Dropping Roklan off at day-care the other day I noticed the kids running around the playground with familiar brown seed pods – though I have never seen them in Perth before. The pods come from a carob tree – a rarity here, but numerous in Dalmatia – where they are called rogač. Today carob is [...]

Back in high school literature class we were introduced to Shakespeare (April 1564 – April 1616). While reading his work the word argosy appeared several times, in works such as The Merchant of Venice, Henry VI Part III and The Taming of the Shrew, in reference to a merchant ship, or a fleet of merchant [...]

For the last 34 years the Venetian authorities have stopped commercial travel on the canals and turned them over to human-powered craft – an event called the Vogalonga. It was simply amazing to paddle in it this year on May 11. It is one of those transcendental events that must be done – like running [...]

Over the weekend of 10-12 May we were able to enjoy the hospitality of Giorgio and Maritzia who organized the first seakayaking symposium – Bibione Kayak – of which we know on the Adriatic Sea. The base for the event was Capalonga Camping, about 1 hour from Venice, in northern Italy. The camp is also [...]

The other day we decided to take a drive from Motovun to Venice just to see how far it is (according to Yahoo Maps it is 240kms) and to see if a day trip was possible. Our route took us across the border into Slovenia, into Italy near Trieste and, after some difficulty with the [...]