Not far from where we were staying in Pula, is a quaint artist's village called Rovinj. To the best of my knowledge, Rovinj is pronounced ro-vi-nya. Really soft on the nya part. But no matter how you pronounce it, it is fabulous.
Rovinj is north of Pula on the Istrian peninsula.
There normally aren't as many boats or people in this little tourist town. There was a Red Bull (that's right, Red Bull the energy drink) air show taking place the day we were there. So we got to see a great little town AND planes zooming and doing tricks in the air.
It would seem here that Red Bull really DOES give you wings. But only if you have a propeller.
Rovinj is built on a hill that juts out into the sea. Most of the streets were pretty steep in Rovinj. There weren't any cars as the streets were too steep and narrow. But there were plenty of scooters zipping in and out of alleys.
Old Rovinj. Originally Rovinj was an island with a channel of seawater separating it from the mainland. The channel was filled in in 1763 to make travel between the island and the mainland easier. Rovinj lost its island status.
Here are some teens trying to keep their status as "too cool to hang out with their parents." The Chocolate Family's two oldest and Alexander and Ashlenne.
We found the perfect teen hang out down by the water. We dubbed it "The Grotto." But from the smell of it, it should have been dubbed "The Urinal."
While the teens were hanging out in the grotto/urinal, Aidan, Andre, and I explored the tide pools around the edge of the water and found little creatures like this little guy here. He was only slightly more crabby than the teens. (ha ha)
This is St. Euphemia's Basilica which sits on top of the main hill of Rovinj. It dates from the 1600's and it was built on former ancient Christian sites.
As beautiful as the ocean was, and the church, and the rocks, this is my favorite part of Rovinj. Little streets turned into cafes and art galleries. So eclectic and fun.
More fun and funky streets. I love how the individual personalities of all these little villages we visit come out and make them all unique.
But not matter where you are in Europe, whether it is hills of Germany to the streets of Paris to the coast of Croatia, you can always find gelato. Europe runs on gelato.
Another little alley in Rovinj. Photo credit to Mrs. Chocolate.
This week that we spent in Croatia was truly amazing. Croatia is so beautiful! When we told people back home that we were going to vacation down there, many of them asked "why?" Beautiful beaches, Mediterranean villages, amazing and natural beauty of the land. I hope in reading about our week here you get a better feel for the this tiny little corner of the world.
Thank you Croatia! We hope we can come back some day!
On our second day in Croatia in April, 2014 we decided to take side trip over to Plitvice Lakes National Park. Croatia is famous for their national parks. They have eight national parks and eleven nature reserves, ranging from alpine mountains to lush valleys to Mediterranean beaches, and almost everything in between. We decided to focus our attention on the oldest and most widely known, Plitvice Lakes. (Want to know about all the parks in Croatia? Click HERE.)
Plitvice Lakes is located in central Croatia, close to the border of Bosnia-Herzegovina. If you are looking at this map thinking 'Hmm... that seems kinda far from where you were staying in Pula.' You're right. It WAS kinda far. It took almost three hours to drive to Plitvice Lakes. So if you are planning a trip to Croatia and want to see this national park, I definitely recommend staying closer. (Want to know more technical stuff about how the lakes were formed? Click HERE.)
So, what is so special about Plitvice Lakes? Well, this for starters. Plitvice Lakes is a series of cascading lakes and waterfalls that are different shades of blue, green, aqua, and turquoise due to the different mineral contents of the water. They are pretty amazing.
And when the sun hits the water, wow!
The lakes and waterfalls are connected by boardwalks that line the edges so you can get up close to the beauty without disturbing nature.
The lakes are closed to swimming, and boats are only allowed on the largest lake in the middle of the park. The park is quite large. Eight kilometers from one end to the other (or about 4 1/2 miles for us Yanks). The park does provide shuttles between the large lakes. Something we did not figure out until we had walked half the park with eight tired kids.
But, I'm getting ahead of myself. It was still early and we were still fresh. We were enjoying the beauty of the lakes, the sunshine, the waterfalls. It was spectacular!
At this point we were at the bottom of the canyon. We really wanted to see the sweeping views of the park.
