by Helen | Oct 27, 2022 | Lifestyle
Our renovated kitchen is small, but with everything we need, and is painted in a soft grey to maximise the feeling of space. Worktops are kept largely clear of clutter, again to ensure that we don’t feel hemmed in. We carefully worked on the design of the room, to ensure that we had sufficient cupboards, drawers and shelving so that most things could be kept behind soft closing doors.
But, even in our new de-cluttered world, I still have a bit of an obsession about beautiful crockery. Not the expensive kind, that you’re too afraid to use, in case it gets cracked, chipped or smashed. Not so much the IKEA kind, either – although we do have crockery from here, it’s the bog-standard sets which are easily replaced when frequently cracked, chipped or smashed. What I like are pieces that are fairly inexpensive and a little bit different. And that’s what I recently found on a trip to Jysk. Check out this store if you’re not acquainted with it, as it’s a bit if a gem. (And, for Manchester friends, there’s one in Stockport).
When I spotted the crockery (above) it was a no-brainer that I needed these were exactly what was needed in the newly painted kitchen. Unlike crockery you buy in sets, these are all individual pieces and as such, none match exactly, making them even better. The colour is predominantly a very soft blue, but greys and greens also run through the ceramic. As well as being mismatching in colour, the shapes are also irregular – the plates are quite oval, but the edges aren’t perfectly rounded. Same as with the bowls – the perfect size for pasta dishes and soups and stews. The one part of the “set” that is missing – because we also have small mug/cups – are side plates, which unfortunately, Jysk doesn’t seem to stock. A real shame, as these would finish off the collection.
The crockery is substantial and quite heavy, so less likely to crack or break, and is glazed, so retains its sheen. Best of all, it’s completely dish-washer proof – always a result in my book.
by Helen | Oct 27, 2022 | Slovenia, Travel
According to the website, the recently renovated Heritage Hotel is…
…one of Ljubljana’s finest boutique hotels. It combines the rich cultural heritage of a Renaissance bourgeois building from the 16th century with the luxury of modern architecture and the prestige of residing in a listed building within the cultural and historically-protected part of the old city.
The building is on the riverside, nestled behind another amazingly renovated heritage building, and is close to everything you’d want to explore in the centre of the old city.
Above Image : https://hotelheritage.si
The restoration and renovation of the building is really quite beautiful. The integrity of the building has been retained, but enhanced with contemporary features and heritage colours.
The reception area is more like a cool lounge, with funky, but understated, seating areas and window seats, coupled with clever lighting to create a welcoming vibe. Forest green walls, tangerine orange and baby blue soft furnishings and gold accessories create a feel of opulence. And, it also helps that when you are checking in, you are offered a complimentary drink. Great attention to detail.
The hotel has twenty unique rooms. The Atrium style room is a cosy and quiet room in the heart of the house with a view of the internal atrium or, if you look up, the starry sky. The Old Town Rooms have views of the medieval buildings which line the river and The Superior Rooms are spacious and exquisitely furnished, with a views of the old town, Ljubljana Castle or the Ljubljanica River. We’d booked an Old Town View Room and were delighted with the facilities and the decor.
The deep, heritage colours of the communal areas give way to softer colours in the rooms. Crisp white walls and beddings are complemented by the deep mulberry and plum shades of the velvet chairs and woollen bed throws, complete with the hotel logo. The original ceilings and beams, and the parquet flooring, add a touch of heritage to the contemporary design of the rooms.
The large ensuite bathroom is behind a glass wall – perhaps not ideal if you don’t like seeing yourself, but a really good way of bouncing light around the room and creating a feeling of space. The bathroom itself is well though out, design wise, and with marbled walls, a white floor, a wooden ceiling with beams and matte gold taps and rainshower, creates a feeling of luxury Like the bedroom, the bathroom is also scrupulously clean.
A very substantial breakfast fare is served in the room through the crittal doors, but we chose to eat in the atrium. Light and airy, because of the glass lantern ceiling, it’s not only well designed and very tastefully decorated, but full of nods to the history of the building. The wall display of hexagonal shapes takes you through the historical owners and events over the years, rooting the hotel firmly in its past and present.
Everything about Hotel Heritage oozes class and understatement. From the decor to the staff to the soft furnishings and bedding, to the colour palettes, nothing is showy or over-the-top. Whilst it’s not overly expensive either, you do see exactly what you are paying for – and with its location, right on the banks of the river, on the cobbles of the old town of Ljubljana, it’s definitely somewhere to go when you want to just decompress, and breathe. And not pay silly money.
