Of course we had another long day planned. Today's highlights include walking around Pula, stopping in Rovinj, Porec and Motovun in Istria and then driving through some crazy roads on the way to Plitvice park.
Map of where we went. We started in Pula, then Rovinj, Porec and Plitvice. We didnt get to stop for the hike I wanted but with 20,000 steps for the day that was probably fine
Our apartment didn't have breakfast stopped at Mlinar for some strudel and a latte.
Second shot at a latte. I guess in Croatia latte actually just means steamed milk so we had to go back and ask for him to add coffee
After breakfast we wondered over to the amphitheater. When we got there we discovered it was closed because they were cleaning up from the concert. Kinda sucks since that was one of the reasons we stayed in Pula, but at least we still got a few good photos
Dinky is sad the ticket office is closed
We then meandered back to our hotel following the Rick Steve walk. This was not on the walk but looked interesting. It is a monument to WWII I think.
Next stop was the Cathedral from the 5th century. We peaked inside just long enough to see they were still holding mass inside
Detail from the cathedral. Lots of the church and bell tower were built from rocks stolen from Roman things
Temple of Augustus in the day light. In person you can actually see how it was patched back together after it was bombed in WWII. This is one of the main buildings on the Forum which still serves the same purpose today
After some detours we found the roman floor mosiacs which seem to just basically be in somebodies back yard under a garage looking structure.
The chapel is all that is left of the Byzantine basilica that once stood here
Finally we walked back and checked out. On the way out we got a bottle of wine that we had tried the night before and liked. With help from GPS and me for directions we were off driving the Rovinj. The scenery was great and included lots of grape and olive tree fields
In Rovinj we found some parking and did the quick Rick Steve walk around the town. The day and town were beautiful
View from the top of the church of st. euphemia bell tower
St. Euphemia's remains are actually in the church. There is a long crazy story about how her remains were found drifting in the Adriatic and then some fisherboy dragged her body up to the church
View from the bell tower looking down. After we left the church we wandered around soaking in the town and buying a few souvenirs. We found our car and were then off to Porec which is just north on the coast. The drive was quite fun. Google took us through what seemed to be somebodies farm field (ok really just a 1 lane road in the middle of nowhere), but we eventually made it to Porec
The main reason we were in Porec was to see the Euphrasian Basillica which is the oldest well preserved Christian church which is mostly from around 550 AD. The mosiacs in the church are from between 530-1300. Unfortunatly the church isn't really open on Sunday. We got to see the inside of the church, but not the rest of the complex and we didn't get to climb the tower.
View of the church from courtyard
Final stop in Porec was for gellato on the way out of town
Our last top in Istria was Motovun which is a hill town in the northern middle part. Again it was an interesting drive up and parking was pretty fun as well.
The first stop in Motovun was finally for lunch at 3 pm. This is the view from our table. Motovun is recognized for having amazing food and we got a spot at one of the best places to try the truffles
I had truffles and pasta, Zach had tuffles with risitto
After lunch we spent about 30 min walking around the town walls and seeing the inside. This is St. Stpehens which was designed by the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (inspired a lot of the DC archetecture)
After not enough sleep wine and lots of walking we decided a 20 min nap in the car was a good idea before the long drive to Plitvice
Once we were driving again the views were amazing! Lots of hills mountains, sea views and all sorts of pretty little towns
Once we left the Adriatic we drove up a mountain on this not so big road. This is when I was glad Zach was driving. After making it over the mountain this was the view of the valley on the other side were our final stop was
Around 8:30 pm we finally arrived at our hotel the Miric Plitvice Inn. We were greeted by the very nice owner who let us have dinner even though we were a little late
Dinner was 20 euros each and was an absolute feast. There was like 5 courses and was great
Thankfully after dinner we only had to walk to few steps to the annex building where we settled in for the night.
Tomorrow we explore Plitvice park, and drive to Split with hopefully at stop in Zadar
No comments:
Post a Comment