Rome is incredibly rich in masterpieces: painting, sculptures, monuments ... Everybody knows that.  But it is less obvious that a lot of those treasures are visible without queuing and without having to pay entrance tickets.  In fact, many of them are not closed in museums where you have to fight with crowds of tourists. At the contrary, very often they still are on the places where they were originally, in their "natural surrounding": in the churches. 
It is particularly the case of one of the most extraordinary artist of the whole history of painting: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573- 1610), the great master of the "chiaroscuro" and the pioneer of realistic painting. Seven of his works are exposed in four different roman churches, not very far one from the other.
The most intensively moving experience is perhaps to discover his St Mathieu triptych (painted between 1599 and 1602) in "Saint Louis des Français", the French church of Rome with a beautiful and austere Renaissance facade (end of the 16th century) and a very rich late baroque interior decoration (beginning of the 18th century). In the fifth chapel on the left of the altar, the Contarelli Chapel, you can admire "The Calling of St Mathieu" facing "The Martyrdom of St Mathieu" (with a self-portrait of the painter on the left side of the painting) and, in the middle, the marvellous "St Mathieu and the Angel" called also "The Inspiration".

With the eyes still full of the magic contrast between light and dark that makes the Caravaggio paintings so alive, you are ready to see other works of the great artist. Just a few minutes walk is necessary to go to another church of the same part  (Campo Marzio) of the old roman "centro storico", "St Augustine". When you enter into the church and look on the left side, you find yourself in front of a luminous and though very human "Madonna del Loreto", called also "Madonna dei Pellegrini" (Madonna of the Pilgrims). The model that Caravaggio used for this unusual Madonna was a girl friend of him, Lena, a roman prostitute.

As you are already in that church, have a look to the third pillar. You'll be touched by the beauty (and a marvellous blue colour!) of  "The prophet Isaiah",  a fresco painted by Raphael a hundred year before the Caravaggio's barefoot Madonna.

The third church where you can see two other Caravaggio is "Santa Maria del Popolo", on the famous "Piazza del Popolo (a quarter of an hour walk from the St Augustine) where  "The Conversion of St Paul" and " The Crucifixion of St Peter" are one opposite the other in the Cerasi chapel. But, before that, you can have a look to the place where Caravaggio lived and worked, just near St Augustine, at the number 19 of a little street, the Vicolo del Divino Amore.  

There is a fourth church, the "Santa Maria Immacolata" (via Veneto) where you can admire, in the sacristy of the church, a "Saint Francis in Meditation" that was considerate until recently as a copy. According to different experts, that is the original painting and not the very similar one exposed in the museum of Palazzo Barberini! 
After these splendid experiences, you will probably want to see all the other Caravaggio's paintings exposed in roman museums (the third of all his work is in Rome). The richest one is the Galleria Borghese (with 5 paintings!). But there are some Caravaggio also in Capitoline Museum, Palazzo Barberini, Palazzo Corsini, Doria Pamphilij Gallery and the Vatican Museum.

That is not all. In the Villa Ludovisi (near via Veneto) you can discover the only ceiling that he ever painted: an allegory of the Paracelsus alchemical triad where  Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto are, in fact, Caravaggio's self portraits.
And, last but not least, from the 24th March to the 3 July, you can make an extraordinary sensorial journey, a total immersion in the Caravaggio's world with the "Caravaggio experience", at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni (via Nazionale). Thanks to a video installation with the use of a sophisticated multi-projections system, original music and even fragrances, created by the famous Florence's pharmacy "Santa Maria Novella" that existed already in the Caravaggio's days.

"La Terrazza" is an unforgettable Ettore Scola's film from 1980. It is there, on a beautiful roman terrace that a group of left-wing intellectuals and politicians played by the most famous actors of that time (Marcello Mastroianni, Vittorio Gassman, Ugo Tognazzi,
Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli etc), meet regularly.
During the parties, they drink, eat and have vivid and stereotypical discussions that Scola caught, without pity, in his entourage.
It is again on a terrace that, thirty-five years after, Jep Gambardella (Toni Servillo), the main character of the recent Paolo Sorrentino's "La Grande Bellezza", will meet the companions of a new roman Dolce Vita where the terrace is no more a café on the Via Veneto, like in the sixties of last century, but a private house.