Hotel Heritage : Čevljarska Ulica 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
by Helen | Oct 25, 2022 | Italy, Travel
Living now in Istria, the tiny heart shaped peninsula, right up in the north of Croatia – bordering Slovenia, close to Trieste and across the Adriatic from Venice – we are very lucky that we can now travel to Italy very easily. Muggia is our closest Italian town, and we can be there in about half an hour, taking the coastal route along what’s called the Slovenian Riviera. Previously, when we lived back in Manchester, Italy was a flight away, and certainly not somewhere we’d have considered driving to. But, we did drive around Italy, on a road trip in 2013 and this cemented our love of this country. And, nowhere more so than in the south, an area undiscovered by us previously. The furthest south we had been before had been Naples and Pompeii and we’d not ventured over to the other side of the heel of Italy. But, in late summer/early autumn of 2013, our adventure took us over to the Apulia region and we found our love of this amazing country, strengthened even further.
From the beautiful coastline of the Adriatic and the bustling cities of Bari and Brindisi, to the iconic whitewashed hill towns, to the incredible architectural spectacle of Alberobello, we loved everywhere we visited. And, nearly ten years later, we’re planning a return. But for a very different reason, this time…
The photo, above, is a real stand out memory from our time spent in Monopoli. We were there mid-October, but it was still warm enough for people to be on the beach over the weekend, and like these two women, taking their morning stroll in the shallow waters of this Adriatic bay. It’s something we still talk about and this obviously made a real impression on us, as our thoughts do keep returning to this area.
Alberobello houses about 1500 trulli in its historic centre. With their circular shape, the trulli had to be built dry, without mortar, in order to allow them to be easily dismantled and reassembled and therefore avoid paying the ‘building tax‘ imposed by the Kingdom of Naples. It also is the only town whose historical centre is made up of trulli. It’s as magical as I always imagined it would be. Conical roofs – pinnacolo – are often adorned with a painted symbol. Their origin is unknown but they usually have a religious or astrological meaning, and may include planetary signs, the malocchi (evil eye), crosses, hearts and stars.
Many of the trulli have now been renovated and provide tourist accommodation. Some are now shops, selling traditional wares from the area, including the most gorgeous hazelnut liquer, which will definitely be on our shopping list when we return. We did stay in a trullo, but ours was about ten minutes from Alberobello, in the countryside, with amazing views down to the Adriatic. With hindsight, we’d probably not stay in a location quite as quiet, and would probably opt for somewhere like Locorotondo, Ostuni or Martina Franca. But, it was a real experience. We had a self-contained trullo, with a large living room and kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom – and those all important pinnacolos. As well as a large terrace, there was also a swimming pool – a real bonus as I’m guessing pools are at a premium in the towns.
So, plans are afoot to do another road trip down to this region of Italy, but this time, with a very different purpose. Not just a nice holiday jaunt – although we’ll make sure that we do enjoy ourselves – but with a view to looking at properties. We are spending the winter focusing on the renovation of our home in Istria, and when we are happy that we have done everything that we need to do it, we will start to market it again. And, by that time, we feel that we will have done our time in beautiful Istria, and be ready – and very prepared – for our next European adventure…
by Helen | Oct 21, 2022 | Lifestyle
Although it seems like no time since the long, heady days of summer, we’re well into October now and only a week away from the clocks going back an hour. Usually, we’ve had the wood-burner lit by now, and our logs delivered. But not this year. Since early April, we’ve had pretty glorious weather, but along with that, we’ve also very little rainfall, so the garden has struggled at times, despite regular watering. Flowers haven’t bloomed for as long as they normally would, and there just hasn’t been the intensity of colour that we usually have, when we have our normal rains. But, one thing that is definitely happening now, is a bit of a garden resurgence.
Temperatures are still relatively mild – low to mid twenties, most days – and we do seem to having rain some nights. And, what we’re seeing now, is that a lot of plants which are normally finished by this time of year, are springing back into life. Or, plants which have been pretty dormant, are now growing and blooming. This time of year is usually when we’re packing up the garden, emptying pots, clearing up leaves etc and it always makes us a bit sad, as things start to look a little bleak. But, not this autumn…
Passionflowers winding up & over the shed, and blooming.
Blooming passionflowers
New strawberries.
Tiny lemons.
Emerging squashes.
Nasturtiums & pansies growing through the cracks and stones.
Courgettes still growing.
Towering cosmos, grown from a seed.
Pink dahlia bloom.
Crimson dahlia flower.
White dahlia flower.
Burgundy dahlia flower.
Colourful cosmos flowers.
