Days 20-23

Croatia

Rovinj, or Rovigno as the Italians would call it, is sometimes thought of as the Little Venice of Croatia. It’s a beautiful place located due east of Venice on the other side of the Adriatic Sea. Unlike Venice, there are no canals, but there is beautiful scenery and the water is clear, warm, and photographic.

It’s here that we learned a few years ago that Klarich (spelled Klaricj here) is a popular Croation last name.  We even heard it’s the ‘Smith’ or ‘Jones’ of last names in this country! 

Several of you know we have been here before.  It’s a great place to relax and enjoy the sea.  We got the same apartment with this great view of the small and quaint harbor.  

Every time we come here it seems better, which is not always the case with repeat visits to other places. Riding bikes every day on a path along the sea is an activity we both enjoy.

It’s not Spain, but the tapas we discovered this time were a new delicious dish from a great little restaurant called Segutra.

It’s still one of the prettier cities we have visited.  Simple things they do with flowers make a simple walk in the old town an occasion.

Three years ago we got lucky and found this great pizza place in Rovinj.  This part of Croatia had been Italian for centuries.

The bigger discovery was Predrag Carlo Lazic.  He was a friendly waiter with a big smile and a love for conversation.  We saw him again in 2011 when we visited our second time.  This time, he generously offered to take us for a ride on his boat to Vrsar, a coastal town about 10-12 miles north of Rovinj as the crow, or seagull. flies.

Boats are parked four or five deep, so first Predrag hopped from boat to boat to get to his, which was in the very last row.

Leaving Rovinj, we were treated to some views of the town we can’t get from the shore.  As Predrag would point out as this picture does, most of Croatia is rock.

The sea was fairly calm, and that made the hour-long trip to Vsrar very enjoyable.  It was calm enough that one us got to enjoy the trip from the crow’s nest.

Once in Vsrar, Predrag took us on a walking tour.  One of the highlights was looking down on the town from it’s highest point, the bell tower.

We walked through both sides of the small seaside town and also enjoyed some local wine and discussion about Croatia and life in general.  

The sun had already disappeared as we left Vsrar and headed back to Rovinj.  On our darkened ride home, we were accompanied by a pod of bottlenose (blue) dolphins!  That made the special trip complete.

It was an evening to remember!  Thank you Predrag!