter – or at least autumn – returned in Istria, with rain, rain and more rain and howling winds. We honestly felt we’d never see the sun again and so cracked on with indoor DIY work. […]
This restaurant is probably known, and frequented by, all of our friends who’ve ever been to Sóller, but just in case you, like us, didn’t know about it, here’s the low-down on Ca’n Llimona. Tucked away down a side street called Carrer de la Victoria, just off the main drag, Carrer de sa Lluna, it […]
Over the last few years, we’ve been very lucky to be able to pack in a huge amount of travel – as well as actually move abroad, relocating from Manchester to Istria, in northern Croatia. We’ve spent the last couple of years renovating a stone house and exploring our new environment. But, one place has […]
Spaghetti dishes are often our go-to meals, especially if we’re a bit short on time. Current favourite is just flash frying, in olive oil, chilli flakes and garlic and mixing through spaghetti, and sprinkling with parmesan. Done in less than 10 minutes. But recently, on one of my favourite Twitter accounts – Beauty From Italy […]
As is quite usual here, we’re not connected to gas mains. If people do prefer gas, for heating or cooking, then you usually find that they have it delivered and huge cannisters will be located somewhere about the property and we didn’t really fancy the eyesore or the faff. So we’re all electric here – […]
Renovating a property can be very expensive. Even though things out here are often less expensive than back in the UK, we don’t have a bottomless money pit and so sometimes, rather than splashing the cash, we look for alternatives. And, currently, spray paint is proving to be worth its weight in gold. Quite literally… […]
I’ve always had a fascination with ancient places such as Knossos, Pompeii, Delphi and Ephesus and we are slowly but surely ticking them off, on our travel wish list. As yet, we’ve not holidayed in Turkey and haven’t had any plans to do so, so I thought Ephesus would have to be put on hold. […]
When we moved in, the kitchen seemed quite a cold room. Which seemed odd, because even though there was only one window to the side, it was a light room. The walls were white (and this was the only room that had actually been decorated) and the units were pretty inoffensive cream IKEA base and […]
Although the weather is still not *perfect*, we’ve definitely come out of winter and hibernation. The woodburner is on less these days, our heaters are only switched on to get rid of the early morning chill, and we’ve even had a window or two open. The garden, which last year was largely a building site, […]