Empty Streets, Angry Locals = European Street Art Tour Episode 05

After leaving Slovenia, we arrived in Kaštelir, a small village in Croatia where there’s almost no street art. No graffiti, barely any stickers, and very few people around — at least in April. Most houses look like rentals waiting for the season to start.

This stop of the European Street Art Tour turned out quieter than expected.

I didn’t want to force anything art-wise, but I still left a few of my stickers where it felt right. Nothing on clean signs, nothing aggressive — just small, low-key marks that I was here.

I walked through the village with my Fujifilm X-A1 and a very cheap TTArtisan 50mm f/1.2 lens. Being a fully manual lens, it slows you down automatically. I ended up photographing doors, gates, old houses, and small details rather than chasing moments.

At one point, I was photographing a house that looked abandoned. A local suddenly came out and started shouting something at me in Croatian. I didn’t understand a word, so I just smiled, waved, and walked away. What I don’t really get is the paranoia — when every second house clearly has the small square “APARTMAN” sign on the wall, it’s obvious most of the village is Airbnb anyway.

Back at the house, I cooked dinner for the family using my cast iron pan, which I travel with on purpose. It works on induction, electric, and gas stoves, so it’s perfect for road trips. It’s also the best thing you can use for steaks — the sear is fantastic — and vegetables come out great as well. Yes, it’s a bit oily, but if you use extra virgin olive oil, it’s really not that bad for you. And here, olive oil is cheap and good, so there’s no reason not to use it.

We bought the steaks in Trieste on our way to Croatia. Beef dishes like tagliata are very common there, so the meat quality is excellent and surprisingly affordable compared to Northern Europe. If you ever pass through Italy, buy your steaks there — it’s worth it.

This episode isn’t heavily focused on street art. It’s more about showing what the trip actually looks like sometimes: quiet places, awkward moments, good food, and slow walks with a camera.

In the next episode, we are gonna visit one of my favorite Istrian Peninsula towns, which is Rovinj! We must leave my art tile there, zero discussion!