Ah Rovinj, Rovinj, Rovinj… What a wonderful, romantic,
relaxed, beautiful, friendly and absolutely gorgeous town! As if you haven’t
already guessed we have totally fallen in love with Rovinj. We are already
planning how and when we can return.
Our apartment is in a block of three and we have shared it
with the Lanes, the Blacks and the Bodycombs, all friends from Australia,
during our two week stay. We are right in the centre of the old town, which is
pedestrian access only and a short walk to the fruit & veg market, the fish
market, the butchers, the bakeries and the cheese shop. Everything is at our
doorstep and the children have been free to come and go as they please. Eva has
even, this morning, taken herself to the Post Office to send a card to Zoe!
Planning meals – a high priority on this trip so far – has
been an absolute pleasure here. After breakfast we pop down to the markets and
see what there is. Everything is local and freshly picked and if you arrive
late then you miss out. The locals are very generous and always throw in a pod
of garlic or a couple of chillies. I’ve been practising my Croatian on our
‘fruit man’ and can now greet, exchange pleasantries and order without using
English although some pointing is required. There are lots of grubs and no
uniform sizes and the best thing is the flavour – the sweetest carrots and
beans, plums and tomatoes so ripe they are fit to burst, delicious waxy
potatoes – yummy yummy yummy. We only need to buy what we need for the day so
most things never see the inside of a fridge. The fish market is a blast too
with a daily catch from the local fisherman. We have had mussels, local sea
bass, scampi, prawns. Oh, and the squid is pretty damn fine too. The local
prsut (ham) is yum and picek (chicken) is cheap and good. We haven’t bought
much fresh meat after seeing a butcher that sells horse flesh! But we did have
some excellent mince made up for us from beef, veal and pork. We’ve shared some
great meals with all our friends – marnies mussels, rotisserie chicken a la
murray, james’ pasta e fagioli and loads of vino, cheese, salami, tomatoes and
bread.
And don’t get me started on the bakery! We have replaced
pizza (although there is a fantastic pizza place here which we have been to a
few times) with bureks. They are layers of filo pastry filled with cheese or
meat and are delicious and filling at $1.50 each! Then there is scrumptious
apple strudel, krafen (doughnuts) filled with jam, apple or chocolate. We buy
fresh bread everyday and eat all of it! There are salty rolls, cheese rolls,
piroshki with jam, cheese or mak (poppyseeds). Sometimes it is a struggle to eat as much as we want in a
day.
We have adopted a bar on the waterfront and the barmen
treats us like family. We go there most days around 6pm for a pre dinner drink
and to watch the sun sink into the Adriatic. We have 100’s of sunset photos.
The Adriatic is crystal clear and still like a lake and the
water is warm. The places we don’t walk to we bike ride - mostly around to the
beaches along the south side where there is a huge park. We have even managed a
couple of day trips to Pula, Porec and Sveta Vincenat in the car. The kids now
whine ‘do we have to drive?’ instead of ‘do we have to walk’!!
The feature of this town though is Sveta Eufemia, a magnificent
church that sits on the highest point overlooking the sea. It is in the centre
of the oldest part of the town with the narrow, smooth stone paved streets
winding there way up to the church. This part of town was actually an island
until the narrow strip of water was filled in and became the town square. There are lots of artists working and
selling their work in the little streets. We have swum under Sveta Eufemia’s
watchful gaze on the rocky edge of the old town where you jump off the rocks
into the sea.
Tomorrow we farewell Rovinj and make our way down the coast
to Split and the island of Brac to spend a few nights with the Nankovic’s (more
friends from home) stopping on the way in Crikvenica to visit with Maté an old
family friend of the Sestak’s.
If the rest of Croatia is a stunning as Rovinj we might
never leave!
PS: We spent last night in Crikvenica and discovered another
fantastic coastal town. Ankica fed us shnitzel and cabbage rolls, both
delicious. Their house is just behind the promenade along the wide beach front.
Another place we shall have to return to! Today we followed the coast road to
Zadar. The scenery was spectacular. Rocky and sparse as if we were above the
snow line with the sea just below us. Split tomorrow and then Brac!
