Sunday, 25 May 

Opatija 


Paris Hotel 


Weather - Warm and sunny - Max 20c


The day didn’t start well with everyone at breakfast looking quite shattered and tired following fireworks after midnight. We thought it had something to do with the wedding celebrations. When the fireworks woke me up I was in a deep sleep and when I heard the whistling and explosions and people shouting I thought we were under a mortar attack. I think the war stories have affected me! I quickly got out of bed, grabbed my phone and started taking photos with the red lights and shouting. Before dawn there were two more instances of fireworks.




We had a fabulous day exploring the Istria Peninsular. We left at nine o’clock and returned at 5.00pm and toured through beautiful countryside. We first visited the Roman amphitheatre at Pula. It is one of the last largest surviving amphitheatres in the world. Construction started in 27BC and finsihed in 69AD. The structure is built in local limestone rising to three stories on one side and two on the other. Gladitorial contests were staged in the centre of the arena. 




We walked underneath the amphitheatre where there was an exhibition. It was where the animals and gladiators were kept. There was quite a collection of amphoras which were made in the Istria Peninsular area and used for the transportation of oil, wines and cereals.



At 11.30 we made our way to the western coast of the peninsular to the beautiful, ancient town of Rovinj. The influence of the Venetians is evident as they ruled the area from 1200 - 1800. From 1800 to WWI Rovinj was a part of the Austrian empire then it was a part of Italy until 1948. So the very attractive town has had a chequered history. We all remarked that we could have been in Italy. The town was originally an island but the channel was filled in in 1763.



It was 15mins from the bus to walk to the newer part of Rovinj. By this time it was 1.00pm and we were all hungry. However, our guide took us to the old part of the town to do some exploring. We wandered the tiny, alleyways, walking on sometimes slippery marble until we reached the church at the top of the steep incline. There were some beautifully coloured alleyways along the way. 



The Church of St Euphemia is a rather plain building overlooking the Adriatic Sea and is in the heart of the historic town. The bell tower resembles the bell tower on St Marks’s Basilica in Venice.




We returned to the new town centre down a different steep alleyway and passed many people making the most of a wonderful sunny day dining at the cafes overlooking the sea.




When the tour finished we hurriedly went to find a table at an outdoor cafe in the plaza. By this time we were all thirsty and starving. We had prosciutto and ham rolls chased down with Aperol Spritz. It hit the spot. 



We took a different route back to Opatija and it only took an hour along excellent highways. We had a rest and ventured out to the same restaurant as last night, Roko, as we enjoyed it so much. We had the same waiter and table. Our waiter was in a very jovial mood as his football team had just won the Croatian finals. Outside there were cars honking their horns. We then learned that the fireworks last night was for the arrival of the football team. The waiter warned us that there will probably be fireworks tonight to celebrate the win. He gave us free schnapps to celebrate. 


 It was an early night for us after last night’s disturbed sleep. We’ll see how we go tonight. 




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