recent Lifestyle blogs
bringing sourdough back to life…

bringing sourdough back to life…

Now that we've discovered a fabulous bakery, in Porec, that sells nothing but sourdough bread - many varieties, but all sourdough - we buy lots of it. We're trying not to eat sliced, packaged, processed breads and so often bulk buy and freeze, when we can get to Bread...

garden table upcycle

garden table upcycle

We have an old, rustic wooden table, which we brought out to Istria with us. It used to be a work table, so was stained with oil drops, paint splashes and cuts in the wood. We used it originally, once cleaned up, as a work desk, as being quite long and thin, could fit...

vappeby bluetooth speaker : ikea

vappeby bluetooth speaker : ikea

We've had a Bose Soundlink Mini II bluetooth speaker for a good few years now. It's portable, the charge lasts for quite a long time and the sound quality is excellent. It still looks pretty cool after about ten years, so design-wise, it ticks boxes for us. It's small...

velvet bar : zagreb

velvet bar : zagreb

We have very fond memories of Velvet, on Canal Street, in Manchester, way back in the '90s. Along with bars such as Manto and Metz, these places just seemed to ooze glamour and decadence and opened up a whole new world - definitely a far cry from some of the student...

the start of spring 2024

the start of spring 2024

This winter definitely hasn't felt as long as previous ones we've spent in Istria. When summer ended and family went home after four long, fabulous weeks, we had two autumn visits from friends, when we experienced a really warm October, feeling that summer was still...

super speedy salmon supper

super speedy salmon supper

Saturday evenings often remind me of Azzurro Restaurant in West Didsbury, just around the corner from where we used to live. It was a real "local" restaurant for us - owned and staffed by people we knew and really liked, and often full of people who were either...

three ingredient chocolate cake

three ingredient chocolate cake

I have never been much of a baker, but I do love the idea of baking. Unfortunately, I'm very impatient and I like quick and easy - preferably immediate - results, so the thought of standing in the kitchen, baking up a complicated recipe doesn't really do it for me. I...

torvehallerne food hall : copenhagen

torvehallerne food hall : copenhagen

Copenhagen, for us, is just about the perfect city. As much as we love Italy beyond reason, the cool Danish capital, is the perfect place for a short break. It's a city that can be easily broken down into areas, so makes exploring it really easy. On our last trip, we...

trubar bar : grožnjan : istria

trubar bar : grožnjan : istria

The opening of a new bar is something quite exciting here, in northern Istria. Although we have lots of choice when it comes to excellent restaurants, cool bars seem to be more of a thing on the coast. In fact, bar culture doesn't really seem to have taken hold here,...

so, where to now?

so, where to now?

It's not a secret that we're selling our renovated stone house in northern Istria. We are now ready for our next big adventure. We feel that Istria is very much home at the moment, and we haven't regretted doing what we did when we put our West Didsbury house up for...