What’s life really like for a foreigner in Istria? Well we’ve lived here for the past seven years. Here are tales of our experience, plus those of others who either live or have a holiday home here.
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With bad weather forecast, we put the summer kitchen, pool and garden to bed – always a sad day. I take the cats for their jabs and make new internet friends, the gardeners attack the lawn, P hunts a leak, and we have our first fire of the season – which means Autumn’s finally...
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These are just two off-the-menu dishes available in Konoba Kaštel. I tried to get the exact quantities from owner, Alen, but that just confused him. “There are no exact quantities,” he said. “The quantity we use varies from time to time, depending on the available mushrooms, and your individual taste.” So, I’ve just given...
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There’s a lot in this week’s blog – but then it was a hectic week. We ate out four times in five days and made a mad dash to Trieste – twice. Live Istria acquired a (future) new contributor, its first few back-links and its first sponsor! I gave the garden a short back...
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With the summer rolling on and on and cherry tomatoes still so plentiful in the garden, I thought I’d share one of my favourites. My take on this is classic. It makes enough for the photo. Ingredients 500 g cherry tomatoes ½ onion (thinly sliced) Handful basil leaves (larger ones torn)...
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One of the joys of expat life in Istria are fresh figs. Fig trees are everywhere, so growing one should be a doddle – or so I thought. I fell in love with fresh figs at a hill-top monastery in Crete, many years ago. Back in the late 80s, they were an unusual, exotic...
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After an Autumnal start, sun makes a welcome return. We focus on spreading the word: P battles with Facebook and I collect Twitter followers, but Google’s page one remains a distant dream. Get our first rental booking for next year, see friends and even get a swim – but our oven and my computer...
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In a hot, sunny week, I start promoting Live Istria, P tackles the water feature and the wood pile shrinks. We worry about Tally, then send her to the dog-house. I go grape picking and we drink the mušt – juice from the first pressing. The week then ends with a bang! Monday...
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One of the biggest joys of expat life in Istria is the wonderful climate for outdoor life. However, while this is great most of the year, the final few weeks of high summer are always a challenge in the garden – for plants and gardener alike. This year, with temperatures soaring in Istria into...
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When Nicky returned from fig picking with over four kilos of fresh Istrian figs I knew they wouldn’t keep and I would have to come up with some fig recipes quickly. Using basically the same ingredients, the first – a simple fig sauce – is great to spice up left-over meat; the second –...
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A week of early starts and a final push sees Live Istria finally make it into the world. I also found time to go out interviewing and fig picking. With no guests in the Little House until Wednesday, we planned some R&R, but you can guess how that turned out. Monday, 5 September...
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We moved to Istria in early 2005. Having just sold our previous business in mid-2004, we had a lot of freedom when it came to choosing somewhere to live. Here’s a brief look at why we decided on Istria for our life abroad, and some of the ups and downs. (I’m interviewing everyone else,...
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This week cooler temperatures make work in the garden a pleasure. But the heat’s on at the typeface, as I find there’s a lot more to building a Live Istria than I thought. The chimney is swept, we buy wine, Baggy gets lost and I keep finding courgettes. Monday, 29 August It was lovely...
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Serves 2 (or more depending on the size of the courgette) There’s a lot of courgettes in my Istrian garden. Unfortunately, Phil’s none too fond of them, so I developed this courgette dish to go with BBQs and grills. Ingredients 1 large courgette 1 red pepper, chopped 200 ml passata 1 onion, chopped...
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With soaring temperatures in Istria, it’s hard work in the garden and at the typeface. Live Istria’s launch date, 29th August, is just around the corner. With so much on – and technology conspiring against me, will I make it? Monday, 22 August Only a week to design and build a site, and do...
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Juha od šparoga Serves 4-6 This is a very economical asparagus recipe, as nothing is wasted – ideal for hand-picked wild Istrian asparagus. The goodness from any woody stems goes into the stock, the middle makes the soup and the tips form the garnish. Ingredients Handful of asparagus 50 g butter 250 g...
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