Foto Phaves: Hvar, Croatia

Hvar, Croatia, from the citadel Spanjola above town. This is from our trip through the Dalmatian Coast last May. I’ve been processing photos to try to upload onto iStockphoto, and going through the ones from Hvar. I love the color of the water!

Looking across the bay at Hvar Town, from the road near [...]

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Croatia, Monte Carlo, and Our Own Consumerism

Sailboats in the harbor at Korcula

Don’t get me wrong, we loved most of Croatia, and were awestruck by the preserved history in Rovinj, Dubrovnik, Pula, and Korcula. That said, when Hannah and I walked into the first convenience store just out of Trieste, Italy for a bathroom break and to pick up something to [...]

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Wrapping Up With Rovinj; Our Final Stop in Croatia

Rovinj, Croatia, with stone homes facing the water, Venetian style.

I first saw a photo of Rovinj on a ferry from Hvar to Split; a medieval village rising in stone buildings uphill to a baroque church on a hilltop. Reaching up from the sea, an oval of land connected by a narrow strip to the [...]

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Foto Phaves: 3 shots from Rovinj, Croatia

Looking at Rovinj, Croatia from the water. We visited in a boat the other day, and drove up from Pula today. Today it rained, not so great for photos.

A courtyard off a pedestrian street in Rovinj.

The old town of Rovinj juts out into the sea in the shape of a spoon. [...]

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Pula for Birthdays

Looking from one end of the Pula Amphitheater to the other.

It’s Birthday week, John’s, then Hannah’s, our first on the road. Marlie and I snuck out to pick up gifts for them in Venice from the wonderful little leather shop L’Grifone, and have had them stashed for the past couple of months. Hannah had [...]

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Pula: A Fresh Arrival

The Roman Amphitheater in Pula, the 6th largest in the world.

We’ve headed North, and left the Dalmatian coast behind. We are in Pula now on the Southern tip of Istria. Both John and I liked Pula immediately, although we are not sure why our reaction to it is such a contrast to our immediate [...]

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Omiš is Komisch

This has to be my favorite building in Omiš, irony in structure. The ultra modern Bank of Zagreb with mirrored windows downstairs, the typical concrete apartment building upstairs.

Omiš is the tidal waters where the uninspiring and beautiful collide in curious contrast. There is a lovely little old town center, topped by an ancient stone [...]

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Missing Home While Standing Still

Omiš, Croatia: a view from the Pirate’s Fort.

We’ve been missing home. Our doggie Sadie back at home got hurt and needed stitches yesterday. The couple who are caring for our house and animals are not sure how it happened; they came home and she had a big tear just behind her shoulder. We [...]

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Rain Dancing in Hvar

Hvar Croatia

We ended our tour of Dalmatia in Hvar, an island with a city of the same name which has had a great deal of press as a destination. It’s known as a place to see and be seen, and comes complete with a sterile looking large resort hotel with a pool that made [...]

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Korčula and Camp Chairs

Korčula, Croatia, lit by the early morning light.

We keep extending our stay in Korčula. We’d arrived on this island intending to camp here, a brief stop. We drove through several uninspiring campgrounds and found the first one, close to the ferry, to be the best. We had picked up some inexpensive camping gear before [...]

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Bonding, Squabbling, and Farting of the Mouth

The girls sitting on the walls of Dubrovnik

It’s interesting spending so much time together, the four of us in close quarters. At home, naturally, there are so many other distractions, different directions. School and work take us away from the home, friends offer other company. Even chores involve different spaces. Gardening and cleaning [...]

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The Song of Jackals

Click Here to listen to the jackals’ song

The hills of the Pelješac peninsula, home of golden jackals

There are jackals here on the Pelješac. Each night they sing, sometimes very close to the house, on the hills above town. Their song is more of a true howl than our coyotes back home, whose voices rise [...]

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Wine in Croatia and Meeting Mike Grgich

Bartulović Winery, Pelješac Peninsula, Croatia

We sought wine yesterday, and our day was charmed. The wine industry in Croatia is flourishing. Here on the Pelješac Peninsula there are vines everywhere, with workers tending them. Ancient and twisted vines, newly planted shoots, bright green grape leaves on hillsides and terraces, contrasting the dark green of forests [...]

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Dubrovnik’s Walls

The medieval city walls of Dubrovnik, Croatia

We walked the walls of Dubrovnik, following the flow of tourist making the way counter-clockwise around fortress walls encircling the old city in a complete circle. The sun in the clear blue sky illuminated the water and shone orange and red off the rooftops. I shot hundreds of [...]

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Dubrovnik, Ancient and Proud

Dubrovnik walls and harbor

Dubrovnik’s thick walls of stone rise from the water, heavy and stalwart, topped with ramparts and arrow keyholes. The sun breaks through the clouds, illuminating the grey rock of this medieval fortress. Boats loll easily in the harbor, protected and waiting. The city starts to wake, tables are straightened and tended, [...]

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