Oh my, what a book. I felt that tingle almost straight away, the one only a really special book gives you.

I’m a big fan of Rosanna Ley’s books and this was no exception; in fact, it’s one of my favourites. The characters are instantly believable, the descriptions sumptuous and the whole story is perfectly tensioned.

There is no doubt that Korcula makes the most of its ties, real and imagined, to Marco Polo. Even though it is almost impossible to separate the facts from the myth, the part Venetians in general played in the island’s history is indisputable.

My fascination with pastries probably stems from the fact I can’t eat most of them because of the gluten, but being able to do so is a fantasy I play out with the characters in my books.

The walls surrounding the towns of Ston and Mali Ston on the Peljesac peninsula are the longest in Croatia and the second longest in the world.

First up, let me admit that I am not an oyster fan, but having seen the oyster beds on previous visits to the area I was fascinated to find out more about it.

I heard about this boat before I saw it, from my driver friend Kresimir, because his father-in-law had a hand in building it. But what, exactly, is it?

Living in Cornwall I am used to clear blue-green seas reflecting summer’s every mood, but nothing had quite prepared me for how clear the Adriatic around Croatia is. It’s beautiful, mesmeric, unparalleled… but why?

As tourists we love the lure of a car free island; less pollution, less noise, just generally more bucolic and quaint. But what of the locals who have to live there day in day out?