The last two weeks have been a little disappointing – and between trying to fix the problems and run tours we haven’t had time to post regularly on the blog. Its written somewhere that bad news comes in threes – so hopefully we have good times ahead. #1 – Time Out Croatia We provided numerous [...]

On the telephone today I asked Ranko Bon to provide a short update in regards to Jupiter Adria’s golf course resort proposal in the valley below Motovun. He did more than that – and wrote a full account of recent events there, including local press reaction, on his Residua Blog. Last June we mentioned (here) [...]

A secondary reason for us coming up to Motovun this weekend was to help our friend Ranko Bon form a local branch of Green Party – Green Alternative (Zelena stranka – Zelena alternativa) here to fight against the incumbent mayor, Slobodan Vugrinec, in the up-coming local elections. For years the town council has not felt [...]

After a day of running around trying to finish our house in Motovun we got back to the apartment we are renting in town and all crashed in front of the television. On the screen, flickering back at us, were images of Motovun. At first I thought it was a tourism advertisement, but then I [...]

Last week the Sabor (Croatian Parliament) passed legislation dealing with golf course developments. Currently it is very difficult to organize a large parcel of land in Croatia for a golf resort as the country is divided into numerous small plots, many of which are owned by numerous owners, who may also be dead or living [...]

Summer is definitely the ‘festive’ season in Croatia. To attract as many tourists as possible an almost infinite number of events are now organized. Below are the ones we have bumped into over the last 2 weeks. Motovun Film Festival Celebrating its 10th birthday is the Motovun Film Festival. What started as 5 guys with [...]

A new pizzeria just opened in Motovun – Propeler, for which they had a party last weekend. It means Motovun now has 3 places to eat year around – Pod Voltom, Propeler, Mondo (as it is now named – it was Barbacan). Pod Voltom is standard Istrian konoba fare – thick soup, steaks and pastas. [...]

This week we returned to Motovun and Istria; it has been a long time since we were there in the summer. Our house renovation continues under Gino’s supervision in Motovun. The exterior rendering has been completed and the floor structure is in. They have added the interior plasterboard walls and ‘roughed-out’ the electrical and plumbing [...]

Stephan and Verena, two vagabond German artists, held an opening party for their latest work in a previously dis-used space in Motovun. Each year they arrive in a different town and rummage through its history, rubbish bins and closets looking for usable information, ready-mades and skeletons. Their Motovun-inspired artwork (collages, oils and sculptures) can be [...]

We went to visit the Hotel San Rocco in Brtonigla, Istria. It won the award for the best small hotel in Croatia for 2007. They renovated several buildings into one new complex including a restaurant, wellness centre (every hotel in Croatia now seems to have one of these) and indoor and outdoor swimming pools. They have finished [...]