Pink cosmos.
Flowering purple hearts.
Dahlia blooms.
Tall cosmos.
Yellow cosmos.
Mimosa already beginning to bud.
Seeing all of this colour, so late, in the garden, is making me very hopeful that winter may not seem quite as long as it often does. And that before we know, spring will have returned…
by Helen | Oct 20, 2022 | Interiors
Looking back over photos taken when we came out to view the house in Istria, and stay over as guests of the owners, has been a real experience. I can remember, obviously, what condition the house and garden was in – pretty awful, to be fair! – but as we live in the house full time, and have therefore lived through the whole renovation project, it’s sometimes easy to forget what we have actually achieved. So, this week I’ve been recreating the original photos, so that I have a visual record of what six years on looks like…
We had a vision for the stone house we viewed, for the second time, in October 2016, and this helped us to see through the condition it was in. We knew that this was a fantastic opportunity to take on a new challenge and a new direction, and so we went for it. We think that we have really brought this house back to life – but there’s still more we want to do. And that’s the challenge for the coming months. As much as we’re delighted with what we’ve achieved so far, if we can accomplish our latest vision, this house will really become something else…
by Helen | Oct 17, 2022 | Renovation
Sunday 16th October 2016 saw us meeting up with the couple who we were buying our Istrian home from, and staying over in the house. With hindsight, all a bit bizarre. But then, not much about this adventure has been normal, so I guess we started off as we were meant to go on. It was a bright early autumn day, still warm us for us to initially meet up for lunch in Novigrad, and sit outside the restaurant, eating fresh fish, overlooking the Adriatic. It was also the day of the Chestnut Festival in Oprtalj – our hosts took us there, but to our amazement, this medieval hilltop town, which we are now so familiar with, was so packed we literally could not get a parking space. So, we headed off to the house.
Yesterday, six years later, the weather was exactly the same. And the Chestnut Festival was happening again, in Oprtalj. This time though, we didn’t even bother setting off for the festival as we knew how busy it would be, and unlike six years ago, our living room was just too far too comfy to even contemplate leaving. And, for avoidance of doubt, the “Before” is on the left…
Remembering that I took a lot of photos of the house on 16th October, I’ve spent part of today re-photographing the exact shots. I have thousands of photos of the house, but thought it might be quite nice to see the actual shots, juxtaposed against the “now” photos. Especially as there’s every chance we’re about to embark on the next round of renovation. So, the full Then & Now coming up soon…
by Helen | Oct 3, 2022 | Lifestyle
We’re not short of places to buy food here. Istria is stuffed to the gills with supermarkets – Lidl, Spar. Kaufland, Konzum, Studenac, Eurospin, Tomy, Plodine, Butiga Ultra. They come in all shapes and sizes from the small convenience store (think Tesco Express) to the super-sized, massive stores. Just across the border into Slovenia, we can easy get to Hoffer (Aldi), Tuš, Mercator, Lidl and Spar. And the just a teeny bit further on, in Trieste we have another massive variety – Spar (from small to super-sized), Conad, Coop, Eurospar and Famila. Plus, we can also order online from Valfresco, and get home delivery. So, we’re definitely not short on options and so far, living in Istria for the past five plus years, we’ve never felt that we’ve been missing out on shopping opportunities.
Until I discovered British Corner Shop, online.
According to the website, British Corner shop is “…the online grocery store for British expats around the world. Whether you miss Marmite or crave Warburtons crumpets, we can deliver your British favourites straight to your door. Our website stocks over 6,000 products from Britain’s most loved brands, meaning you can enjoy the British food you miss, wherever you are in the world.”
But, when I discovered them, deliveries to Croatia had been suspended. Post- Brexit (🤬), they relocated their distribution centre to the Netherlands, and certain countries were not included in the initial wave of delivery options. This was so disappointing, especially as I had been on the website and saw that, as well as many familiar brands being available for purchase and delivery, they were also partnered with Waitrose and M&S! Just the sight of some of the goodies made me drool – and despite the many supermarkets at our disposal, I just had to get on their mailing list so that I’d be notified when Croatia was back on the list. And, this summer it happened. Deliveries to Croatia were back on, and even though Waitrose were no longer official partners, it made no difference. M&S still were and they had CRUMPETS in stock! And pikelets. And our favourite M&S crisps, including the salt and vinegar ones that make you suck your cheeks in. Plus, a whole section of branded groceries that you’d get any day of the week from a UK supermarket, but aren’t available here. And all of a sudden, I realised there were MANY things which I’d missed – Cheddars, sage & onion stuffing mix, mushy peas, Cadbury’s chocolate, to name but a few.
