Pazin is the capitol of Istria yet it is probably the least important city of the bunch. I found the city of Pazin to be relatively uneventful but the fun is not in the city but in the natural wonders around the city. I must have walked 10 miles throughout the whole day. The bus from Pula dropped me off about half-past noon and the first thing I did was look for a bus back. In the summer it seems there are less buses to rural areas like Pazin, because the school season has stopped…I’m still surprised there isn’t more demand for tourism, but I guess that is the way it goes. The thing that attracts people to this city, and has attracted them for years, is the same thing that most people of the area ... read more

Elvis was some one I met through Ivana. They met at a xenophobia prevention workshop in Zadar. I searched for weeks on CouchSurfing for people in Istria, but either they were not responding to anyone or they were not hosting. The night before we left for Zadar she said, oh hey, I have a friend in Pula, maybe he will host you. She contacted him and everything was set up. I got into Pula and met Elvis at the bus stop. He told me about where I’d be staying: a fortress, close to his apartment, he sleeps there in the summer because it is colder in both the day and the night, there is no toilet, and no running water, but everything is close by, and if I don’t like the fortress I can sleep on ... read more

I followed Ivana down to Zadar for her flight to the Netherlands. She was enrolled in a summer exchange for two weeks in several cities around the country. I still hadn’t seen Zadar so I figured I could kill to birds with one stone and stay a night there. I stayed in a hostel, something that is not very cheap in Croatia, but manageable and a guaranteed bed. I left Ivana for her very first flight around 9 and made it to the hostel by 10 but check in wasn’t till 1 so I sat in the lounge and read. We had taken a night bus down to Zadar, so I hadn’t slept in over 24 hours, and was starting to feel it. When I finally got checked in, I was only able to fall asleep ... read more

This castle is one (if not) the best preserved castles in Croatia. It sits atop a hill that over looks the northern region of Croatia and a man made lake below. The castle held a lot of owners in its early years but was later acquired by the Drašković family. They were not kings or queens but simply an aristocratic family that led a good military career and was given the castle as a token of the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s appreciation. The castle is furnished with original furniture all dating from the years in which the family occupied the castle which was about 5 centuries, though the castle and surrounding area were renovated by the D. family in the 1860. Unfortunately we were not able to take pictures in the castle, so I will have to describe ... read more

Nela, a friend of Ivana, invited us to a village that her grandparents lived. It was just outside of Zagreb, maybe an hour and a half drive. On the way we kept seeing stork nests. Recently the Croatian government made a law to pay people for having a nest on their house (I think then to remove it), but we only saw them on telephone poles. When we arrived we were instantly fed, and a lot. Food kept coming, even after we stopped eating. Nela’s grandparents were excellent hosts and really happy to have us. Even though her Grandpa was told several times that I didn’t speak Croatian, he kept talking to me, telling me about his vineyard, the house, the weather, anything that really popped into his head he would tell me about. When they ... read more