Short video from Pula’s arena.

Here is a video of charming Rovinj.

Today, was our last day in Croatia.  We will be driving from Rovinj to Lake Bled, Slovenia.  This morning there was thunder over the sea and dark clouds but it seems like the rain stays over the sea in Rovinj.  I enjoyed visiting Croatia and learned more on this trip about recent history than I knew before.  Croatia is planning on joining the EU this July, and I wonder how things will change over the next couple of years.

They build their chimneys to look like little houses in Istria.
This was our view this morning from our balcony.  Kind of a sea view but funny in the description of the place they didn’t mention or show a cell tower in the photo.This house was very creative with their planters.  It is made out of little rocks and seashells.
I didn’t try this cafe but I like that they use the stairs as part of their seats by using cushions.

Rovinj:

After eating a lot of pizza we finally found a Mexican restaurant in Rovinj.  We thought we would try it.  It was OK considering I think my rice was more of a saffron flavored mush.
Orebić:

This was my free appetizer in Orebić.  I already cut my sardine when I decided to take a picture.  My favorite part was the prosciutto and cheese. 

This was my fish.  I tried the fish and mussel but for once the vegetables were my favorite thing on the plate.

This was Bridget’s small portion of fish.  We told the waiter we weren’t hungry and only wanted a small meal.  He was offended when we didn’t finish our plates.Rovinj:

In Rovinj, we found a little Italian restaurant.  I ordered lasagna which was outstanding.  Everything was homemade and probably the best pasta I ever had.

Originally I told the waiter I was too full for dessert.  However, I wasn’t smart enough to say that we would like to pay now.  He left and I couldn’t get his attention until a half an hour later.  At that point I said I would try the chocolate mousse.  It was well worth all the waiting.      This time when the waiter picked up the plate, I instantly said I would like to pay.  It would take me a couple of hours to walk off all this delicious food.

Limsky Kanal is a short drive from Rovinj.  This was supposed to be one of the most scenic places in Istria however I’m not sure it was worth the trip.  Parking was free and I got to try some local cheese that was very good.  I can see this being a nice place to come in the summer and kayak but it was pretty quiet while we were there.  The passage isn’t called a fjord because it wasn’t created by a glacier.  Instead it was created from a river eroding the ground on the way to the Adriatic.

Rovinj has been a very charming little town.  I have enjoyed seeing the colorful buildings as well as all of the art galleries.  This has been one of my favorite towns to visit on this trip.

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We took a day trip from Rovinj to Pula.  I had Igor (the man we are renting the apartment from) get the car out of the narrow driveway, and we drove an hour to Pula.  Pula has one of the six surviving Roman arenas left in the world.  The arena is still used today for concerts in the summer time.

There was a little display under the arena of some pottery that was used in the Neolithic time (6000 – 2000 BC).  Pula is in the region of Istria.  This area is popular for wine and olive oil.  The pottery on display is what they used to use to store olive oil.

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Since arriving in Croatia, I have seen more cats than I can ever remember.  Coming from the States, I always think that every cat belongs to a person and that it has a nice home and food.  However, the cats in Croatia are not a household pet but an animal that roams the city finding food as it goes.  I remember seeing a lot of cats in Rome but I see a lot of cats in every city I go to in Croatia.  This cat below was sleeping in the fishing nets.  Shortly before this a crab must have crawled out of these nets as there was a crab walking the boardwalk.  The cats are harmless.  They want nothing to do with you unless you are trying to give them food.  I’m pretty sure they also help with any rodent issues.

On Sunday, we flew from Dubrovnik to Zagreb so we could rent another manual car and drive to Rovinj, Croatia.  The flight was less than an hour but would taken all day to drive so it was worth it to fly most of the way and get another car.  This time I got a sporty red VW Polo.

We are staying in a cute apartment about 10 minute walk from the city center.  The hosts invited us to have a beer when we got here, but we really needed food as all we ate before we left Dubrovnik was a pastry from the bakery and now it was well past dinner time.

Rovinj is very charming and lovely to walk around.  Rovinj has the feeling of a fishing port but also with nice yachts.  The old town is colorful with a church that sits up high on a hill.  There are restaurants with terraces overlooking the Adriatic.  There also many shops with jewelry and art.  You can walk a little outside of town on the Adriatic and find many beaches (rocky beaches of course) and people swimming.

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I love to take photos of flowers but learned not to get too close to the Oleander trees since they are poisonous.  They are everywhere in Montenegro and Croatia.