In fact, it is a very old tradition. Already at the time of the ancient Romans (the rich ones, of course!), the terrace was the most important place in the house for at least the half of the year, when the whether was nice enough to live outside or so hot, in the stifling narrow streets, to need more air. "Solarium" was the name for the roof terrace. "Peristyle", for an opened space surrounded with colonnade, more often in front or around a monument, but also in some luxury private houses.
When you walk in the centre of Rome, You just have to look up and you'll see, amongst the roofs, a lot of beautiful "hanging gardens". Most of them are private properties: the rich Romans live often in apartments and not in houses, but the terrace is a "must".
If you don' know any rich Roman where to have a diner party with the view on the Colosseum, like in "La Grande Bellezza", don't worry:  All the famous hotels of Rome have a roof garden restaurant and bar.

The best one is probably (according different guides) the restaurant "La Pergola" on the roof of the hotel Hilton, with the German (yes!) chef Heinz Beck. An artist!
A lot of other hotels have also a roof restaurant with a panoramic view:  Hotel Hasller (above the Spanish Steps), Hotel Minerva (near the Pantheon), Hotel Forum (with a view on the Imperial Forums), the Bernini- Bristol (Piazza Barberini)...and so many others!

You can discover splendid views without spending fortunes. For example, from the Terrazza Cafarelli, on the top floor of the Capitoline Museums where you can have a coffee or a cappuccino even if you don't go to visit the museums.

There are also, because of the conformation of this unique city constructed upon seven hills, a lot of  "natural" terraces, where you can just go and have a look around.
From Trastevere (starting to climb from the viccolo del Cedro, near Santa Maria in Trastevere), for example, you can have a walk to the Janiculum hill. Or, on the Aventine hill, to the "Orange Garden" (just next from the famous key hole of the "Knights of Malta" with a view on Saint Peter) that has a belvedere with a magnificent view.
If you prefer to do something easier, you can just walk to the Pincio (Villa Borghese), above the Spanish steps and discover at your feet, from the terrace of the Pincio, the huge and beautiful Piazza del Popolo.  And if you go down, on the Piazza, you can have a rest in one of the two historical café-terrace: Canova or Rosati.

Federico Fellini and Ettore Scola (that, unfortunately, left us just a few days ago) started both drawing for the satirical weekly paper Marc' Aurelio before they became famous film directors. At the contrary, another of the greatest names of the Italian cinema, Michelangelo Antonioni (1912-2007), painted almost in the last years of his life, when he couldn't talk any more after a stroke. As if he wanted to fill the silence with joyful colors.
The first exhibition of Antonioni's artworks is on in Rome until the end of February, at the "Galleria Piazza di Pietra". At the number 28 of the beautiful "piazza", in the hearth of Rome (not far from the Pantheon),  where Antonioni shot some unforgettable scenes of  "The Eclipse".
Have a look to some of the paintings of the exhibiton

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For all the people coming to Rome and wishing to follow the trail of the mythic "Dolce Vita", there is now a place recently restored that is a must: The "Dolce Vita Gallery" (41 Via Palermo), in the neighbourhood of the railway station Termini and the Opera theatre.

There, you can admire and also buy hundreds of photos of one of the most famous "paparazzo" of the Dolce Vita, the golden years of Rome, between the fifties and the beginning of the sixties, Marcello Geppetti.  According to some people, he is the one who inspired Fellini the character of the photograph in the film "la Dolce Vita" named Antonio Paparazzo (in Italian, means noisy mosquito)! 

At that time, via Veneto where Federico Fellini had his office, was the centre of the eternal city that was itself again, for a wile, the centre of the world, the "caput mundi".  All the international biggest stars of cinema, fashion, design, music etc. came often to Rome, for holidays or for work. In those years, the film studios of Cinecittà where overbooked with peplum and other movies and roman families strolled along Via Veneto just to catch a glimpse of the stars sitting on the terraces of the Doney or, in front, the Café de Paris: Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Anita Ekberg, Sofia Loren...all beautiful women that the Marcello Geppetti's camera has photographed and that now we can find again in the Dolce Vita Gallery.

Thanks to the son of Marcello, Marco, that runs the gallery, the complete archives of his father have been assembled in Via Palermo where the walls of the first room are covered by more than a hundred of his photos. Amongst them, the historical kiss between Liz Taylor and Richard Burton on a boat deck, in the summer 1962, when they fell in love playing together in the J. Mankievicz 's Cleopatra, shot on the island of Ischia and in Rome.  The photo caused an enormous scandal at that time because Liz Taylor and Richard Burton were married... but not to each other!

 If there are not already enough reasons for you to visit Rome in this moment, there is a supplementary one, very important, especially for the Catholics: the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, convoked by Pope Francis.
This Jubilee started on the 8th of December, feast of the Immaculate Conception, with the traditional opening of the "Holy Door" of the Saint Peter's Basilica by the Pope; and will end on the 20th November 2016, feast of " Christ the King". 

