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!
Our Baltic cruise had one last stop, Warnemünde, Germany. There isn't hardly anything to do Warnemünde, but the cruise lines stop there to give people an opportunity to catch a train for the day into Berlin. We had just been to Berlin. Read about that HERE. So we decided to do some exploring on our own. We rented a van right at the port and drove first to Rostock, Germany. First, are you saying Rostock correctly? It's row-shtoke. Long o.
Our first stop in Rostock was St. Mary's Church, or Marienkirche. It was built in 1265. Although it might not look like much from the outside, inside it's quite unique. What do I mean by unique? Check out Mr. Bones here.
How cool is that? Obviously not a REAL skeleton, but still, look at the way he's totally chill. Just relaxing on the altar, propping his head up. Made the place feel more like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland than an 800 year old church. Thumbs up in my book.
This is the astronomical clock that is in the church. It was built in 1472 and is the only one of its kind still working with the original clockworks.
It's been keeping the time and date correctly since it was built. This is the calendar which will be valid until 2017. Let's hope we don't get another end of the world prophecy happening because some astronomical clock in Germany has dates that only go to 2017. (Remember that Mayan 2012 nonsense?) But who knows? Maybe this little clock maker from Nuremberg knew something that we don't. Pause for dramatic effect. Duhn duhn duhn!
This is the Fountain of Joy, or as it is known locally, "The Porn Fountain." It was built to celebrate Rostock's rebirth after WWII. I don't know about you, but nothing says "Hey, we were bombed really heavily during WWII and we worked really hard to rebuild our city and now we are going to celebrate" to me more than naked people in a fountain. Maybe that is what they did to celebrate. Germans cavorting and frolicking and rolling around naked in the water. Yay! WWII is over! Let's get naked!
It was a warm day for Northern Germany and we drove over to the coast for a look at their beaches. You might be thinking "Where does Germany have great beaches?!"
Now you know.
People may not associate Northern Germany and the Baltic Sea with great beaches, but they are there. The beaches in Northern Germany have white sand and plenty of sunshine.
It seemed that every German in a 100 mile, I mean 160 kilometer radius (think metric!) was there. The breeze was light, the sand and sun were warm, Europe was out in full force. Germans are known for their love of nude sunbathing at the beach, but we didn't see any. Much to my disappointment. Not that I really want to see a naked German, I just feel that my European experience won't be complete until I see some naked sunbathing. Maybe I should have stripped down and see if any Germans would follow my lead. Come on Germans! Let's tan our tushies!
But alas, I stayed fully dressed (much to the relief of my children).
We explored the beach and old pier pilings.
Matt enjoyed our time in Rostock a lot. He stayed here for a few months 20 years ago when he bounced around former East Germany.
Look at how cute my German-American husband is. You might not think he is cute, but after 18 years together, he still makes me weak in the knees with that smile.
Coming up next - Schwerin Castle!
Would you ever feel comfortable sunbathing naked on a beach? How would feel if other people were sunbathing naked around you? Let me know in comments below! Thanks!
