When we lived back in Didsbury, we often used to eat out on a Sunday – and no Sunday lunch was ever really the same, such is the variety of restaurant types in the locality. Here in Istria, we have a lot of excellent restaurants near the house, but the closest are of the agristurismo […]
We think we are now on the final hurdle, kitchen renovation wise. It seems like we’ve been living forever without a decent working kitchen we can call our own – in fact, since we sold our house in West Didsbury, back in January 2017, we’ve been making do in the kitchen area. The one we […]
Of all of the things which confound us in Croatia – and there are many, believe you me – the biggest has to be boundaries. We’ve never really had to think about boundaries before, because when we’ve bought or sold properties previously, the Land Registry has just done its thing. But we’re in Croatia now, […]
The Istrian countryside is littered with abandoned houses and buildings. Some are nothing more than barns, which have fallen into disrepair but some are elegant villas, which are, slowly but surely, being taken over by nature. There are many reasons for them being abandoned – but a lot are in the state they are in […]
We are very excited that visits out here are being planned already for 2018 by family and friends. If you’d like to come out to Istria, here’s where we are currently: 18th – 22nd April – booked 22nd – 29th May – booked 29th May – 5th June TBC 30th June – 4th July – […]
When we bought the house in Istria, one of the things which sold it to us, was the size of the main bedroom. Compared to other bedrooms we’ve had, this was massive and with a lot of potential. Over the months, we’ve done bits and pieces to try and make it comfortable, as we work […]
Having lived in West Didsbury for a very long time, we certainly appreciate good restaurants. And now, having moved to Istria, and initially being a little concerned that we would have to forgo culinary delights, we are super impressed with what we’re finding on our doorstep. We don’t have the choice we had back in […]
Today has been a beautiful day, weather-wise. Yesterday, we had brilliant blue skies and sunshine all day, but man, was it cold! And, last night, when we returned home from a local restaurant, the inky-black sky was littered with sparkling stars, like we haven’t seen since the heady days of summer. Because we aren’t overlooked […]
It’s the weekend, but that doesn’t stop our builders. Give them their due, there’s some work ethic being displayed here! We *think* that the major drilling work might be over for this phase of the house renovation, so whilst Misko & Edin got on with the cabling and first plastering of the ceiling, we were […]
It’s been a while since I’ve recorded anything about the kitchen renovation, simply because nothing massive – or Instagram worthy 😉 – seems to have happened recently. But actually, a lot has happened and we are hopeful that the dirty, grimy work is now almost over. Or, at least until Silvano returns to dismantle the […]
Istria is known as Terra Magica. And it certainly is a land of magic, and traditions. As people whose lives are very much reliant on modern technology and the internet, it’s fascinating for us to see at such close quarters, old ways of life, still very much in evidence. Where we live, we are surrounded […]
When we bought the house, we asked the people we were buying from, what Istrian winters are like. “A bit like English summers” they told us – meaning damp and overcast. They hadn’t known snow for ten years – although to be fair, they weren’t here that often and we have had our fair share […]