Croatia - Istria
Croatia | Wednesday, July 12, 2006 | 10 photos
Istria is a region in Croatia's north west. This region comprises of a number of gorgeous coastal towns such as Pula, Rovinj and Porec. The towns comprise of cobble stoned alleyways, ancient churches and wonderful coastlines. The area was part of roman rule which is heavily evident in the buildings and churches which make up the towns. My favourite has always been Porec (Por-rech). It's a quaint little town that is so pretty and coastally european that you feel like you have dropped into a picture perfect postcard. The stand out attraction in Pula was definitely the colosseum. Built by Caesar in the early first century it stands as the sixth largest colosseum in the world. During the centuries gone by there were a number of attempts to dismantle, steal or bomb the arena however, through intervention by certain politicians the distruction was always prevented. The colosseum is nowadays used as a concert or festival arena for big name acts such as Bon Jovi (hehe) and most recently Shakira (she is HUGE in Europe!). Rovinj is a bigger version of Porec. Many little cobbled stoned alleyways which you could easily get lost in hide little stores selling homemade Rakija (Croatian Ouzo), wine and really bad personal artwork. It's heavily populated with tourists during the summer season which ruins the quaintness of the town hence my love for Porec. Maria
