This was going to be the picture I used for Croatia Online's 50,000th hit until I realised it deserved something better. However this picture sums up for me a lot of what I have found best about Croatia - if you look hard enough, you can find what you want, if you try hard enough it can be fun, and everything comes round if you wait long enough!
Christmas, 2006, in Lupoglav, inland Istria, is a Croatian highlight yet to be beaten - in the company of very good friends, perfect weather, generous local hospitality, and it seems that I nearly remembered how to ride horses.
We'd been looking for a log cabin style winter break for a couple of years and thought it just couldn't be found in Croatia and then a friend of ours came back from Lupoglav and that was it. Log cabins take second place to the traditional round stone Kažuns we stayed in complete with a huge open fire (and a tricky chimney!) but with the advantage of mod cons such as air conditioning/heating and modern bathroom. All surrounded by stables, fields, picture postcard villages and a great restaurant that was part of the establishment, with owners that took great care to integrate us whilst they entertained their friends and family over Christmas.
