Part 5

 

Monday 30 May 2011

Trieste - Piran - Rovinj: 122km  (76 miles)

We carry on towards the Croatian border. We get there within ten minutes. The passports are sumarily checked. We drive up the Croation toll road. We can only use half of it, because the left side of the road is blocked off for road works. We turn off for the smaller road to Rovinj (Rovigno). It is only another 6km to the small sea side town. When we want to drive into the town we are stopped at a barrier. I walk on to the hotel. The receptionist tells me to ask for a special entry card for hotel guests at the booth near the barrier. With the card we open the barrier and drive straight to the hotel Adriatic on the quay. We off load the suitcases and - at a cost of 40Kn per day - we get a permit to park the car at a private parking lot just outside the barriers. We get a remote control for getting access to that parking lot. After parking the car we walk back to the hotel and eat a sandwich in the hotel's café . We have a very spacious room with  seperate lounge and bed room and views of both the sea and the port. The only disadvantage is that the hotel has no elevator and we are on the second floor. 

In the afternoon we visit the Saint Euphemia church perched on a hill top overlooking the old town. The church is named after a Christian martyr from Asia Minor, who died in 304 in Chalcedon from her injuries during the reign of emperor Diocletian.  The church holds a sarcophagus with her remains, which were brought here in the year 800. There are some pretty paintings, one of them showing the arrival of the sarcophagus in Rovinj.  I climb the the Venetian looking Campanile and a great view is my reward. From the tower it easy to see why Rovinj is so famous for its huge number of chimneys in the old town. This is explained by the fact that Rovinj had been constrained within its city walls for centuries. This resulted in a shortage of housing and young couples were forced to move in with their parents. The houses were split and each appartment got its own chimney.

 After the climb we wander around the narrow streets and alleyways of Rovinj. The Grisia, connecting the Euphemia church and the port is lined with souvenir and art shops. There also plenty of quiet and much more pittoresque streets to explore. We go for cocktails at bar Valentino, directly on the shoreline and book a table at restaurant Puntulina, with great views of the Adriatic.

At 7pm we start dinner on the outside tables with breath taking view of a Adriatic sunset. We eat fish fillet (bream) and beef in truffle sauce as our main dishes. Lovely. Later that evening we have yet another cocktail at Banana Café's side walk. looking out over the port.  

Weather: sunny, up to 29 degrees (84°F).  

 

Tuesday 31 May 2011  

Rovinj - Pula - Rovinj: 110km (69 miles)

Today we drive to Pula (Pola). It is a good 30 minutes' drive south towards the most southern tip of the Istrian peninsula. Finding parking space in Pula is not that easy. In the end we find a space beyond the centre near an apartment building. From there we walk towards the Amphitheatre. It dates back to the first century AD and was built during the rain of emperor  Vespasianus. It is the sixth biggest amphiteatre in the Roman Empire. It could hold up to 22.000 spectators, which is a lot considering Pula's modest number of inhabitants of only 5,000! What a small town needed such a large venue for has never been explained properly. Inside the theater the outside walls are still standing as well as part of the stands. In the basement we see a small exhibition on olive production in the Roman days.

From the amfitheater we walk to the Sergian Gate, built in the first century to glorify a prominent family. We continue though the pedestrianised shopping street behind it that leads us to the Forum. Here we find a temple devoted to emperor Augustus. The temple has been well preserved and it holds a number of statues which have been recovered at the site of the amphitheatre, like the torso of a centurion and a slave kneeling at the feet of his master. Next to the temple is the town hall, that once served as a temple for the godess Diana.

We return to our car and drive back to Rovinj. We have lunch at the Trattoria Dream, which has a good choice of non-fish dishes for a change. In the afternoon we go and work on our sun tan on the rocky beaches north of Rovinj. 

At night we eat once again at Puntilano on the sea front. Both food and wine are great. Later at night we have a drink at the Havana bar at the south side of the port. Under wooden umbrellas they serve us some delicious cocktails. 

Weather: sunny, 25 degrees (77°F)

Wednesday 1 June 2011

Rovinj - Rakovica: 275km (172 miles)

It is a cloudy morning in Rovinj. We have breakfast and I go and collect the car. We settle the bill and are on our way. Just outside Rovinj we turn off the road to have a look at the Limfjord, a long inlet of the Adriatic into Istria, dividing the province in two. It was once the border (limes) between two Roman provinces of North and South Histria. On the fjord there are quite a number of mushel and oyster farms. After a short stop we carry on in the direction of the Plitvitze National Park. We take the motorway and pass the 5km long Ucka tunnel. After an hour and a half we reach Rijeka, the large industrial and port city, also called Fiume in Italian. We go further East via the A1. We turn off at Josipdol. We follow a narrow and winding road that brings us to Slunj.

The area we are driving through is called Kordun (derived from the French Cordon) For centuries this was the border area between the Austrian-Hungarian double monarchy and the Ottoman empire. Over the centuries Serbs had started to settle in this Croatian area, who had fled the Turks. This was partly encouraged by the Austrians. They played a major role in the Austrian defence against the Turks. During the Yugoslav war (1991-95), during which Croatia seceeded from Yugoslavia, the local Serbs declared a independent Serb republic of Krajina (translated: periphery). In the run up to that Croats were driven out of the area, murdered or captured on a large scale.  In 1995 the fortunes of war turned and the Croatian army succeeded in reconquering the area within weeks. During this Operation Storm hundreds of thousands of Serbs were driven out towards Serb territories. The scenery today is still scattered with burned out, abandoned and destroyed houses and churches side by side shining new farms. Up till now we had not seen anything remembering the war at all.