Even if only 15 years passed from the previous one (in the 2000), this "extraordinary" Jubilee is, in fact, a return to an old tradition because it happens exactly 50 years after a very important event for the "modernisation" of the Roman Catholic Church:  the end (the 8th of December 1965) of the Second Vatican Council. 
The Jubilee has not, however, been invented in Rome by the popes but has his roots in the Bible. Exactly in the Book of Leviticus that says that, every 50 years, all the slaves and all the prisoners would be freed, the debts forgiven and the land returned to their former owners. All this, in the name of mercy of God.

The 50 years period is based on the "magic" number 7. In fact, between two Jubilees, or Holy Years, there are 49 years that represent "seven Sabbath of years" says the Bible. In other words,  "seven time seven years". That special year of forgiveness was announced in the whole country with the blowing of a ram's horn called "yobel" in Hebrew. The word Jubilee comes from that and not at all from the Latin "jubilare" that means shout of joy or jubilate.

This old Jewish tradition was renewed at the beginning of the fourteenth century by the pope Boniface VIII. He organised, in the year 1300, the first Jubilee in Rome with the intention to encourage pilgrims to come to Rome to obtain a plenary indulgence, the complete remission of the pains for their sins, exactly as the Crusaders had going to deliver Jerusalem. In 1499, the pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia) introduced the rite of entering through the Holy Doors of the fourth principal basilicas of Rome:  Saint Peter, Saint John Lateran, Saint Paul Outside the Walls and Saint Mary Major. For centuries, the popes didn't really respect the traditional period of 50 years and convoked Jubilee much more often, for different reasons.

For this extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy that really began on the 29 November with the opening of the Holy Door of the cathedral of Bangui, in Central African Republic, by pope Francis, the three first roman doors are already opened and the last one, S. Mary Major, is going to be opened on the 1st January. But today, the pilgrims have not to go, like at the time of Borgia, in 1500, through the Holy Doors of the four basilicas. And certainly not, as in 1300 when, to obtain the plenary indulgence, they had to go to Saint Peter's and Saint Paul once a day for for thirty days if they were Roman, and "only" for fifteenth days if they were strangers!
Anyway, even for who is not religious or not a Roman Catholic it is absolutely worth to visit the marvellous four most important roman basilicas.  

The walk into the Villa Borghese's beauty and the discovery of amazing places goes on in a splendid sunny end of November.
If almost everybody, in Rome, knows the Museum of the Galleria Borghese and his beautiful occupant, Pauline Bonaparte, there are a very few people that have ever heard of the much smaller but nevertheless precious Carlo Bilotti Museum (from 10h to 16h and from 10 to 19h on saturday and sunday. Monday closed), just near the lake of the park. 
The museum gathers a part of the collection Carlo Bilotti that was not only a successful   business man who lived between Italy and the States (until his death in 2006) and operated in the branch of cosmetics and perfumes, but also a lover of arts and a friend of Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Niki de Saint Phalle and many others. Bilotti gave to the city of Rome a particularly beautiful and unusual (two portraits together) Warhol, the portrait of his wife and his daughter and, amongst other works, 18 paintings and sculptures signed Giorgio De Chirico.

A very strange place, this little museum called also the "Orangery" (before it became a museum it was a store house where the citrus trees were protected during the winter). In the eighteenth century, it had another name: the "Casino dei Giochi d'Acqua", the "House of the Water Games" and was a place dedicated to social events and parties that were the talk of the town. In 1849, during a French military intervention to reestablish the temporal power of the Pope, the "Casino" was destructed. But not entirely. When you enter in the rooms of the temporary exhibitions, an extraordinary surprise expects you: the wall of one of the rooms is a magnificent fountain, surrounded by two antique roman statues, forgotten for more than one and a half century!

Strangely, in the front of this unexpected treasure from the past, the exhibition "Urbs Picta" that is on in this moment (until the 17th January) is related to street art: graffiti and murals painted on the grey walls and boring facades of the poorest suburbs of Rome. Sometimes, there are just sunny colors and comic's humor, but in these last years, violence, anger and even desperation are present always more often. 
 Thanks to the photograph Mimmo Frassineti we can see well and even better (when they are in difficult places as inside tunnels or very high on the walls) these very strong interventions of artists as Blu, Borondo, Malala and many others that are perhaps the most interesting in this moment. Much more, probably, than many of those whose "installations" are exhibit in contemporary art galleries and museums...

