Island Hvar – Your place for best holiday

An international workshop featuring workshops on Japanese calligraphy, silversmithing, papier mache and silk and wool felting opens on the island of Hvar.

The Arts and Crafts Fun Festival opened at Hotel Podstine in Hvar Town on May 28 2011, the latest in an expanding range of tourism offers for the island of Hvar, voted one of the world’s top ten by readers of Conde Nast.

The festival is a series of workshops conducted by international experts in their fields, and affords participants with the opportunity to learn new skills while combining the workshop with a holiday in one of Europe’s hottest destinations.
Papier Mache – Nives Cicin Sain from Croatia (May 29 – June 4)

Each workshop last six days with a 3 hour stint each day, and participants are limited to 20. The first workshop started on May 29 and is being conducted by Croatian papier mache expert Nives Cicin Sain.

The course covers an introduction to papier mache, preparation of the front of the mask, construction of the mask header, how to join the header to the front of the mask, expression modelling, decorations and colouring, and mould removal, aperture opening and processing the back of the mask.
Silk and Wool Creative Felting – Louise Broad from UK (June 5 – 11)

Week two has two workshops running simultaneously. Louise Broad’s silk and wool creative felting course opens with an introduction to feltmaking, and covers various skills, including how to make a notebook cover and seamless bag, decorative items and jewellery, an introduction to nuno felting, how to make a nuno felted scarf, and how to make a group piece such as a wallhanging.
Silver Craft – Lazer Rok Lumezi from Croatia (June 5-11)

Croatian silver expert Lazer Rok Lumezi’s silver craft workshop packs in a lot of practical training on a variety of silver-making techniques. Skills covered include melting and processing, soldering and links modelling, wedding ring making and polishing and stone frame modelling and soldering to the base.

The latter stages of the course focus on shaping hemispheres and spheres from silver, arranging necklaces from stones and silver pieces, and making jewellery from the skills learned at the workshop.
Japanese Calligraphy – Kihachiro Nishiura (June 12-18)

The final week focuses on the Japanese calligraphy workshop of Kihachiro Nishiura, whose style is a blend of ancient and modern, developed through years of studying incense, the Japanese tea ceremony, calligraphy and flower arranging.

After an introduction to calligraphy, the course covers the basics of calligraphy and music in calligraphy, before examining more advanced techniques on the final day.
Additional Activities on the Island of Hvar

Workshop participants are entitled to a reduced rate at Podstine, one of the nicest of Hvar’s hotels. Located on the water in pine forests a pleasant walk north of the town, it has a relaxed atmosphere, which is conducive to artistic creativity.

With each workshop lasting three hours a day, there is plenty of opportunity for guests to indulge in other activities. Beaches and historic towns aside, there is a good choice for the more able-minded. Hvar Adventure, the leading local activity specialist, has a range of sports to indulge in, including rock climbing, sailing, kayaking, hiking and scuba diving, while Secret Hvar’s off-road safari is an excellent way to see the most beautiful and less discovered parts of the island.

Next year’s Arts and Crafts Fun Festival is scheduled to begin on May 26, 2012.

If you dream of taking cruise holidays but have no-one to go with or want to take a break on your own, don’t worry as there are lots of voyages suitable for singles.

Travelling on your own need not be expensive, as cruise lines are used to dealing with solo holidaymakers and have single cabins onboard many of their luxury ships. That also means you are sure to meet plenty of likeminded passengers if you want to socialise during your break.

You will find there is a wide range of cruises for singles available, with many solo travellers choosing voyages to Norway, the Baltic, the Canary Islands, Italy or Croatia.

Norway is one of the classic cruise destinations, thanks to its stunning coastline. You can’t fail to be amazed by the fjords and the scenery that surrounds them, and a holiday in the Scandinavian country will also give you the opportunity to visit beautiful cities such as Bergen, Stavanger and Tromso.

If you are looking at August cruises a voyage around the Baltic is likely to be a good choice. The weather in the region is great at that time of year and single holidaymakers will find plenty to do, as the cruises usually feature stops at historic cities like St Petersburg, Copenhagen, Helsinki and Tallinn.

The Canary Islands is another popular destination with single cruise passengers, particularly ones who are looking for a sunshine break. Whatever time of year you choose for your holiday, the temperature is likely to be high in the Canaries and you will discover there is plenty to see and do on Tenerife, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria.

Should you have an interest in history, you are likely to encounter plenty of likeminded people on a Mediterranean cruise that includes stops in Italy. Many of the country’s great Roman and Renaissance cities are accessible from the sea and you can look forward to some fascinating sightseeing in Venice, Rome, Sorrento, Elba and Portofino during your break.

Another cruise destination that combines history and culture with great weather is the Adriatic. A voyage down the coast of Croatia will take you to fascinating cities like Dubrovnik and Split, as well as the beautiful island of Hvar. Your holiday in the region is also likely to include stops in Crete, the Bosnian city of Kotor and Italy’s Amalfi coast – so there really is sure to be something for everyone.

The strategic position of Hvar on the maritime routes of the Adriatic has played a major role in the history and development of this island. In the Neolithic period, the so=called Hvar culture evolved, known for its pottery decorated with spiral motives. In the fourth century BC, the Ionian Greeks founded the town of Pharos at the head of a deep bay on the north side of the island. The Greek agricultural landscape survives up to the present day and has been recently been declared an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Following the arrival of the Romans in the late third century BC, the island evolved into a centre for recreation, wine production and fishing. The numerous underwater remains from the seabed point to the island being used as a staging post for vessels sailing between Dalmatia and the Italian mainland. In the Middle Ages, the Venetians took over the island and proceeded to develop the town of Hvar. Major structures built by the Venetians include the cathedral, castle, monastery and arsenal. The latter was used for the building and maintenance of vessels. Venetian rule lasted until the late eighteenth century when the area fell under the influence of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Austrian rule lasted, except for a brief French interlude, until 1919 when Italian forces occupied Hvar. In 1921, through the treaty of Rapallo, the island formed part of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenians, which later evolved into Yugoslavia and subsequently the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after World War II. In January 1992, Hvar formed part of the newly formed and independent state of Croatia. Today, it is a major tourist destination and important hub for the yacht charter industry.