(A week with Louise in 3 chapters)
Text and photos by: Tjaša Janovljak
Our beautiful villa, a rustically designed house where we stayed during the workshop, lies only a few miles from Motovun, a village atop of a hill, known for various reasons.
One reason is a Motovun Film Festival and other reasons are truffles. Even Anthony Bourdain followed their smell to Motovun and so did we. I won’t write much about it, you have to taste it for yourself, but I am just going to say: amazing gastronomic delight! Along with the truffles, Motovun is a very picturesque town, very medieval and I assure you seeing the sunset from a few centuries old wall, that surrounds the village, is priceless.
The biggest town in Istria is Pula located at the tip of peninsula and was populated even before the Romans. But, of course, Romans made it big. I love Pula. It is a magnificent little town, full of Roman ruins and even though many tourist do visit it, it is still a proper town with real local people. For me the best thing here is to see a concert in Arena, Pula’s amphitheater or – as it become known among Radius people – not Colosseum, with sunset behind the stage and overlooking the Adriatic see.
The next best thing to do here is to have a walk with the best guide there is in Pula, Nada. Even though I heard her 3 times already the tour is always different and every time I get to know something new. And we did the walk with the group, which was absolutely amazed by her.
One of the highlights is visiting Marko Zelenko (and his lovely family) at his village Grožnjan. Marko is a Slovene artist, born in this little Croatian village, because his grandfather moved here in the sixties.
At that time Tito, Yugoslavian president, decided to give it to artists from all over Yugoslavia. Medieval village then became an artists Mecca and untill now still is. Wandering on tiny, narrow streets among houses made from blocks of stone one can see many galleries, artistic pieces and artists working.
Tjaša is a Radius workshops partner, specialized in the Balkans, where she is house manager, translator and guide. You can check her photo blog, collection of her postcards and her little friend’s photo page: Little Green Believer. In case you are traveling to Ljubljana, check out her advices on where to go or book a tour.