But there is another jewel at the other side of the villa Borghese, at the Pincio hill (with a magnificent panoramic view above piazza del Popolo) where you can go walking from the "Orangery", passing through via delle Magnolie. In these days, more than ever, you cannot miss the splendid Villa Medici (open every day except monday from 10 to 19). Constructed in the middle of the 16th century by the Medici from Florence, the villa became, in 1803, thanks to Napoleon, the French Academy of Rome. This institution founded by the king Louis XIV (but in another place, in palazzo Capranica) houses young French artists from all disciplines (painters, musicians, writers...) who, getting a scholarship, come to stay in Rome for six month or a year. The Villa Medici organizes also concerts and exhibitions.  In this moment, until the 31 January, there is a particularly fascinating exhibition of an artist who had a very important part in the restructuration of the villa Medici in the sixties and seventies of last century, the painter Balthus (Balthazar Klossowski de Rola) who was the director of the villa from 1961 to 1977. 
It is possible not only to see his paintings and drawings, very often nudes of very young girls, delicate and vanishing as a dream, but also the apartments where he lived and worked and the rooms that inspired his paintings like the famous "Chambre Turque" that is exceptionally possible to visit with a guided tour.
And after you have seen the magic Balthus in the villa you will probably want to go and see the other exhibition that is dedicated to the great artist in another beautiful place of Rome: the "Scuderie del Quirinale".

But before, you have to go just beside the French Academy, to have at least a coffee at the Casina Valadier, a splendid café-restaurant from the beginning of the nineteenth century, recently renewed. 

"The beauty will save the world", said Dostoevsky. 
 
In this dark moment of the History, the best antidote is probably that: the beauty. And, in Rome, there is a magic place with an incredible concentration of natural beauty and art:  the Villa Borghese park.
 
This huge park in the hearth of the city is probably unique in the whole world. Here you can not only walk amongst the golden trees of an extraordinary Indian summer, or rent a row boat on a peaceful lake surrounded by roman pines and other trees and bushes, with a roman temple in the middle, in a purest romantic English Garden style, but also discover so many master pieces from all periods.

From the strange Mona Lisa smile of the Etruscan couple of the "Sarcophagus of the betrothed" that will welcome you in the "Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia" to the tiny but so alive Giacometti's sculptures and the solar Van Gogh's "Gardener" or Modigliani's "Reclining Nude" at the "Galleria Nazionale di Arte Moderna" (distant only a few minutes walking). 

Another very famous laying young lady, the beautiful Pauline Borghese, Napoleon's sister and prince Camillo Borghese's wife, sculptured by Antonio Canova as "Venus Victorious", will receive you in the first room, on the ground floor of the luminous "Galleria Borghese".
The Cardinal Scipione Borghese, an ancestor of the prince Camillo, built it for his magnificent collection of sculptures and paintings, at the beginning of the 17th century. You can still find there an important part of that extraordinary collection. Amongst all these treasures, The Bernini's "Rape of Proserpine" or his "Apollo and Daphne". But also a few Caravaggio:  "David with the head of Goliath", "Sick Bacchus", "St Jerome." A "Deposition" of Rubens or the famous Titian's "Sacred and Profane love"...

Not far from the Galleria, you can bring your children to the "Bioparco", a new word for the old Zoo, whit a population of 1.444 animals and 200 species. For the more curious, there is even a new little very avant-garde museum dedicated to the "Environmental Crimes". To regenerate yourself, you can find also a restaurant inside the Bioparco.

There are, however, in the Villa Borghese, other places, much more sophisticated, where you can have a lunch, a dinner or just a drink. One of them, a beautiful sunny terrace where you can sit outside in the middle of the winter if it doesn't rain, the "Caffé Delle Arti", is attached to the Museum of Modern Art (entrance Via Antonio Gramsci). The refined menu and the exquisite desserts seem to be just a natural continuation of the museum visit.
 
At the other side of the Villa Borghese Park, called the Pincio, other surprises wait for you. Coming up next... 

The famous Federico Fellini's film has already more than 55 years but the expression "La Dolce Vita", the sweet life, is more than ever lively in Rome. So many restaurants, bars, night- clubs in Rome and also in other Italian cities are named after it. And, in this moment, two important Roman events are related to it.

The first one is the inauguration of the renewed "Fontana di Trevi" where Marcello Mastroianni followed the beautiful blond Anita Ekberg, on the 3th of November. The restoration of the famous fountain (Nicola Salvi, 18th century, late baroque) began in June 2014 and was financed (2, 2 millions Euro) by the Fendi sisters. After one and a half year, the Romans and the tourists will be able to admire it again without any scaffolding and imagine having a part in the mythical scene of the film. And also, and this is not irrelevant, it will be again possible to drop some coins into the fountain just to be sure to come back to Rome.

