Archive for September 2015

[HVAR, CROATIA] Day 3: Stari Grad Plain, Franciscan Monastery,Fortress, Dalmatino

Published on 6:40 PM By rika.C.

The City of Scent, Grapes and Carob

When I first arrived at Stari Grad, I thought I had some sort of illusion from long hour travelling. It was a subtle scent of lavender, rosemary and oregano. And no, I wasn't standing by some lavender vendor booth.

Even though it is already near the end of the summer season, the lingering smell of Lavender and herbs makes this trip such a cathartic experience, and Hvar has every right to crown itself "The Island of Lavender".

Sometimes one has to appreciate the sense of nothingness. This is what I felt when I started treking down the path of the Stari Grad Plain. There is a road to inifinity, and everything surrounding me is as if framed in time and distilled to its core essence.

The Stari Grad Plain is a UNESCO heritage of a land parcel system that was established by Ionian Greeks in the 4th century BC. Since this is the most fertile land on Hvar, even after the Greek colonisers left, the division method of using stones as walls (known as chora), has remained in place, practically untouched for 24 centuries till the present day. As we trek down the plain, we came across many vineyards and olive trees as well as bushes of wild berries. Each alley section is still named after its first original Greek owner and nothing has really changed since then.

Amazed by the way the tradition has been passed down from generation to generation, I asked our guide, Marco, "Was it pass down from its original families? How did they ensure that they kept the land as it is?"

He said, "This is the most fertile land on Hvar, and we can make very good quality wine from it, so it would be stupid not to make the most out of this place. The parcel system works extremely well. Everything else is imported from mainland, and its expensive. But the grapes from the plain works very well to cover all these import costs."

Trying out locally grown produce is always a must for me when I travel, and Dalmatino seemed like a perfect place to give it a try.

[------Today's Order -----]

- Gnocchi with Black Truffle and mushroom sauce ]

- Fish fillet with tomatoes and spaghetti

The sampling wines are complementary, and the followings are served

- Carob wine

- Lavender with sage wine

- Prosek: a sweet nectar wine

The Carob, is a reddish brown bean-like legume, that despite its look, gives rich almost vanilla-like aroma that is used as a replacement of Cocoa for making chocolate in the Mediterranean area. The word "Carat" for measuring diamond actually comes from the Arabic name for carob seeds because of its uniformity in weight, so yes this is a plant of diamond! Eating the fruit slice with the wine, although it is quite strong, opens up the palate for our main dishes.

Gnocchi with Black Truffles, how are we ever going to get over this?

The fish fillet is beautifully seasoned and tender, fresh from the ocean!

Then we had a lavender with sage wine, which for me tasted like sweetened vodka, but at least it had a light and airy aftertaste. So now we can be ready for dessert!

The dessert wine, is a prosek, made from sweet plum and nectar, which marked a perfect note to the end of our lunch.

After a big, fulfilling lunch, the afternoon sunshine is ideal for a slow stroll around the Hvar town. We found a 500 year old Cypress in the garden of Franciscan Monastery, along with juxtaposing modern art with work from the Medival times.

All around the promenade are places that one can jump down for a swim or some suntanning.

When its close to sunset time, we started walking up to the Spaniard Fortress, and the breathtaking view needs no more words.

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[STARI GRAD, CROATIA] Day 2: Tvrdalj Castle, Bistro Kod Damira

Bistro Kod Damira

Published on 2:05 PM By rika.C.

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Day 2: Tvrdalj Castle, Bistro Kod Damira

Poet and nobel Petar Hektorovic has a special bond with the fishermen.

He is the son of a nobility that when the Turks attacked, he jumped into the Aegean Sea to escape and was rescued by fishermen. In his later years, he wrote poems and travelogues in 1556 , known as "Fishermen and their bantering", which meticulously recorded the fishermen folk songs and their conversations, that shed light to the lifestyle and the integrity of these so called "commoners". In one way or another, Petar fought for a more equal right for commoners, allowing them to seek shelter at his Tvrdalj Castle during Turkish invasions. The Castle has a garden and a mullet pond at the center with fish, and there are various inscriptions around the castle, giving light to the poet's philosophy of life. For example, on the sound side of the fish pond it says " Remember neither riches nor fame, beauty nor age can save you from death, death takes it all."