I know. I know. All things we could definitely do without. But, when you’ve not had them for a while, they become irresistible – and so the first order was placed. I have to admit, it’s not cheap. Some of the products are way overpriced, but I guess that’s the name of the game. You want it. They have it. So you have to pay them, as there’s no other way you’ll get it, as easily. Looking back, the first order was ridiculous but I justified it to myself. The delivery charge for quite a small parcel (about 2kg) is quite expensive – but the delivery price remains the same up to 30kg, so I convinced myself I was actually making a saving, the more I put into my online basket. Anyway, the order was placed and the service was really quite amazing. The order could be tracked easily and British Corner Shop communicated regularly – often with additional discount codes & offers. Yes, once again, I know...
Five days after placing the order, a big box was delivered by courier and my shop had arrived!
Everything that I’d ordered was included – no replacements or substitutes – and everything arrived as it should have done. Anything which could break or be squashed or smashed was extra securely packed. A couple of personalised postcards were also included – a nice little touch. But best of all, was the excitement of receiving goodies which we’d not had for a long time…
We have ordered subsequently from British Corner Shop and the service has been equally as good. No problems with the online shopping, good communication, no issues with delivery and everything delivered that was ordered. I’ve got over the initial excitement of being able to choose whatever I fancy, and now just top up with essentials (or treats!), so think that I’m using this service a bit more effectively. Although having said that, the Christmas products have just been uploaded and I don’t know how I’ll resist a bit of a festive splurge. In the meantime however, I’m happy enough that I can get a regular crumpet and pikelet fix. Nothing better for breakfast, with a cup of Early Grey tea…
by Helen | Oct 3, 2022 | Lifestyle
As summer has passed, so too have overly summery dinners. Gone are the cool, green salads and light dishes and in come the more hearty recipes. Eating outdoors isn’t really an option any longer – although we still have sunshine, there’s a chill in the air and it all seems far too much faff to bring rugs and throws out, and light the fire-pit and then haul everything to do with dinner outside. It’s no bother in the summer, but as the nights start to draw in, cooking in the kitchen and eating in the warmth of the Well Room or the living room is just so much more appealing. So, we’re finding that our meals are slowly becoming more on the spicy, punchy side, as we prepare for the onset of colder weather – and this weekend, one of our favourite tried and tested Jamie Oliver soups was on the menu. Spicy Squash Laska Soup.
This soup – or to be more precise, broth, as it’s rich and thick – is packed full of Malaysian flavours, and is much more of a substantial meal than a bowl of soup. There are a lot of ingredients and it takes a bit of preparation, but once everything is bubbling away, it’s well worth it. And, the kitchen smells amazing as all of the spices do their work.
what you’ll need
- 1 litre of stock (we used veggie stock cubes)
- Handful of lime leaves
- 3 fresh red chillies, de-seeded (or a big spoonful of dried chilli flakes)
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 large thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, peeled
- 3 sticks lemongrass, trimmed and squashed with the back of a knife
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small bunch fresh coriander
- olive oil
- 1 heaped teaspoon five-spice (we didn’t have five spice, so used garam masala as a substitute)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
- 1 large butternut squash (or pumpkin), halved, peeled, de-seeded and cut into 1 inch chunks
- 200g basmati rice
- 2 x 400ml tinned light coconut milk
- Fresh lime juice (we used 2 limes)
what you’ll need to do
- To make the fragrant soup base, add the lime leaves, chillies, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and a pinch of salt to a pestle & mortar. Chop the top few leaves off your bunch of coriander and leave to one side, then add the rest to the mortar and grind the ingredients, until all of the “bits” have gone. Add a few good splashes of olive oil, the five-spice and ground cumin.
- Heat olive oil in a pan and then the tip this mixture straight in – fry and stir for a couple of minutes so the aromas are released. Add your sliced onion, then cook gently for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add the squash to the pan and stir well, then pour in the stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until the squash is lovely and soft. At this point, add the rice and give it a really good stir. If it looks a bit dry, you can add a splash of water here. Continue to simmer for about 8 minutes until the rice is almost cooked, then add the coconut milk and bring back to the boil. Simmer for a couple of minutes until hot through and thickened a little.
- Take the pan off the heat, give it a good stir, then taste and season carefully with salt and pepper. Add the lime juice – the amount you need will depend on how juicy your limes are, so keep tasting it as you go. Scatter with more sliced fresh chilli and your reserved coriander leaves before serving.