Fellini's is also present, in a certain way, in another part of Rome. After Paris and the "Musée d'Orsay", the exhibition entitled "Una Dolce Vita? From Liberty to Italian design 1900-1940" is now in Rome, in the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, via Nazionale (not far from the railway station Termini), until the 17th of January.The title "Dolce Vita" has a question mark. In fact, in this exhibition we are not at all in the fellinian decadent Rome of the beginning of the sixties, but in a very young Italy, at the beginning of the twentieth century where artists and artisans worked together, full of enthusiasm, united by an optimistic vision of a world based on progress.
Everything started with the First Exhibition of Modern Decorative Art of Torino in 1902.  It was the period of floral patterns and interlaced curves of the "Liberty" style, but also the extravagant furniture of Carlo Bugatti, followed very soon  (1909, Marinetti' s "Futurism Manifesto") by the even more eccentric Futurists.
After the choc of the WWI, these lovers of progress, movement and speed will be ready to reconstruct the universe with their unlimited fantasy and their faith in the miracles of the contemporary world.

On the top floor of the huge "Palazzo delle Esposizioni" you can admire all that extraordinary creativity through a rich selection of furniture, glasses, lamps, ceramics, cloths, toys.... overflowed of fantasy and joy. The objects made by the futurist Fortunato Depero for his "House of the Magician" are particularly amazing.  You'll discover also the incredible modernity of the objects designed much before 1940. As, for instance, the table lamp "Bilia" (1931) of the great architect Gio Ponti, considered as the father of the Italian design.

As in the 1931 the lamp was considered too much avant-garde, the production of it started many years later. And today, Bilia is still produced under the brand name  "Fontana Arte" created by Gio Ponti in the thirties. The Dolce Vita is not over.

RO­_map turns the heart of Rome into an open-air museum under the sky that investigates the most innovative frontiers of digital art applied to architecture and urban spaces. From the 9th – 12th September the Circus Maximus arena and Piazza Navona will become the protagonists of an extraordinary stroke of magic.

For the first time in Italy, the French collective group Coin will interpret the evocative setting of the Circus Maximus in a new light by means of the monumental installation entitled Globoscope: 256 luminous spheres arranged in an area of more than 3,000 metres squared and controlled by a wireless system that will transform the arena into a digital landscape.

Mathematics, sound and lighting will be used by the digital artist Maxime Houot, of the collective group Coin, to reproduce, transform and amplify the urban space, as well as offering spectators a surrealistic walk under the stars on the evenings of the 9th and 10th of September.

The festival will continue on the evenings of the 11th and 12th September in Piazza Navona. The Renaissance faҫade of the Church of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart will be transfigured by the 3-D projections of the artists “Apparati Effimeri” from Bologna, in a synergic composition of spectacular colours, sounds, lights and images that play on the aesthetic canvas of the architecture. 3-D glasses will be distributed to visitors in the square who can then immerse themselves in the first 3-D mapping ever presented in the capital. Architectonic mapping is a form of digital art that through 2-D and 3-D projections effectively transforms the architectural structures hosting the performance into stages or projection screens. Music accompanies these gigantic extraordinary visual effects, helping to create a pluri-sensorial experience that is highly evocative.

This is what will happen the 11 and 12 of September in Piazza Navona

And this is what happened these days

All the information, texts and videos are just shared from the website http://www.ro-map.it

After the surreal Alpine dream in the heart of the Mediterranean we experienced in the islands and islets in front of Korcula and Lumbarda we continued our journey towards the gentle shores of eastern Hvar and Brac Islands! The first part of the navigation was made through the Pejlesac Channel, between Peljesac peninsula and Korcula Island. The Peninsula is a mountainous finger of land which stretches for some 90km from Lovište in the west to the mainland in the east. It’s an exceptionally beautiful place, with tiny villages and sheltered coves rimmed by beaches, and although it’s an increasingly popular holiday area, development remains low-key.

The high peaks of Peljesac protect Korcula and its southeastern coast from rough northerly winds. The dry terrain is covered with macchia in the north and dotted woth vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in the south. This place retains a thriving agricultural business especially in winemaking. Dingac and Postup wines are appreciated throughout Croatia and Peljesac vineyards are open for visits. Do sample the farmed oysters and shellfish from Ston that attract gastronomes from far away.

