The cast of players involved in our life in Istria is huge. Rather than introduce them fully each time they appear, this short ‘Who’s Who’ fills in the background. (If you’re very observant (like my Dad) you’ll notice I’m using the ampasand ‘&’ here, rather than ‘n’. In case you wonder why, it is because the names don’t need a hover explanation, as this is the explanation page).
Azra (Tetida)
Azra is the owner of Tetida, an estate agency based in Porec. She sold us our house in Matulini, our rental property in Brnobici and helped us buy our land in Ciritež.
Baggy & Tally
Our two cats. We’ve had them since 2006 when they were 6-week-old kittens and they’re experts at getting underfoot.
Damir
A structural engineer and owner of a building company. We met Damir in early 2011, when he cropped up repeatedly during our house hunting. He owned the property in Losari.
Elbina
Works for Solis, the property management company in Porec that manages our rental property in Brnobici.
François & Vera (F&V)
Our neighbours in Matulini. François is French Canadian and Vera’s Croatian. They met working on cruise ships. Now back on dry land, Vera works in internet marketing and François runs their home and adds local colour to the village.
Glorija
My cleaner, who’s also happy to help when my Croatian breaks down (which is quite often).
Iris
Owns Solis, the property management company in Porec that manages our rental property in Brnobici.
John & Julie (J&J)
English friends who own two houses in Istria, in Dracevac and Montižana, and are trying to develop another in Litari. We met them through Rick & Sally.
Karlo & Sanja (Habito)
Owners of the estate agency, Habito. We’ve looked at numerous properties with them over the years. We’ve not bought one from them – yet – but did manage to get them a sale.
Maria
Owner of the house opposite us, Maria comes from Matulini. She lived in Canada for many years and now lives near Trieste in Italy.
Marija & Goran (M&G)
Phil met Marija while having physiotherapy for his back in Porec. She was having treatment for a broken leg, having come off her motorbike. Marija and Goran live in the village of Cehici. Marija headed up the Croatian office of a multinational advertising agency, but has now thrown herself into country life and is my local expert on edible nature. Working part-time, Goran’s an import expert for an American multinational.
Martina
Martina works for an estate agency affiliated with Tetida.
Miro
The builder who built our Little House and did a lot of work around our house in Matulini. He’s a lovely guy and great builder, but speaks no English. We communicate through my atrocious Croatian, a lot of hand waving and other people.
Phil
My other half and partner in crime. We met at university back in the Middle Ages sometime.
Srdjan & Snježana (S&S)
Friends who have become like family. They helped us out every step along the way when we moved here – without them, we would not have been able to make a go of living here. S&S own a nursery growing landscaping plants: Srdjan looks after their greenhouses; Snježana sells the plants in Porec market and elsewhere. Many of the plants in my garden came from their nursery.
Rick & Sally (R&S)
We got to know them when Rick bumped into our table – the very first night we were house hunting in Istria! Rick’s from Bosnia and Sally’s English, and they met in Canada. They have an apartment building in Mugeba and have become very close friends.
Tony & Ruth (T&R)
A Belgian couple who stayed in the Little House for two weeks, while house hunting in July 2011. They bought Damir‘s place in Losari.
