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After breakfast, Barica, John & I visited Mirko, Barica's younger son & had a lovely morning drinking cherry brandy, beer, wine & coffee to accompany the cheese, salami & zucchini pita made by his wife. Yes it was only 10 am & we were drinking alcohol. That's normal in Croatia, when you visit family. A glass or two is acceptable & is always offered regardless of the time of day. Mirko is retired, even though he is in his early 50's. He keeps bees. The hives are housed in several stands that sit about 1.5m above ground and have a metal roof over the top of them to protect them from rain & snow. We found out the bees 'hibernate' when the temperature drops below 12°C so the last harvest of honey takes place in early Autumn, allowing the bees time to produce enough honey to keep themselves fed over the winter months. The honey is an extremely light amber colour and has a subtle taste and is mildly sweet. Yes we did receive a jar to take home & good old Google states that we can bring it into the Australia as long as we declare it.
One of the favourite meals in Croatia is venison stew. The meat is bite size & the stock in which it is cooked is full of flavour, made from a stock of garden fresh finely grated carrots, onions and parsley. The meat is tenderised using a mixture of spices specially blended to suit game & adds an extra dimension to the stock. It is usually served with gnocchi, a side salad & fresh white bread to soak up the residual juices. Josip returns home from work at about 3pm & lunch, the day's main is served. The aromas permeating through from the kitchen indicated the stew would be tasty & I must say that Josipa's Bambi stew is the best we've had. Her cooking is simple & full of flavour.
The rest of the day was spent doing household chores & some shopping at one of the local centres which is full of well known Croatian & international brands.
Just in case you were wondering, the temperature has not dropped below 35°C since we have left Istria, so we are sweltering, yet we sleep well as the nightly temps are about 15 - 20°C.
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