Rovinj, Croatia – 350 km

Last night we were walking back to the hotel and just off the sidewalk was a memorial display. Seems strange where it was located almost at the end of a driveway. We have seen a few of these along the various roads.

Sidewalk memorial

We started our ride in a slight drizzle. Nothing serious enough to suit up for but lots of warnings from our guides as the roads get pretty slippery when this happens. This was touted as part of the best road in Croatia, skirting along the Adriatic Sea and by the number of bikes out we were soon aware of how this must be a favorite Sunday ride. The

Sunday Riders

coast along here is called the Blue Istria and it gets flooded with tourists in the summer. The traffic was the least of our concerns today though.


Today we experienced the Croatian Bora wind. It is a katabatic wind originating from the mountains above the sea.  Its record speed is over 300 kph. At one point north of Zadar this morning the speedometer was reading 80 kph and our flag was flapping forward! The police CLOSED the highway to motorcycles and campers/trucks while we were halfway along

Worried about the wind:)

due to winds gusting to 140 kmp plus. Don’t bother asking how the ride was, suffice to say we all agreed that closing the road was a good idea. To be charitable we will say the ride was unpleasant. The guides lead us into Senj for a coffee break, to regroup and discuss what was next. They had been checking on the net regarding the wind conditions and a new plan was formed. There was a group of four riders from Britain that were also in a quandary as to what to do so Primoz helped them out by sharing the info re the road and alternate route.  We escaped by going over the mountains into the teeth of the wind away from the sea dropping the temperature to a cloudy and damp 10C. Once over the mountains the wind abated. We were then able to make our way back down to the coast for the remainder of the ride. So you might wonder why Norma’s first comment when we arrived at the hotel was “I feel wind burnt!”



Rovinje Harbour

Because we went away from the coast (kind of looped through the interior) we picked up some time by joining the freeway. Some of the bikes on the tour are powerful sport bikes which, of course, leave us behind on these twisty roads. When we catch them they have been waiting for us for varying amounts of time. Funny they didn’t seem to want to take on our big K1600 on the freeway, thoughJ. Doing 160 kmp at one point was a little hairy and there were people passing us at that! There is no speed limit on this section of road.

Lots of long tunnels in this country. Most are well lit and in excellent condition. In fact the road conditions are generally better the farther north we go. We are again in a very lovely hotel about a 20 minute pleasant walk to the old town. After showers and clothes changes the group met in the lobby and walked into town for another lovely dinner. Norma finally got a plate full of huge grilled scampi while Doug had a truffle pasta. There was the most beautiful sunset over the harbour as we left the restaurant for the walk back. This is a touristy but very pretty little town. Tomorrow is a rest day so we will see what we can get up to. Don’t plan to do much more than explore the town.