There was one way to go to see the view. Up. I feel it necessary to say here that I was one week out in recovery from a horrible bout of influenza. Climbing these stairs to the top was a personal challenge for me that practically brought me to my knees. Actually, it brought me to my butt. I had to sit and rest many, many times.
The trail snaked up and through the mountain. We hiked through many drippy and dank tunnels like this one.
Finally! A view from the top!
The trail meanders up and down the canyon, and as we explored the park, we found little caves and spots to hide in. Hide in, that is, if you want to go for a swim.
I think right now I will introduce you to our good friend's daughter, Miss M. Miss M kept trying to get in our family pictures that her mom, Mrs. Chocolate, was taking of us. I can only say it is because our family is so cool, she just wanted to be a part of it. (See Miss M? I told you I would put your picture on the internet!)
It was right about here that everybody started getting tired. The Chocolate Family's youngest daughter was only 18 months and was insisting on walking. So that is how slow our progress was, 18 month old walking progress. After hiking up a hill for the better part of an hour, we realized that there was a tram offered by the park that went up and down between the different sections of the lakes. If we would have taken this tram we would have been able to see the whole park. But because we are stupid and ignored the signs with little buses on them pointing and saying HEY! THIS WAY! We only got to see half the park.
As it came to me that I wouldn't be able to see the whole park, I immediately began planning a return to Croatia just to see the rest of Plitvice Lakes. Why? Because of this view.
And because of this view.
And because of this view. Any beautiful place where I can be with all these beautiful people and be happy and smiling under the sun, surrounded by nature, is definitely a place I want to return to.
Our spring break in 2014 took us down to Pula, Croatia. Beautiful, Mediterranean, Croatia. Why? Here's why. This is a shot off of the balcony of the house we rented.
Not too shabby, if I say so myself.
And also because Ryan Air had flights from the Frankfurt Hahn airport to Pula, Croatia leaving and returning on Fridays. It matched up with our time schedule too. I bet most of you haven't heard of Pula. Let me tell you a little bit about it.
Pula is on of the last towns on the Istria peninsula of Croatia. Actually, it's not the last town. Premantura is. The town we stayed in. In fact, we stayed in the second to last house in the last town on the peninsula. Ocean on both sides. It was pretty awesome.
So what is Pula known for?
Mostly this, the Pula Arena. It is one the six remaining large Roman arenas in existance and the most well preserved. Pretty cool.
Pretty cool place for pictures, too.
It's is also a good place to act like a fierce gladiator. Andre's siblings were at first thinking he was a little silly, but then...
Raising your arms in triumphant victory seems to be contagious.
After acting like gladiators, we decided to take a walk around town.
We saw things like this. This is the Porta Gemina which is part of the old city walls dating from around 150 AD.
We also saw things like this. Large estates with a very Italian feel to them.
We also saw places of obvious neglect and destruction. Pula has been traded around a lot. It started as part of the Roman Empire, then was ruled by the Ostrogoths (whoever that is), then it was part of the Byzantine Empire, then Venice took their turn ruling it, then Napoleon and France had a go at Pula and being in charge, then the Habsburgs of Austria ruled, then Italy, then it was restored to Austria, then back to Italy. Next came some really fun times when it was part of Yugoslavia. Finally, in 1991, the country of Croatia was formed and Pula was ruled by Croatia. Whew!
With all that attacking and changing hands you would think Pula would have a large defense system. Well, they do. Or at least they did. These canons look pretty old. Here are my kidlets along with our friends, the Chocolate Family's kids, sitting on canons, defending Pula.
There wasn't too much to see at the fort. Mostly because they charge a lot to go in and look around. So we stayed outside.
Something that they didn't charge for was the Temple of Augustus, a Roman temple dating from 14 AD. Of course, they were doing a little reconstruction on it, but it was still really neat to stand on the steps of a 2,000 year old building.
After a long and satisfying day of visiting Roman ruins and riding canons like a horse, it was time to get back. This is the city of Medulin, Croatia which was across the bay from Premantura. We could hear the bells from the twin bell towers ring out across the water, signaling the end of the day. Until tomorrow, Croatia.