After a relaxing early morning navigation through this quiet channel the view opens up again on Hvar and on Vis Island on the back! Hvar South Eatern Shores are just 4 Miles from the most western cape of Peljesac Peninsula. Hvar coast is covered in Pines and Mediterannean macchia, it is soft and welcoming compared to the south western area we visited the first day of navigation. There are several relaxing and bright blue sea bays as Smokvina, Smarska, Mrtinovik, Zidigova making it and ideal place to have a day boat tour!

At the eastern tip of Hvar lies the pretty little port of Sućuraj. From there, it’s only 5 km, a short hop by ferry across to Drvenik on the mainland. From the island the effect is rather dramatic – you’re looking up at a 4,000 ft wall across the small channel, which looms ever larger as you sail across! The lightouse located at the most eastern point of Hvar Island seems coming out form a fairytale!

Generally most Dalmatia’s visitors head straight for the islands, as we did but the Makarska Riviera on the mainland coast, between Split and Dubrovnik, is home to some of the country’s loveliest stretches of beach. Running from Brela in the north and to Gradac in the south, the riviera is 38 miles long and centres on Makarska. We therefore decided to stop there on our way to Brac Island.
Makarska itself is built around a deep sheltered bay, and backed by the dramatic rocky heights of Mount Biokovo (circa 1700 meters), which acts as a buffer from the harsher inland climate. Biokovo’s sea-facing slopes are criss-crossed by well-marked trails, so besides swimming in the deep turquoise Adriatic, it’s possible to get in some hiking or mountain biking too.
Today, through summer Makarska’s main square is filled with open-air restaurants and cafés, while behind the church, in the shade, the daily open-air market sells fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables. Along the harbour, overlooked by a string of cafés and pizzeria, wooden excursion boats offer one-day trips to Jelsa on Hvar and Zlatni Rat beach in Bol on Brac.
But the main draw here are the beaches, backed by fragrant pinewoods overlooking the glistening turquoise sea.
Makarska has a dual soul indeed: on one side a typical Mediterranean touristic destination with bright blue sea, tranquil atmosphere and a good sports offer, while on the other side the nights are much more active with many bars, clubs, restaurants and live music!

After this coastal stop we just continued our planned trip towards eastern Brac Island shores where we visited some amazing deep bays like Rasotica close to Sumartin and the superb Luka very close to Povlja village. The first one is a very narrow bay where the anchorage is possible only with some ropes on the shores in order to leave some free room for other boats while the second one is made of several very deep fiords that will protect you from almost every wind! The Povlja fiords must be visited if you have the chance and do not forget to have a dinner in the dreamy atmosphere of Pipo restaurant, which can be reached only walking or by boat! No cars arrived there yet, and this is something very special!

Our next journey was from Scedro to Korcula Island. Leaving Lovisce bay early in the morning is a magic and peaceful experience while the feeling when you turn Scedro point towards Korcula’s channel is exciting and stimulating! The view opens up on Pakleni Islands, Peljesac Peninsula, Vis Island and the open sea in Italy direction. After 7 Miles of tranquil navigation (but be careful because winds coming from almost every direction can be tricky here) we reached the shores of Korcula, the Croatian greenest Island!

It is rich in vineyards, olive groves and small villages, and harboring a glorious old town, the island is the sixth-largest Adriatic island, stretching nearly 47km in length. The dense woods led the original Greek settlers to call the island Korkyra Melaina (Black Korčula).
Tradition is alive and kicking on Korčula, with age-old religious ceremonies, folk music and dances still being performed to an ever-growing influx of tourists. Oenophiles will adore sampling its wine. Arguably the best of all Croatian whites is produced from pošip grapes, which are only grown here and to a lesser extent on the Pelješac Peninsula.
Our first stop was on the breathtaking shores of Proizd Island, just 300 meters form the western point of Korcula! In 2007 the little island was chosen as the Beach of the Year by the Croatian Tourist Board, whereas the British newspaper the Daily Telegraph placed it among the five most beautiful Adriatic beaches. Proizd has a rocky and pebbly coast and its north side is absolutely breathtaking. This is where Bili Boci, a beach with white smooth rocks immersed in a turquoise sea, can be visited. Not to be missed for a refreshing stop!

From Proizd we decided to visit the very deep bay of Vela Luka located 4 miles towards east! It is a pretty port set in a lovely natural harbour. Vela Luka is surrounded by hills covered with olive trees, and the production and marketing of Korčula’s famous olive oil is vital to the local economy. Tourism and fishing are the other main employers. Just have a coffee on one the nice bars of the harbour!

