Istria, and goodbye to Europe

September 2018 

We had a pretty memorable start to Istria!

We left Trieste and headed south into the peninsula of Istria, which spans Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. We crossed over into Slovenia, and near the town of Dragonja, Google Maps directed us away from the main road and onto a smaller backroad... which then turned into a narrow lane in the countryside... which then turned into a rocky driveway. We saw a small square cabin-like building on one side with a jeep parked outside, but no one there. The road skirted along a barbed wire fence, which we soon realised was the border between Slovenia and Croatia, then turned through a gap in the fence. On the other side a stream flowed across the lane/driveway and crossing that inch or two water would bring us into Croatia. Nuts! 

I had increasing trepidation as we drove through the water and up the driveway in the other side. The lane/driveway began to get rockier and uneven and I got really nervous we would be stuck on jagged rocks in our hire car looking like we were trying to sneak across an international border! Google maps showed we had only about a kilometre of this rocky trail before we got back to real roads! I handed over to Bruce to drive us over the rockier parts with his greater offroad driving experience and after a lot of jolting and rocking we finally made it through. What a bizarre adventure - why did Google Maps decide to send us down a four wheel drive track to cross an international border?!

 

We continued along on real, sealed roads with a short interruption in the town of Buje, as a local wine festival's procession briefly blocked the road.

 

Our AirBnB accommodation was near the town of Porec and after checking in Bruce and I went for a swim at the beach with an outstanding sunset as backdrop. Dinner was a polishing off of bread, cheese, grapes, tapenade and some beers in our accommodation.

The next morning I swam in the calm clear waters of Spadici beach a 15 minute walk away. It was such a peaceful and relaxing way to start the day while Bruce slept in for a bit. This swim became my regular morning routine while we stayed there, and it became almost medidative. I realised here that while I loved this trip and the travel, I was getting starting to get tired after two months of constantly moving.

At Spadici beach 

Following the swim, our first full day in Istria started with a visit to nearby Porec. It's another very nice Adriatic seaside town and like others in the area has a long history back to at least the Roman era. The big drawcard of Porec is the Euphrasian Cathedral complex, possibly the best-preserved Byzantine cathedral complex in the world. It was a very cool experience, and interesting to see the very clear Roman mosaics designs everywhere. We also had lunch in the town, a good octopus salad for me and an underwhelming meal for Bruce.

Porec

After that we drove south to Rovinj. We first swam at Lone Cove, where we encountered masses of jellyfish in the water. A little research showed them to be harmless directly to humans, but ecologically devastating comb jellyfish. So we began throwing them at each other, and I piled up around 40 of them on the beach in one slimy snot like puddle. They were harmless but the sensation of them in the water ruined swimming there sadly.

Rovinj was a bit more touristy than Porec, bigger and more hilly with charming cobbled alleyways stretching up the hill. Dinner was at the alleged best pizzeria in town - which lived up to its reputation.

 

Rovinj 

The next day after my morning swim we went to the hilltop town of Motovun. It was nice enough but smaller than expected and with less to see or do than hoped. Lunch was pretty exceptional though. We ate at Konoba Mondo, the top ranked restaurant in town on TripAdvisor. Given Istria's, and in particular Motovun's truffle fame I opted for creamy polenta with slices of truffle - delicious! Oddly, truffle has little flavour by itself and needs either oil or heat to bring it out. We also had a glass of the local specialty Teran wine, a good but odd and slightly sour red.

Lunch in Motovun

Next was a drive south to a beach near Pula for a few hours - my final Mediterranean swim for a while. I then wandered through Pula, looking around at the Roman remains like the Temple of Augustus and the Arch of the Sergii, while Bruce checked out the very well-preserved Roman amphitheatre - not far off the size of the Coliseum in Rome! Dinner was again great, at Epulon where I had a thick twisty pasta with a gravy like sauce and sliced beef.

Pula

Dinner at Epulon

The next day was our final day. We left early at 6:30am to allow for the four hour drive to Venice, where I would be flying out. As we headed north, we had to turn around and take a slightly longer detour near Motovun due to our inability to read Croatian detour signs on the road. But the bonus was that we got a stunning view of Motovun rising up through the morning fog as the sun came up, surrounded by vineyards.

We got to the airport in Venice where we dropped off the car, and then parted ways, with Bruce staying on in Venice. 

Travelling with Bruce (and then Phil and Rhianna) worked well and was a very good idea. It cut costs, made the trip more interesting and varied, and ensured Bruce and I didn't get sick of each others' company!

Ironically from Venice I flew back to London Heathrow, from where I flew to Australia. I got a bit nostalgic as we came back into London - we flew westwards and low across London so I had excellent views of the city that had been home for over three years - Canary Wharf, Tower Bridge, the skyscrapers of the City, London Fields, St Pauls, Hyde Park, the South Bank, Hampstead Heath, Kensal Green. At the airport I had a final couple of pints of English ale - ESB and London Pride - and bid a fond farewell to London and to Europe. Until next time!