The original Jamie Oliver recipe shows the soup served in the hollowed out pumpkin/squash. This definitely looks a whole lot more elaborate and striking than serving out of the pan into bowls, but to be honest, we just wanted to get the soup down us, rather than prettify it. Perhaps if we were serving it for friends over for dinner, then this might be a great thing to do, but for a Saturday night dinner for two, it just seemed a step too far. Anyway, this is what Jamie’s looked like. Ours, tasty as it was, looked nothing like this…
by Helen | Oct 1, 2022 | Italy, Travel
We’d not previously heard of this place, but now we know about it, it’s very definitely somewhere we’d revisit next time we’re in the province of Latina. Halfway between Rome and Naples, the very pretty village, perched high on a hilltop overlooking the sea, is a welcome break from the monotonous road south from Rome. Apart from gems like Sperlonga, this coastal stretch, down the west coast towards Naples is not particularly one for sight-seeing, so finding this village was a real treat. Like a lot of Italian towns, the newer part sprawls out below, with the historical centre much higher up.
Sperlonga is a warren of narrow alleyways and steep steps that often open out onto small piazzas. If you’re a bit unsteady on your feet, or with small children, you need to be prepared for a bit of an uphill climb, but it’s worth it. It’s more of a very large village, than a town, but has all of the essential ingredients of an archetypal Italian town – churches, pealing bells, small but upmarket boutiques (Sperlonga is a getaway for Romans…), very chic restaurants & bars, and stunning cliff top views of the (very well regimented) beach & sea, far below. There’s a small port which we took a stroll down to – think Monaco in miniature! There were serious boats moored up, as well as the odd speedboat zipping around the coast. All very nice!
We visited in late September – it was still very warm (air con was needed), but not stifling. The beach was beautiful – long, expansive and like I said before, very well regimented. But that’s generally Italian beaches for you. I’m not sure how I’d like Sperlonga in the height of summer and I imagine it would be very hot and very packed, but it’s a definitely a place to visit if you like history, beauty & out-of-season visits.
A friend recommended a hotel – Hotel Corallo – and we were so impressed by it, that we’d definitely recommend it ourselves. For just over 80 euros, we had a very large double room, with a large en-suite bathroom and a small balcony. Our lack of sea view (obscured by beautiful medieval buildings), was made up for by a stunning view of the sunset. Breakfast was included – if you’re not a sweet-tooth you may struggle with breakfast here, as it was a bit of a saccharine overload, but the coffee was very, very good.
Our stay in Sperlonga was short – an afternoon and an overnight stay, but because we were based in the old town, it was sufficient time to get ourselves familiar with it. It really is a beautiful hilltop town, close to Rome and it definitely does break up that very monotonous SS7 road down the west coast. And, soon, we were back in the car, leaving Sperlonga and back on that road, heading south, on the next part of our Italian road trip.
by Helen | Sep 29, 2022 | Lifestyle
Like a lot of our garden, since autumn – and the rains – have finally arrived, after a very long, hot summer, our vegetables seem to be growing at quite a pace. From seeds, we’ve got a bit of a bumper crop of courgettes, so having done a few soups, we decided to try fritters. I don’t know why I always assumed these would be tricky to make – because they’re not, at all. If you have all of the ingredients to hand, they are quick and very easy. And, if you have an excess of fritters, they can be easily frozen for next time.
what you’ll need
- 240 g courgette – grated
- 2 medium eggs
- 65 g plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Sea salt and black pepper
- Feta (or parmesan or cheddar – in fact, any cheese which takes your fancy. 40g is recommended but we added waaaay more than this!
- Freshly chopped mint
- Peas (if frozen, just run boiling water over then to thaw them)
- Olive oil
what you’ll need to do
-
Grate the (medium sized for two people) courgette and then squeeze out the excess liquid and discard. Set the grated courgette aside.
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In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and then add the flour and baking powder and season, with salt & pepper
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Add the courgette, peas, cheese and fresh mint and gently mix it in to form a batter.
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Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a pan and then add spoonfuls of batter to make fritters around 10cmin diameter. Fry for about 5 minutes each side – the thickness of the fritter will dictate the frying time, but you want then to be crispy and brown on the outside.
Served with tzatziki & oven baked rosemary and garlic potato wedges. this was another winning autumn dinner dish. We’re only just really getting into growing our own vegetables and still have a long way to go to be producing enough for us to actually live on, but what we are getting from the garden at the moment, is enabling us to be a bit more experimental in the garden, and not so reliant on the supermarket. And, nothing really popping out of the front door and into the garden to pick a courgette or two for dinner!