On the way back to the west before our long navigation towards the town of Korcula we decided to stop again for a swim in Gradina Cove, located on the north west of Vela Luka Bay. This broad bay is protected from most winds and represents an ideal anchorage for small boats with a freeboard of up to 4 m. The cove is shallow, with a partially pebbly coast and a sandy bottom, which is why it is often chosen by families with children. We really suggest a stop here, you will find calm seas and exceptionally bright blue waters.

The idea was now to face a violent south eastern wind (Jugo) following all the long Korcula’s northern coast. And it is what we did! The shore is indented with a series of nice welcoming bays and various low islets mainly populated by seabirds and garrigue. The vegetation of the Island is surprisingly rich and varied, the most widespread is the Holm oak (evergreen oak), also highlights Aleppo pine, coastal pine, black pine and cypress. This is one of the most densely wooded islands in the Adriatic. The panorama is much more soft and green compared to the southern shore of Hvar with its steep slopes and intimidating rocks. The distance from the Proizd Island to Korcula town is about 25 miles and it is worth to do this journey to admire an untouched coast with just a couple of villages (Prigradica and Racisce) until the beginning of the Peljeski Channel, where the island is only about 1/1,5 kilometers far away form the mainland. Entering this channel is very exciting but take care of the winds that can accelerate consistently here because of the Venturi effect. The town of Korcula suddenly appears far away and the arrival there is just amazing!
Korčula Town is a stunner. Ringed by imposing defenses, this coastal citadel is dripping in history, with marble streets rich in Renaissance and Gothic architecture. Its fascinating fishbone layout was cleverly designed for the comfort and safety of its inhabitants: western streets were built straight in order to open the city to the refreshing summer maestral (strong, steady westerly wind), while the eastern streets were curved to minimise the force of the winter bura (cold, northeasterly wind). The old town is full of restaurants and small galleries and during the summer months it literally does not sleep because its narrow streets are swarmed by visitors. The most beautiful examples of palaces and churches originate from the 15th and 16th century and were constructed in a gothic-renaissance style. St. Marko’s Cathedral is situated in the most prominent part of the town, at the top of the peninsula.  A big altar painting with representations of Korčula’s patron saints Marko, Jerolim and Bartul, mid-16th century work done by the famous Venetian painter Jacopo Tintoretto, stands out among the paintings inside the cathedral.  In the old town you can also visit the house of Marco Polo, who is believed to have been born in Korčula in 1254.

Visiting Dalmatia without stopping in Korcula is like going to Rome and forgetting to take a look at the Coliseum! We suggest to stop here at least for 1 night…and this is what we did in Luka Bay, just 10 minutes walking from the town centre.

We dedicated the next day and night to the very cool area located just some miles south east from Luka bay. We had the chance to visit Lumbarda and the islands and islets located in this region. Lumbarda, covered in pines and olive trees, is a laid-back town set around a harbour on the southeastern end of the Island Of Korcula. The sandy soil is perfect for vineyards, and wine from the grk grape is Lumbarda’s most famous product. In the 16th century, aristocrats from Korčula built summerhouses here, and it remains a quieter retreat from the more urbanised Korčula Town. The town beaches are small but sandy.
Just in front of Lumbarda, we had the chance to explore Vrnik Island, Planjak Island and Badija Island. This tiny archipelago (it has many other islets) has something extraordinary: even if we were in hot summer days in a typical Mediterranean location we had the feeling, for some moments, that we were in an Alpine environment. The air was so pure and clear, the mainland and the islands have a rich vegetation (mainly pines), the seaside was almost motionless…well it seemed to be on a lake in Northern Italy or in Switzerland!
Stay tuned for the next part of our trip! We visited some hidden coves on Brac Island, and a very special place called Vrbovska on Hvar Island!

1. From Milna (Brac Island) to Hvar (Hvar Island)

We started our amazing sea trip early in the morning from Milna village, located on the western part of the rocky Brac Island. The welcoming bays of Milna have always been a favourite and safe port for sailors sailing through the Middle Adriatic. Milna is still reputed as the most beautiful and the safest harbour of Brač Island. The two highly equipped marinas in Milna offer high quality service even to the most demanding sailors. Stone houses along the beautiful long coastline are small masterpieces of Dalmatian architecture. In the village there is also a beautiful Baroque church with a typically Dalmatian bell tower. The interior of the church hides impressive works of Venetian masters. For years, Milna was known for its shipbuilding and the renowned Dalmatian boat “bracera” was first made here.

The exit from Milna harbour is smooth and safe as the deep bay protects you from winds and waves from almost all directions. Heading towards Splitska Vrata (Split Gate) separating Brac and Solta Island we sailed along the coast of the tiny Island of Mrduja, well known because the inhabitants of Brač and those of Šolta are still wrangling over whom the island belongs. They are still playing a game using a rope secured to many boats in an attempt to pull it from one side of the Split Channel to the other.

