Monday, October 15
Our plan was to visit the nearby town of Rovinj but, since the first bus out was at 1:00 pm, we had some time in the morning to run some errands. The first thing we saw when we left the apartment was a happy site: in the yard in the house across the street we spied a golden retriever puppy! As soon as we made eye contact he came running over. He wagged his tail so furiously we thought he’d knock himself over. He was really sweet. We talked to him and petted him for quite a while. It reminded us of a quote from the golden retriever character in the movie, “Up”…
I have just met you and I love you
That just about sums up all goldens. Of course we’re rather partial to them as we shared our home with two for many years. We miss them terribly still. Now we’re going to be looking for this puppy every time we leave the apartment.
After parting with our new friend we walked over to the forum and entered the tourist information center. We had some idea about visiting Brijuni National Park and needed some assistance figuring out how to get back and forth. The center was very helpful and gave us all the information we needed. We also asked about a place where we could print our bus tickets to Zadar. There was one a just a short walk away.
The two main bus companies in the area seem to be Flixbus and Brioni. The 45 minute trip to Ravinj was on Flixbus. We purchased our tickets through their iPhone app which meant that we didn’t have to print our tickets. We liked that. When we got to the station we found out that the actual carrier for this trip would be Brioni. Brioni tickets MUST be printed but they seem to accept electronic tickets from Flixbus. We’re never going to understand that.
Rovinj was part of Venice even before it was conquered by the Romans. After the fall of the Roman Empire it was part of the Byzantine Empire before it was taken over by the Frankish Empire in 788 when it was ruled by a succession of feudal lords. From 1283 to 1797 it belonged to the Republic of Venice. In 1763 the island was connected to the mainland when the channel was filled in. Today, the town has two official languages: Croatian and Italian. It’s main industries are fishing and tourism.
(Old Town in Ravinj)
Given its history it’s not surprising to see that the Old Town sits on a peninsula that juts into the sea. All around are small islands, most of which are uninhabited. We decided to walk around the perimeter. The sea is blue and crystal clear. We could easily see the bottom in 12 feet of water. The southern side contains a marina where we saw mainly small motorboats and docks for the ferries. On the western side a large section of coast has been cordoned off from boats and stairs have been cut into the rocks making it one of the largest swimming pools you can imagine. Near the north end we found an old World War II era pill box. We went inside and were able to see the entire port area through long, narrow slits.
The Old Town is dominated by the Church of Saint Euphemia which sits on top of a hill. There are high walls around the church that resemble a fortress. The top of the church features a sculpture of the saint along with a wheel symbolizing the method by which she was martyred in 303. The building is in the Baroque style and dates from 1736. The tower, which can be climbed, is said to resemble Saint Mark’s in Venice. The interior is in the Italian style and is very pretty with marble accents. The tomb of the named saint can be found near the rear.
(Sunset over Ravinj)
After leaving the church we explored the Old Town. The streets are narrow and winding and are all made from large blocks of travertine that have been worn smooth over the years. It must be tricky to walk there on rainy days. There are a few sights to be seen, like the clock tower and Balbi’s Arch (which was undergoing restoration and was completely obscured when we were there) but the main attractions are simply the coast and the sea. They are magnificent sights.
(Ravinj at Night)
For dinner we went to a restaurant that was highly recommended. It was Taverna di Amici. It’s a small place where the outside tables sit on a heavily inclined road. From what we could tell the owner was bussing and waiting tables and his wife was in the kitchen cooking. One of the reasons we went there was because we wanted to try their fuzi, a special pasta that is only found in Rovinj.
We ordered a plate of fuzi with ham and arugula and tried to order a fish in garlic sauce. The waiter instead recommended the bream with vegetables and truffle sauce. He said the portion was larger and that the truffle sauce was emblematic of the area. We obliged him (we figured that they were out of the other fish).
It was one of the best meals we’ve had in a while. The fuzi was thick and chewy and was freshly made. We got four fillets of fish and the truffle sauce was incredibly delicious. The best part of the entire meal may have been the rosemary potatoes and the sauté of peppers and eggplant. The bill came to 245 KN. We tried to pay with a credit card but the waiter made a face and said that if we paid in cash it would just be 200. We paid in cash.
(Fuzi Pasta with Ham and Arugula)
Since our bus back was not until 8:00 pm we set out to try and find a place for dessert. To our surprise the only dessert we could find was ice cream. Normally that would have been fine but the sun and temperatures had dropped so we opted to walk around the harbor and enjoy the lights.
Back on the bus our driver seemed rather anxious to get back to Pula. Stop signs were a mere suggestion and we made it back in record time. We decided that his wife was about to go into labor and he wanted to be there when it happened. It’s as good an excuse as any.
Walking back from the station we passed by the Roman Amphitheater. It looked wonderful in the nighttime lights. Then we headed to the harbor to see a light installation. Some years ago an artist strung lights on seven of the large cranes that are used in the shipyard. Every evening since the cranes have been lit up. About once a minute they change colors. The cranes cycle through a series of colors independently so that sometimes they are lit with the same colors but more often they are different. It was a wonderful show.
(Lighting Giants)
We did a lot of walking that day. Our milage came in tied for fourth on our all-time list (yes, we keep track of such things).
Distance walked: 12.1 miles
Tuesday, October 16
We decided we just didn’t have the energy to do another long day so, instead of going to Brioni, we just decided to hang around town. For lunch we went to a restaurant that had been recommended to us by one of our “olive oil friends”. It was Jupiter Pizzeria. We were told that both their pizza and their dishes were quite good.
When we left the apartment we were on the lookup for our new best friend. Sure enough the puppy showed up. This time he had a bone in his mouth and he was so excited that he just couldn’t make time for us. Before we left we saw an older female golden that had obviously had puppies recently. “Mom” looked very tired. If you had an energetic puppy to deal with day in and day out you’d be tired too.
Once at Jupiter Pizzeria we ordered a Pizza Bolognese and a plate of calamari with fries. The pizza was quite good and the bolognese sauce added a nice flavor. It would have been great if the crust had been a bit crustier. The calamari was some of the best we’ve ever had. It had obviously been made with fresh fish and that made all the difference. It was tender and sweet and had a wonderful flavor. Even the fries were really good in spite of the fact that they had probably been previously frozen.
After lunch we made one last stop at the fish market and got some shrimp for dinner. We were all set for our the next leg of our trip: tomorrow we will be going to Zadar.
Distance walked: 3.1 miles