samphire, an edible beauty

Don't ask me where it grows, as I got the picture from a good friend.
I dó know however it is not only a magnificent picture, the purple plants in front grow in marshland at the seaside, and when picked still green, the top ends of samphire (zeekraal in Dutch) are delicious to combine with either fish or a good steak.

If you see some, first of all check if there is enough, and if there is, only pick the green top ends which easily snap under some nail pressure.
Collect only what you will eat the very same day, because than they are the best !

Wash them thoroughly, lightly dry them, than cook it for about two minutes in boiling water and cool down immediately after that.

When ready with your favorite dish, shake them quickly through some hot olive oil, nó salt added, as they taste salty already, as they are growing at the seaside.
If you can get hold of some lamb meat from the island Pag, you're more than lucky, as both have a natural salty flavor.

Prepare some simple salad, top it with some chips of that specific Pagski sheep cheese from the very same island Pag and you'll find out life is damned good in Croatia, certainly for retired folks like us.

and the painter is............

..............this is not a painting !
This is reality, a plain simple example of Croatia's natural beauty.

Most of the crowds have left, the sea still is at a pleasant 22 degrees Celsius  and the sun still warms the beaches when an occasional rain shower has gone.

Most of the restaurants have closed for the winter, but when hungry there are still many other options, and when asking around you'll always find a good place that cooks a bit more than pizza's, pizza's and pizza's (for the bulk of tourists still the cheap favorite).

If needed I can provide you with some tips to have a good meal (mail me at address in header of this blog), so you can still explore this beautiful country, even in autumn.
As autumn and spring are THÉ (!!!) most beautiful seasons to visit Croatia without getting a sun burn but still no cold feet.

(Winter is for us locals, while summer is for the crowds).

"holy shit"

Some beautiful (not even holy) cows, pictured upstream of the Cetina river, driving from Omis to the village called Cetina, where she starts from deep under the mountains.

However it takes a pretty long ride to see the very beginning of the Cetina river, it's worth it !
All along the river every ten or so minutes the landscape changes, each place worth to enjoy the scenery, taking pictures or feel the true peace this part of Dalmatia breathes.

The Cetina all in all is about 105 kilometers long from spring till sea, but this amazing river changes from gently flowing to rapids and waterfalls quite a few times.
One moment it feeds large meadows, another moment it breaks through deep canyons.
Flowing, falling, changing color every kilometer from deep dark blue at it's spring, greenish where it flows through grassy meadows, light blue to white over rapids and waterfalls, silently flowing or noisy thundering.

The great thing of this "tiny" river is that its clean and clear everywhere, and so are grass, herbs, vegetables and fruits that grow on its borders.

Coming from Holland with it's many cows, I know the suffer a constant diarrhea while the cows over here still produce genuine shit, one might even say "holy shit", as this shit is free of fertilizers and rich of fibers, still tremendous to put in my garden to get the best tomatoes, salad or melons.

What a land, what a river, what a country it is, Croatia !!!!!

PS: should you visit this area and plan to drive all along the river upstream, than keep the river to your left and Dinara Mountains to your right.
(Sometimes a bit of searching, always worth it !!!).

one of those evenings

Not very much to share, sorry for those who think every day is full of news, but this picture shows one of those evenings in our hidden treasure.

The days are now filled with some help picking grapes at friends or sawing/cutting wood for the winter.
The wine is now "cooking" for the year to come, truly pleasant for us, as we buy our wine from our local suppliers/friends.
 (And what a red wine it is, rich, pure and a "killer" !!!).

So at the moment nothing special is happening but the simple things over here are still very special.
And that's all the news for now.