No snow in Istria – 5 February 2012
It is snowing. Which obviously is not at all unusual for February for the northern(ish) countries of the Northern Hemisphere.
Unlike in the rest of Croatia, it was not snowing in Istria yesterday – nice picture above.
Still, it is very cold (it was -11 °C in Pazin, Istria the other morning) and the work on the site has slowed down and we haven’t been to visit last week or will go this week. They have prepared everything for pouring gallery floors but cannot really do anything with concrete in this weather.
Ready for the gallery plus freezing Vjeko on the left
I have been busy with choosing bathroom fixtures (sinks, toilets, faucets,…) and have narrowed the choices quite a bit. Haven’t put the order in yet, but probably will in the next few days.
And have finally started working on the website. The plan is to launch the site before the house is finished and ready for guests, move this blog there, let Google index it and allow pre-booking, hahahaha.
So, the website will need the domain name and it is handy when domain name is linked to the name of the place. I have been thinking on and off about the name for couple of years now. I was hoping it will “come to me”. The name. That I will be inspired by something in the village or at the property… didn’t really happen. And… I also had criteria a bit like this clip below:
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I wanted to avoid being too obvious or too cheesy or… So no tree names, herb names, spices names, people names, non-Croatians should be able to pronounce it, but it should be a word in Croatian, etc, etc. “Traktor” was a serious contestant, but of the many people I asked for an opinion, only two (obviously very cool) people immediately agreed with me that that is a great name. After much elaboration and various lists, we have settled for Pruga. Which I think was one of the very first suggestions. It means tracks. As in railway tracks.
Some of you will remember the project masterplan – if you look closely there is a track going from the center cluster of buildings towards the woods, towards upper left. The idea is that we will one day build a moving platform with various “stops” – breakfast terrace, pool, something else, woods… This is to take advantage of the fact that land is long and narrow – to use the space, the make people interact. The platform would be large, smooth running and safe, with enough space for a small table and a few chairs perhaps? Plus, it would be great fun and really cool. No?
Masterplan Lovrinići 2011
No idea when we might fit it in the budget, but the guiding idea is here so we shall work towards it. We will also have to justify that name.
And, as Pruga it is, I am working with my friend Marija on the logo and web design. She is not having the easiest time with me – take a look at that video above again…
Not to forget to mention – there is no real railway track nowhere near Lovrinići – just peace and quiet.
Railway push cart
I love the name! It’s retro (old colloquial word for railway) and it has an obvious connection to the estate. But I also like the reference it brings to the old railway which transported wine from inland Istria to Trieste (Vinska pruga) built at the beginning of the 20th century and dismantled in the 1930s. In other rural parts of Croatia (around Dubrovnik for example) where railway existed until mid 20th century, the word is still used for bus lines. I just love the opposition of the rural hideaway and a ‘big world out there’ the colloquial use of the word embodies. Now you just have to have a great offer of locally produced wines 🙂
And, we have a story to tell… thank you Mika! And yes, there will (lot of) vino!