Adventures in the Adriatic

Family ties to a foreign farmstead; cool jazz for hot Balkan nights; caught out in Korcula; and a Colombian pilgrimage

follow the coastal path, the Lungomare Promenade, following the contours of rocky inlets to Volosko with its small harbour and renowned restaurants. It’s a place for cool jazz on hot Balkan nights.

Opatija has good rail connections north to Vienna. You can combine a gracious stay on the former Austrian Riviera with time exploring Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana, two and a half hours away by train. DAVID KENNY

Something fishy

In the summer of 1975 I was working as a resort rep in Korcula and Orebic, in the former Yugoslavia. Each week I sold a fish picnic/ barbecue excursion.

One week my “fixer” – the young man who collected us by boat, took us to one of the many islands and cooked our lunch – told me he had no fish. The Japanese frozen mackerel, he said, was in short supply. Surprised I’d been fooled for weeks, I asked how it tasted so fresh. He replied that he defrosted it in the Adriatic in his keep nets while the customers were swimming.

Forty-two years later, I apologise to my customers for the lack of authenticity. TAMARA SHANKS

No secret

I could not believe it when I saw your article (“Explore the colourful world of a literary legend”, May 27)

Super Slovenia

Reading about the Kempinski Palace Portoroz (“Ten hotels on the Adriatic”, May 27) reminded me of our beautiful weekend in the town and nearby Piran. We were staying in the humbler Maygut hotel, but the promenade because I have just booked a trip to Colombia. Not only that, we shall be staying at The Alfiz in Cartagena [mentioned in the story], with its many works by Gabriel García Márquez. A penguin edition of One Hundred Years of Solitude graces our bookshelves.

Just when I thought I had a well-kept secret, you have blown it. Mompox took us all the way to Piran. I remember the sea shimmering like a thousand little diamonds and the large orange orb of the sun sinking in the background. Below us Piran was slowly lighting up. We had climbed up to the battlements, and were rewarded by the beautiful sunset. sounds perfect, with a fascinating history, fine crafts, beautiful buildings, quiet streets and far fewer tourists than Cartagena. Here we will be following in journalistic footsteps, though not those of “Gabo” – rather British journalist Richard McColl, in whose hotel we’ll stay.

Other recommendations include Villa de Leyva and Across the bay, Croatia was having a party. We could hear the music and imagined beautiful bodies, cocktails in hand, lounging on yachts. We made a slow descent to the town with its inviting plates of fried octopus. It had been a magical day. MARICAR JAGGER WINS A £250 RAILBOOKERS VOUCHER Barichara in Zona Cafetera, Salento and the Cocora Valley. Make sure you visit Filandia, a charming coffee town with its Helena Adrento restaurant serving innovative, creative food.

Your excellent article has given me further ideas. I just hope non-residents are allowed down the crypt in the Santa Clara’s El Coro bar. GWEN KINGHORN