Well, here we are on Eastern Europe’s Riviera, living la loca vita! We are on the Adriatic in Villa Dobravac. An absolutely beautiful B&B. Did I mention, on the Adriatic?! This must be heaven, man! Fabulous view of the town Rovinj (roh-VEEN) and the harbor from our balcony. Huge room and bath, breakfast made to order. More like a hotel, really. Villa is entirely appropo.
Croatia, yet another wonderful country that is our privilege to visit. The country is spread out from the western Istria peninsula, down south to the Dalmatian coast to Dubrovnik and beyond. Unfortunately, we didn’t allot enough time in our stay to visit any place further south than Istria. Fortunately, the Istria peninsula includes the wonderful town of Rovinj and the ship building city of Pula, home to the largely intact sixth largest Roman amphitheater.
Thousands of years ago, the first inhabitants were the mysterious Illyrians. They left few artifacts behind. They are believed to be the ancestors of the Albanians (modern Croats). As with Slovenia, Croatia was ruled by Greeks, Romans (since 229 B.C. ), Byzantines, Venetians, Hapsburgs until WWI. Then communism and Yugoslavia, Tito and finally independence in 1991. Independence meant civil war between the Croatian Serbs and the Croats. We read about it and saw it on the news for years. Both sides claiming genocide and victory. Today it is recalled with disbelief and sadness.
We had occasion for a more personal discussion on this subject, while visiting our new favorite wine bar, Baccus (bah-COOS). Paolo, the proprietor, misunderstood my comments about a musical documentary that included a David Gilmour performance in Pula’s Roman amphitheater. He thought I was referring to a documentary on the ethnic cleansing that had occurred nearby. He expressed his sadness and disgust regarding the murder of whole families. He told us that he was once political, but now everything is about family.
Speaking of wine, Croatians have been planting and harvesting grapes and making wine since the Romans. Wine making, until recently, has been kept under wraps and only enjoyed in the immediate Adriatic area with little exported. Partly due to American vintners’ interest and investment, Croatian wines are gaining respect worldwide. I have read about 7 distinct regions and one is Istria (producing some of the most sought after wines). Malvazija (mahl-VAH-zee-ah) is a light, crisp mid-range white. The best reds, from this region, are made from the teran (teh-ran) grape. A 100% teran aged wine is big and compared to a supertuscan. The Villa, where we stayed, has their own winery and after tasting we bought a couple bottles of the Teran. There are 3 official classifications for wine in this country: 1)stolno-table; 2)kvalitento-mid-quality; 3)vrhunsko-top quality. Now you can look for it, too!
Old town Rovinj is nearly beyond description. It is an ancient fishing village that maintains its purpose through today. That fish on your plate tonight was absolutely delivered from the boat today! There is a fish cannery that cans it directly from the boats, to ship throughout the EU. It is easy to see that this town was ruled by Venice for centuries. The entry gates, the streets, the houses, the municipal buildings are all reminders of Italy. The houses seem to rise from the bay. Reminds me of the Cinque Terre from our first visit. Of course, like most European cities, Rovinj is traffic free. You park your car in a nearby lot and explore the city on foot. The streets/sidewalks are paved in the largest, smoothest cobblestones we have ever seen. Our hike up to the summit of the city to see the view and St. Euphemia Cathedral was exhausting, but well worth it. St. Euphemia is the patron saint of Rovinj. He watches the weather (weather vane atop the church) and reports the winds to the fishermen. They still follow his input.
The visit to Pula’s Roman amphitheater was fantastic! (Those Romans were everywhere!). The amphitheater currently seats 5000 people and is still host to various concerts. Amongst the artists who have performed here are Elton John and David Gilmour. No longer is blood shed for entertainment. Currently, performances that are too loud are no longer allowed for fear of damaging the aging structure. This arena is different from others that we have visited, in that we were able to enter the subterranean level. This was the level where the gladiators and animals were kept before their matches. There were ancient jars, a gigantic wine press and many amphorae (ancient wine jars) to admire. Also, in town, there was a Roman gate, a mosaic floor, and an active archeological dig. Pula’s century old Archaeological Museum of Istria is closed for several years for a complete renovation so we could only see it from the outside. Other than that, it was an afternoon well spent-and an opportunity for another trip!
Thankfully, most of the Croatians that we have encountered, are able to speak and understand at least some English. That and our limited Italian has gotten us through this week. We have learned but a few words in Croatian, Dobar dan (DOH-bahr-dahn-hello), Da (dah-yes), Ne (neh-no), Koliko (KOH-lee-koh-how much?). Isn’t that really all you need to know for any country?
In addition to dealing with the language differences, Croatia, although an EU country, uses its own local currency, the Kuna, instead of the Euro. With an exchange rate of approximately seven Kunas per Euro, it makes for seemingly large ATM withdrawals (800 Kuna minimum withdrawal) and rather large banknote denominations (four 200 Kuna bills per withdrawal.) It makes you feel rich until you realize that those bills won’t be buying you much. And then when you have to convert Kunas to dollars, it just makes you even more crazy!
Croatia, although legally obliged to be part of the Schengen area, is in fact, not currently participating in it. Schengen is the open borders agreement that did away with passports and all other border checks in much of Europe. With the refugee crisis and terrorism, it will probably be a long time, if ever, before it participates. The good news is that we were able to collect additional passport stamps! The bad news is that the border crossing can be lengthy, although our crossing time wasn’t too bad, due to our arrival after the peak tourist season. The really bad news is that I almost ended up in the Gulag since I blew right past the second checkpoint - not realizing that it was also manned. Since I still had my window down and heard all the shouting, I quickly backed up and all was eventually forgiven. The first checkpoint was for leaving Slovenia (only necessary on the Croatian border) and the second was for entering Croatia.
On our way back to Italia-where we more or less know our way around!
The View of Rovinj from our room
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