Croatia to Mallorca

Hello to all my friends who followed me with Azure Croatia!  In April I moved everything plus 3 cats back to Mallorca; a beautiful island in the Mediterranean, and one I know so well since I worked here initially in 1987!!!   I am working back with Nash Homes Mallorca a real estate agency specialising in this SW area.   I have just started this blog www.nashhomesmallorca.blogspot.com so I do hope you will sign up to follow me, and I will keep you informed of this magical island!

LottyB in Mustique & now in Croatia

Beautiful silk sarongs: the originals all hand painted

Gorgeous vibrant colours: perfect photos to look at on this cold December day

Here is Lotty at work on a special commission for the Sandy Lane Hotel, Barbados

Lotty has created new gift boxes for her silk items

Last year I did a post on LottyB, the talented artist based on the gorgeous island of Mustique in the Caribbean. She creates exquisite designs on silk for sarongs, kaftans, dresses, blouses, scarves etc.  They are sold in chic hotels and boutiques around the world.  I bought a "purple puppy" charmeuse silk blouse a few years ago, shipped from the island which is beautiful.  Yesterday Lotty emailed me about her revised website.  I was intrigued to read under stockists: Caribbean ... USA ... UK ... and now Croatia! 

Adriatic Idyll - Distinctive Fireplace

Browsing through the Architectural Digest website of designers favourite fireplaces, I was delighted to see this photo again, and in lead position too. It's of the distinctive fireplace in the living room of a renovated 15th century village house on the island of Lopud, one of Dubrovnik's Elafiti Islands and an island I look at every day. I posted this property July last year with more interior photos (click)

Peaceful setting

There is a small chapel on the island of Lopud right on the promenade. The courtyard looking out to sea makes for a peaceful location with a perfectly placed bench for contemplating.

Children: seen and not heard

I have been to the sandy beach on Lopud island this week and saw a strange beach "toy". A huge transparent plastic ball was blown up with air and then children zipped inside and enjoyed 10 minutes to play inside, rolling around the sea. The beachboy had hold of a rope so no fear of the ball blowing away. Very unusual and intriging.

Fabulous Friday

My photo for Friday is of Barracuda a 23.55m classic sailing yacht owned by Intl DJ Norman Cook aka Fatboy Slim. Actually a 1944 twin-masted gaff rigged ketch (formerly a spyship) which has undergone an opulent make-over. Available for rental here. More photos. Normally the itinerary is Sardinia - I will have to have a word with him to bring it to Croatia! With our 1,000 islands it would be idyllic. Have a great weekend!

Looking for my beach ...

I was in contact with my German friend Christine yesterday who has been living in the south of Fuerteventura, the Canary Islands, for 20 years, since I met her in 1989. I miss my endless sandy beaches, as Croatia has pebbles and stones - lovely for keeping the sea clean/clear but not good for walking on. I returned to Fuerteventura 18 months ago - great to see the 19 miles/28km of golden sands. The photos here show the beach of La Pared of Jandia, blissfully deserted yet warm - and this was December!

Contemporary Art - Your Black Horizon

On Lopud island last Saturday I visited the Your Black Horizon art pavillion, free entry. The unusual modern art was created by Danish-Icelandic Olafur Eliasson and London based artist David Adjaye. See here. The art was commissioned by the "Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contem-porary" headed by Francesca von Habsburg, Austrian royalty, who is an avid art collector herself and active with land/property on Lopud.

What are the holes for?

Lopud island has many fine examples of these stone features on the properties. Dubrovnik Old Town has many too, but a lot were damaged during the siege. "What are the holes for?" people ask. Well in days gone by a stick would be threaded through, and fabric wrung out with cold water would be hung on the stick, so that the breeze would waft cooler air into the house. Great invention of early air-conditioning!

Interesting Island Properties

Beautiful replica stone house adjacent to an original

For sale ... (contact me)

Waterfront imposing property

La Villa waterfront boutique hotel with foundations from the 16th century

Leading you up the garden path

Entrance to the 19th century Mayneri Park

Handmade sign hung on the gate of a private house.

Stone bungalow with a shady Mediterranean garden

Derelict, deserted, delicious!

Have enjoyed a day on Lopud island today, 32 deg.f/90 deg.c but thankfully with breezes. Some of the imposing stone properties date back to the 16th century when Dubrovnik was a Republic and many were sea captains and sailors. To have no traffic around is bliss and great to see children running care-free into the sea and along the beaches.

An Adriatic Idyll

Towels by Calvin Klein

Linens by Calvin Klein. Pierre Paulin's ribbon chair

Jorge Zalszupin's Brazilian rosewood armchairs

Lavender in the Mediterranean garden

Gardens by David Kelly of Rees Roberts & Partners

The promenade of the car-free island of Lopud

I posted last week about a Croatian property appearing in the August edition of Architectural Digest, well now I see it is online. The magazine has not mentioned which island, but immediately I see it is Lopud, where I am heading tomorrow to take on a stone house for sale! 45 minutes by slow ferry from Dubrovnik. This is gorgeous, just my style and a mix of old and new. Henrietta the donkey was used to bring materials up from the port to the house, but is now "free-range". Slide show Read the article here

Steven Harris Architects, Interior and Landscape Design by Rees Roberts & Partners.

Fun island transport

Here we have the Mini-Brum for rental on the island of Mljet. This beautiful island has part of it as a National Park with inside natural lakes. The closest ferry crossing to Dubrovnik is Prapratno (1 hours' drive north of Dubrovnik) over to Sobra on the island - 5nm. One fun mode of transport is above! I couldn't wait to snap it. Should you be on Mljet you can hire the car (together with its siblings) here!

New 5 star boutique hotel on Korcula

The island of Korcula has just opened its doors to a FABULOUS new 5 star boutique hotel called the Lesic Dimitri Palace. Occupying an 18th bishops palace this renovated hotel has 6 residences from 1 to 4 bedrooms. Korcula, Venice, India, China, Arabia and Ceylon, the names of the apartments as influenced by the explorer Marco Polo following the regions on the Silk Road. The gallery on the website will indicate the care and attention to detail throughout. Wow!

Bermuda in Croatia

My favourite island is Bermuda. I bought this huge signed print of a photo by Ian Macdonald-Smith back in '96 and had it hanging on the wall in ... Yorkshire, England. As I am trying to recreate my beach theme here in Dubrovnik, I brought this back from UK this month, had it framed and now looks fabulous as you walk into the bedroom.

Elafiti Islands - Dubrovnik

Had a busy day with a client who was a former diplomat - driving far and wide along the coast. Beautiful scenery, not too hot (24 deg F/75C) and a little breeze. Fabulous views of the Elafiti Islands - Kolocep, Lopud and Sipan. I'm off to Lopud tomorrow, and that 45 min ferry ride is gorgeous.