Barbara DuBois Hageman, Artist: 2013

Post #4: Croatia & Food

In prior posts I mentioned figs, bayleaf, rosemary, olives, etc. The local village diet where we stayed was based on fish, lamb, local produce, lots of olive oil, and locally produced bread, wine and honey. Ana is a wonderful cook, so we dined well! When we ate out, we enjoyed perfectly prepared meals that were simple and the local food was the star.

The most expensive platter at this restaurant, the price with wine and dessert came to about $120US. It included a local meaty white fish, squid, local tomatoes & lemons, local chard and potatoes...and olive oil of course.

Here we are about to dig in. Note the local wine and sparkling water.

My dinner was grilled lamb with a tasty pepper dip and fries.

Fire-charred fish

Perfectly done squid

Our view from the restaurant was this:

A local market, in the shadow of the mountains.

Another village marina.

Dusk looking back at our restaurant, brightly lit on the left side of this photo.

Apparently this dock is used for film-making, not just for boating and docking fishing boats.

Another evening we ate in the village of Posidarjje, at Ana's cousin's restaurant. Again, perfectly prepared food, and for the four of us: about 40 Euros including wine.

This village restaurant is now owned by Ana's cousin and his wife, but originally it was Ana's grandather's house.

A cozy interior including the old fireplace

Ana feels right at home as her cousin pours us some wine. Stone is everywhere because Croatia is extremely rocky.

Cool in the summer, warm in the winter, a lovely place to have lunch or dinner!
The fish on the menu is caught by Ana's cousin!

Squid heaven!

Grilled chicken and vegetables.

Late day sun makes the local stonework glow.

Post #3 about Posidarjje, Croatia

Once settled in our apartment (Ana & Miro rent out 3), we had a chance to explore the village. Every yard has its own garden and often there's a table at the front entrance loaded down with tomatoes, figs, wine, olive oil, and honey. There are apartments and rooms to rent for about 50 Euros in high season and about 40 Euros in the off-season. Lots of Germans and Czechoslovakians stay here during the summer. The village has a marina for its fishermen. There are two local grocery stores and about 20 minutes away in Zadar there are large stores such as Interspar which is like a German Walmart.

Village street with small market at the end of the day. Streets are two-way but only one car wide!

Yards are filled with grapes, figs, and bayleaf trees.

The village marina

There are some apartments and a small hotel that is privately owned.

During the heat of the day the streets are empty, but after 4PM they are alive with local residents and children

Palm trees and other Mediterranean growth abounds.

This is a grape arbor that covers a parking area.

Apartments are available for vacation rental throughout the village. Everything is sparkling clean.

An example of a front yard garden

Window boxes are a favorite

An example of three intersecting, narrow streets.

The morning fish market

Fresh from the sea and gone by 11AM!

One of several local cafe's, this was next to a bank where we could get Kunas - the local currency. Croatia is now part of the European Union, but the currency transition to Euros is not yet in place. When we were there, 6 Kunas = $1.

The local grocery store. The clerks did not speak English, so it was sign language and guessing for each visit. The local schools are now teaching English to all the children, so anyone under the age of 25 does speak English if they've attended school.

The local news and souvenir stand

Local buildings in ancient stone only partly destroyed in the conflict with Serbia.

A local memorial.

Bustling morning produce market near the local bakeries

Local boats are shaped a little differently from those in the USA.

Note the solar panels atop the old stucco'd & tiled building! We also saw many windmills along the mountain ridge-lines. The Croatians are far ahead of us in using renewable energy!

Interspar is one of a number of German and other European big box stores that are setting up shop in the region now that Croatia is part of the European Union. But it was good that Ana was with me to interpret the labels. Once again, some of the clerks spoke English but others not so much. By using my credit cards with the international chip, I could avoid figuring out too much on the local currency!

Staying in Posidarjje, Croatia - a hidden gem on the Adriatic!

The airport in Split is where we landed. It's small and easy to navigate, UNLIKE Heathrow which was a nightmare! The highways are wide open and the speed limit is about 90 mph, which is a little hard to get used to! On the way between Split and Posidarjje, our host, Miro, stopped so we could get our first glimpse of the dramatic coastline.

Once we arrived in Posidarjje, there was no shortage of things to see in this small village on the Dalmatian Coast. Posidarjje is a village of about 1800 people and it's on an inlet of the Adriatic. We stayed in a pension owned by our Croatian-American friends, Miro and Ana. Ours was the lower balcony. In the right hand corner of the photo is a wood-fired grill which makes anything cooked on it taste marvelous.

Ana's gardens are beautiful and her front entrance is magnificent! Aside from hydrangeas, there are olives, figs, and a grape arbor that serves as the carport for their vehicles. Rosemary and bay leaf thrive everywhere. There are quince/ apples and pomegranate as well.

Ana's front yard garden

Sunflowers thrive

Olive trees grace the yard as well

The drama of the Adriatic was in the views from the back of the house, our balcony and down at Ana & Miro's beach:

Sunrise

Mid-day

Mid-day in the other direction, after the thunderstorms.

The view from the dock overlooking the beach

Miro's boat

A view in the westerly direction from the dock

The dock

So I set up my painting gear on our balcony since the weather was sunny and dry except for one afternoon of thunderstorms...much needed by the olive and fig trees. What's not to love about this place for an artist?!

Again, thanks to Bivenne Staiger, my watercolor teacher, for getting me up to speed in this new medium. It was going to be too complicated to travel with my usual array of oil paints. Here's the link to Bivenne's website: Bivenne Harvey Staiger