Pula, Rovinj, Opatija, Rejika, Split

Both Pula and Rovinj were sleepy little towns on the coast. Tia and I went on many hikes, walks and runs. We stayed in cozy little apartments that were around a half hour walk out of the town centers. It was nice because many of the days were sunny and beautiful. Of course a few were rainy. We did typically all our own cooking and ate lots of kluskis and polenta. It was nice to relax and just walk through both the towns. We went to wonderful café’s and yes I’ve started drinking coffee. I don’t that it’s more amazing over here but it’s nice to heat up with and people watch. It’s also a large part of the culture and people will spend hours at cafés, it’s never a quick coffee to go like Starbucks. We went to a couple churches but I think the lord see’s me coming and makes sure the doors are locked ha. I’ve yet to go into a church in Europe.

Opatija is definitely more alive than Rovinj and Pula. A little festival was going on here but Tia and I missed the main night by one day, of course. There is the best chocolate shop in Opatija hands down. They have a 5 tear chocolate fountain just for starters. T and I splurged on chocolate and vanilla ice cream covered in fresh whip cream, hazelnuts, strawberries, dark chocolate chunks, and drizzled with dark and white chocolate. I ended up having to order peppermint hot chocolate with a shot of mint liquor. It was heavenly and way too rich. I loved it!

We also took a day trip to Kastav. It was this tiny little town high up in the hills overlooking the coast. There wasn’t a ton up there but we went to the most marvelous restaurant. We ordered spinach gnocchi with a red wine and prosciutto sauce and sausage with fresh cream cheese and walnuts just for the appetizer. For our main dish T and I shared steak with frizzled onions and arugula over golden potatoes and a squid goulash with polenta. Afterward we finished with Belja Kava (latté) and tea. It was a fabulous meal even after having to run to catch the bus on an exceptionally full stomach. Even in Europe when I don’t have a schedule I still am constantly running late.

The Carnival in Rejika was a blast as most of you have seen from the pictures. It’s funny because we asked a bunch of different people why they have this enormous carnival every year and no one could really give us a straight answer. The first night at the hostel I was trying to go to bed early because I was tired, but then this aussie staying at our hostel came and asked if T and I would like to go out to the bars with him. We hadn’t been out in weeks so we agreed. It was really fun. His name was Eddie and we talked about all the differences between our homelands. He was traveling all around by himself and he was going to India soon and had already been to Japan.

The next three nights were similar to one another. Go out to eat at great restaurants (the pizza restaurant was incredible) and then we’d go bar hopping and then to this massive tent set up in the harbor where Croatian bands and DJ’s were playing and dance until we walked back to the hostel. The band the first night was amazing! I love it and had never heard anything like it in my life. It was house music with a trumpet, guitar, saxophone and violin added. It was so crazy and we met tons of great and interesting people. The last day was the best because they had a parade that lasted from noon until 7pm. It was sooo long. It wasn’t commercialized either which was great. It was just big groups of people that came from all over Croatia dressed up and making their own floats. Their costumes were wild. When we finally got back to the hostel I crawled into bed only to be woken up by all our roommates to celebrate one of their birthdays! They made me get up and drink with them and some other guys dressed as Nuns who were also from our hostel. It was so much fun! I didn’t end up going to bed until well past 4am and had to wake up for breakfast at 8am but it was definitely a night I’ll remember.

The next day we headed off on a 9 hour bus ride to Split. The drive was stunning. I cannot begin to explain how beautiful Croatia is. We’ve spent the past 4 days mostly in sun hiking along the beaches and experiencing local cuisine. My favorite was Cevapci. It’s sausage-like meat on warm freshly baked bread with onions and red pepper sauce. I love them. Today was T and I’s last day in Split and we really wanted to hike to the historical park. It was pouring down rain and stormy, but it was worth fighting the wind because when we finally got to the top we could see the entire city and past all the islands. It was incredible. Croatia has been a wonderful place to stay.

For pictures from the festival here is the link to Tia's Facebook Album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=195996&id=637201678&l=cc3cbefdb4