After just some minutes we reached the impressive Split Gate from where, from west to east in southern direction, your gaze encounters open Adriatic Sea, Vis Island, Pakleni Islands, Hvar Island and Brac Island. The view is amazing and the feeling is much more thrilling than the peaceful and relaxing Milna Bay mood. From Split Gate we decided to sail straight south for 8 nautical miles until Point Pelegrin, the most western part of Hvar Island. This short open sea crossing gives you the chance to admire the greatness of Brac Island and of the coastal mountains on the background! Once you overstep the point you enter in eastern direction the channel that separates the Pakleni Islands and Hvar Islands. The Navigation here is tranquil and exciting as Hvar town is only 3.5 miles and it quickly approaches from the horizon.

2. Hvar (Hvar Island) & Pakleni Islands

The arrival in Hvar can frighten in high season as the harbour is packed with hundreds of boats of different type, colour and dimension. But do not panic and try a way to get on the shore and explore the little town at least for a couple of hours! This one of the favourite destinations in Croatia and one of the most prominent and visited tourist centres in the whole Adriatic Sea. It is a place of a unique cultural and historical heritage! Admire the fortress, the Cathedral of St. Stephan, the Franciscan Monastery, the Town Loggia, the Hektorović Palace, the arsenal and the theatre. Hvar gained glory and power during Middle Ages being an important port within the Venetian naval empire. And you can feel Venice’s influence every step you do walking in the narrow streets and in the white stone piazza! After this cultural feast it is time to relax and explore the shores of the amazing Pakleni Islands in front of Hvar town!

This cluster of offshore islets is among the best the Adriatic has to offer! Here you will find small, secluded beaches, deserted coves and sun-drenched hills. A kind of mystic scenery nestled between the sea and the sky!
The closest island is Jerolim, directly opposite to Hvar town and named after a now-disappeared church. Jerolim is the favourite among naturists who generally stroll away from the main jetty and stretch out on one of the shady coves. The islet is rocky but there are pine trees and maquis for shade. Nearby is the other island of Marinkovac, which hosts Stipanska, another naturist beach also equipped with showers and a shop. Another idyllic cove on Marinkovac is Zdrilca, which has several pebble beaches.

The largest Pakleni Island is Sveti Klement, well known for the beautiful Palmizana bay. Here, azure waves caress a sandy cove surrounded by pine forests, heather fields and breezes scented by aromatic herbs. Palmizana has been a favourite getaway for Hvar islanders since the turn of the 20th century when a Professor Eugen Meneghello built a summer house there. Now it houses a small museum and a gallery. Nearby, Vlaka is a small fishing village reachable in an easy hour walk from Palmizana. The only way to reach these paradise spots is obviously by boat! We suggest you to deeply explore all the secret coves and the hidden natural beauties over but also under the sea. A night here will recharge your batteries!

3. Towards Scedro Island

The second day we decided to continue our navigation in Easter direction following the southern Hvar coastline that is mainly steep, rocky and covered with vineyards. They are built as terraced steps in a very tricky terrain and in the old days they were reachable only by a long trek up and over the passes. The view is breathtaking, the colors, the perfumes and the tastes of these wines are very special because of the fertile land caressed by the sun and the sea breeze! Have a look here to discover something about Croatian Wines! After overtaking the picturesque villages of Sveta Nedilja and Ivan Dolac we started approaching our final destination for the second sailing day! It is Scedro Island, separating the Southern Hvar Shore and the Northern Shore of Korcula Island.

Protected as a nature park, in its untouched beauty, with many hidden coves, it provides an intimate experience to every visitor and once you feel the charm of those quiet coves, sweet aromas of nature and glimmering sun on crystal clear water you would want to stay forever.
Since the Ancient times Šćedro coves have been known as good places for anchorage and safe harbors. Long time ago because of the somewhat more humid climate than that on the island of Hvar, wheat was cultivated on Šćedro. On the hill there is an old abandoned village called Nastane, which will take you back to history with its picturesque stone houses. A Dominican monastery was founded in the Bay of Mostir (1465), together with a hospice for sailors, and abandoned in the 18th century. Around 30 people live on the island in summer. We decided to anchor in Lovisce bay, just facing Hvar Island, because it is very well protected from all southern winds that were blowing that day. The bay is very deep and it is relaxing for sailors who want to have a break in one of the two restaurants that are preparing fresh local fish!