From Slunj it is another 10 minutes to Rakovica, where we look for the B&B of Marijana Zupan. Marijana is not at home, but a friend of hers helps us find the room. It is a large room, but very low. Erik bumps his head against ceiling as we enter it. We go for lunch at Bistro Marko some 3 km back along the same road. We suspect we will not get a breakfast in the morning so we do some shopping at the nearby supermarket. 

After that we go to the Barac caves. They are about 7km North of Rakovica. We are out of luck. The guides are expecting a school group at 4pm. We can join it, but the tour will be in Croatian only. They will give us 50% discount. We decide to do it anyway. But group keeps us waiting and meanwhile it starts to rain. After 45 minutes it is pouring down and there is still no sign of the group. We decide to leave it for now and get our money back. Once in the car rain turns to hail and we cannot see a thing. It clears a bit after some minutes and we drive to a bar in Rakovica for a drink. The thunderstorm causes a power cut, wich darkens the bar a bit. When the weather gets better we explore the area a bit and discover another restaurant. We drive back to the B&B where Marijana is ready to welcome us. Nice hostess. She tells us that she does serve breakfast and is included in the room rate.

We go out for dinner at the restaurant next to the campground in Grabovac. Nothing special, but decent enough to eat. Back to our room.

Weather: cloudy. Max 22 degrees (72°F). Heavy thunderstorms in the afternoon 14 degrees (57°F)

 Thursday 2 June 2011  

We have breakfast in the ground floor breakfast room in Marijana Zupan's B&B. Our table is clearly marked with a sign with our room number on it. All our breakfast wishes have been taken care of. After breakfast we drive to Croatia's single most spectacular natural beauty: the Plitvitze national park. At the park's entrance we buy a day ticket for 110 Kuna. The national park is wonderful area with 16 larger and smaller lakes and countless waterfalls connecting them with one another. The lakes look a typical bluegreen or turquois from a distance. We hear lots of birds and frogs hiding in the reeds. The water is crystal clear and we see fish swimming in the water. We even see some water snakes. First off we see the big waterfall  (Veli Slap), splashing down more than 78 m. We then follow the shores of lake Kozjak, one of the lower lakes. Via bridges and dams we get to the terminal of boat, that will take us over the lake to its southern end. The boats leave every 20 minutes and are included in the park entry fee. Once arrived at pier P2 we immediately change to another ferry to P1. This ferry goes to and fro all the time. On the other side we walk around lake Gradinsko. We see some more beautiful waterfalls and lakes. After a while we get a bit all waterfalled out. We return at P1 around noon. We cross to P2 and eat our sandwiches there. We then walk to the tram stop. We wait for some 15 minutes before we leave for a ride in the direction of the Northern entrance. It has started to rain. The tram takes us to Station 1. From there it is another 10 minutes walk along the edge of the canyon to the entrance where we left our car. From there we drive to Rakovica and our B&B. 

Later in the afternoon we make a second attempt for the Barac-caves. This time we have more luck. We can join a tour in English/Italian that leaves in 40 minutes. The tour guide is very enthusiastic and tells us about this relatively small cave that was first discovered in the late 19th century and subsequently forgotten. Since 2003 the caves have been reopened to the public. We visit the uppermost chambers, which are about 500 metres long. 200 metres are open to visitors. With lots of dripping stalactites and stalagmites and deep gorges. It is impressive, considering that these stalagmites grow only 3cm per century and many of them are several metres tall. The cave is home to a number of very small bats, a few of them we are able to see. We are in and out of the caves within 40 minutes.

We round off with a beer outside a bar in Rakovica. We rush back to our room to get ready for dinner some 10km south at Restoran Degenija in the village of Seliste Dreznicko. Good food and attentive service. Inexpensive.

Weather: heavily overcast and rain in the afternoon. Clearer later on. 15-19 degrees (59-66°F)

Friday 3 June 2011

Rakovica - Zadar: 148km (93 miles)

We drive in the direction of Split towards Zadar. The weather is very bad until we pass a number of tunnels and we get to the coast. We continue our drive to Zadar where arrive after two hours. We have booked a room in hotel Mediteran in a suburb (Borik) of Zadar. We have to wait for our room, but when it is ready we move straight into room 13. We drive to Murter. Murter is an island connected to the mainland by a short bridge. In the village of Murter we have lunch on the waterfront. Nice restaurant with great views. Murter is the gateway to the National Park of the Kornati islands, about 30 minutes by boat from here. The islands are barren because they were deforested to make way for raising sheep. The sheep subsequently ate everything that grows. Its isolated location and the submarine natural beauties make the islands again interesting for both conservationalists and tourists alike. Out of Murter there are a good number of boating and diving excursion to choose from.

Back in Zadar we head for the centre and have a drink in a garden café. We then walk around in the walled city which has a couple of interesting churches and lots of café's and restaurants. During World War II it was repeatedly bombarded by the allies, as the city was an Italian stronghold. This is why Zadar is not like the other picture perfect coastal towns along the Adriatic coast. After the war the town was restored with a mix of modern and rebuilt old  ones. During the Yugoslavian war the town suffered again, but the damage of that conflict is as good as repaired. We do not notice any of it.

At night we eat in the very popular pizzeria Šime next door to the hotel. The food is ok and rather inexpensive. After dinner we walk a bit along the beach near the hotel and have a drink at one of the café's.

Weather: inland rain and 14 degrees (57°F). On the coast sunny and 27 degrees (81°F). 

	Other Travel
back		continue