We raced out of bed in Split at 6 this morning, were on the bus to Zadar by 8.30, arrived there at 11.30, did a quick circuit of the old town and the supermarket (Konzum), on the bus to the airport by 2, flying by 3.30, in Pula by 4.00! Talk about the Amazing Race! It has nothing on us.
I remembered the name of the old woman whose house I stayed in last time I was here… asked for her by name, and here we are for three days. I loved Rovinj the first time I came here, and Samuel and Danica can see what the appeal is here. Walking around the marina
the sky was ominous(we have misses hail storms in Makarska) - and the water was filled with jellyfish!
Funny, the taxi driver who brought us here from the airport was the same guy who brought me here in August – Big Eddie – he pointed out the 800 year old olive trees, and the ‘funny church’ – his words, and I still don’t get why it is funny!
Rovinj is contained in an egg-shaped peninsular. Originally it was an island and was first mentioned in the 7th century as Ruvigino – there is a large Italian community here, and all street signs are in both Croatian and Italian. The food has a strong Italian influence as does the sense of dress-style. Bright coloured jeans abound (love them!).
The population expanded in the 18th century with an influx of immigrants fleeing the Turkish invasion of Bosnia and continental Croatia – this is when the island of Rovinj became a peninsular. The town has bounced from Austrian to French to Austrian to Italian rule. Wandering around the streets tonight, most of the tourists seem to be German – someone suggested that this is because it is still low season – Germans like to save money!
There are the most gorgeous little bars everywhere – we had wine and pizza bread in one at 6 this evening, followed by a lovely meal in another one on the piazza at 10 (yes, they are Italian piazzas, not Croatian trgs). With rakija sa medom on the house. Apparently New Zealanders are not common in this part of the world, so we were worth some attention. Or maybe it was Danica’s new shoes or Samuel’s new t shirt…. There has been a bit of retail therapy in the last few days!
The streets are cobbled and incline towards the cathedral at the top of the main hill in the town – windows, balconies, shutters and porticos, all in a confusion of styles from gothic, renaissance, baroque and neoclassical – with the inclusion of the unique feature of ‘fumaioli’ – the word is more Italian than Croatian- the exterior chimneys on the houses. I’ll get some photos of these tomorrow!
In the meantime, this Amazing Race has exhausted us all. We are tucked into two sobe in the home of Maria – one street back from the riva, in a house that would be hun
dreds of years old – the well is still in the back yard. And Maria herself must be a hundred, with only a few teeth left in her head, but her house is cisto ( with a ‘ch’ on the ‘c’, clean) and the beds are comfortable. Plus the bonus prize here is that she has towels bigger than tea-towels and she doesn’t mind if you take them to the beach. Which we will do tomorrow, weather permitting.
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