In fact, the castle is rustic and yet austere in its own way. It almost reminds me of an aquaponic microcosm, where nobles and commoners are equal, and that the relationship between men and nature are equal and interdependent.

The garden is full of pomegranade, rosemary, thymes, lemon trees, Persimon tree, roses and various other kind of herbs and fruits. It is no wonder why the poet finds inspiration from this romantique garden.

Doesn't this look like the door to a secret garden?

It is such a soothing experience to walk around in this castle, not to mention the playful cat that lives here.

At night we decided to have dinner at Bistro Kod Damira, and while we are waiting for our food, two round, almond eyes looked at us attentively, twirling and tapping next to our table. I think I have a lot of baby luck, that often led to new conversation with other travellers (While we were taking the ferry from Split to Stari Grad, we also started chatting with a couple from the States when their baby started smiling and reaching our her fingers to me) . So the couple with their 3 year old daughter comes from Hamburg and have already spent 8 days at Hvar Island. They said, " This is by far the best restaurant we've had on the island, where the food is very fresh and not expensive at all!" We are amazed by our luck that we struck upon this pot of gold on our first day on the island! Yoohoo!

We don't not know what "Paprenjak" is, as the English translation just says "traditional cake", the waiter has no clue, and says "Oh it's a family secret, I don't know what it is!" , so we took a shot to give it a try.

[-----Our Order -----]

- Meatloaf

-Beef tongue with sauce

-Tomato soup

- Lavender chocolate Cake

-Paprenjak (Pepper Cake)

I ordered the Beef tongue, and I must say this is rivaling its 1st place for Best Beef Tongue with the restaurant that I've had in Czech Republic. It melts in your month instantly and the lightness and smoothness of the horseradish sauce adds such a delicate touch to the taste.

The Lavender chocolate cake is moist with lavender honey and yet it relatively light and airy.

The Paprenjak, since we could not identify this unique taste by our taste bud, I did a search on the web for its recipe.

The traditional Paprenjak contains a unique mix of honey and black pepper and also has sugar syrup or honey, butter or fat, eggs, nuts, pepper and various spices such as clove, cinnamon and nutmeg in it.

Each family probably had their own recipe, and it gets passed down with variations, so no wonder the waiter won't know the family's secret!

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5 Tips: Packing for Croatia Weather (Late Summer/Early Autumn)

changing weather

Published on 1:07 PM By rika.C.

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Packing as a minimalist. Less is More. It is hardly impossible to walk in style, roaming from airport gates to gates, if you have a bulky, overweight luggage and several carry-ons. Not to mention that you become highly visible as a target-to-be for pickpockets.

So how do you pack for a 14 day trip, for a weather that hovers between 15C to 27C?
Here's my 5 tips:

Rule 1: 5 : 4 : 2 : 1 Ratio
5 Tops, 4 bottoms, 2 pairs of shoes, and 1 dress. You will be surprised by the permutations you can get from it. You might ask, how do I pick so that they match through out?

Rule 2: 80% basic and 20% primary color
So what I usually do is let the majority of the color choices "match", i.e. sticking with blue, white, grey these kind of basic colors. You can easily build variety with that 20% of clothing in pocka dots, stripes, floral prints and splash of colors.

Rule 3: Make use of hats, scarfs and accessories
You can create variations through color and style, and an added bonus, to dress up or down for the weather!

Rule 4: Trench coat classic
Bring at least a trench coat or slim leather coat, or a cardigan so you can layer one when the weather drops.

Rule 5: Fit for the occasion
If you know you will be spending most of your time hiking or at the beach, don't bring expensive cocktail dresses or high heels. They take up space, and you know you won't be wearing them.

So here's my share of how to pack for my upcoming trip in Croatia.
I stuck with nude neutrals as my staples of outfit, and then I can add variations with my scarf, necklace and accessories.