Rovinj, Croatia – Rest Day

Woke up to a beautiful clear day on the Adriatic and had breakfast at an amazing buffet. The larger the hotel, the bigger the spread and this is a big hotel. Had breakfast with American John – asked him what he did yesterday after dinner – he said he went straight to bed as he was exhausted from yesterday’s ride in the Bora wind. The lighter bikes may have had it worse than us being blown around.

We had asked our guides how they learned English as they all speak fairly well and know all the slang words. Did they learn it in school like our kids learn French and Spanish but it is not taught in school and they say their parents do not know any English. It seems cartoons and English speaking movies have been the main source of education for them hence the slang. All the younger people we have encountered have a fair command of our language. We did encounter some older people on our outing today that had very little command.

Our plan was to get to Pula, Croatia (about 40 km away) to see the Roman amphitheater then

Any lions in there?

to look around Rovinj a little more. We opted to take the bus rather than ride as then we could add “having ridden on a Croatian bus” to our experiences. Turned out to be a nice modern roadliner that somehow manages to squeeze its bulk around these narrow roads. A couple of times we were waiting for the bump, though!

After making a wrong turn from the bus depot (we didn’t have a map or ask anyone where to go) we happened to turn around and see a road sign. We could have ended up walking aimlessly

Sidewalk Biffy

around for hours but we did manage to find the amphitheatre. The structure was completed in 81 AD under Emperor Titus and was “on the gladiator circuit” during Roman times. The amphitheater remained in use until the 5th century, when Emperor Honorius prohibited gladiatorial combats. However, it was not until 681 that combat between convicts, particularly those sentenced to death, and wild animals was forbidden. There are several old looking gates on the lower tier where we can imagine the lions were housed! In modern times it has been used for musical concerts featuring such notables as Pavarotti and Elton John.

Church of St. Euphemia

An interesting sidewalk toilet was observed on the walk in Pula. Don’t think that dates from Roman times.

We observed from the bus that the rural houses almost uniformly have wonderful looking, well-tended gardens which reminds us of our job when we return home. We still wonder at the lack of vegetables being served with our meals when seeing this.

By the time we got back from Pula it was almost 3 pm and really starting to warm up. We persevered however and bought some truffles in the market. This being a big truffle area they try to sell every kind of product imaginable including cheese truffle spreads, truffle oil and preparations for sauces. Of course we had to have ice cream, too. After all it was hot. We will miss the ice cream and gelato! There seems to be a place on every street corner and the flavours are something we never see at home.

Dominating the skyline of Rovinj is The Church of St. Euphemia with its magnificent tower. It seems the old town has been built on a hill of limestone so to get to the church it entails an uphill climb.

A lovely sunset is being appreciated by a young mom and her daughter at the beach behind the hotel.

Tomorrow we return to Slovenia.