Gilbert’s Historical Adventures of the Adriatic – A Sailing Trip to Rijeka

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I always liked Croatia and sailing. Combining both loves with my wife, seemed like a winning combination for our next vacation. We were looking for a town that would allow us to study its historical part. We decided on Rijeka - the place where we were going to explore our newfound interest in history.

We were amazed to find out that this "big" town (in comparison to other European cities) holds so many wonderful treasures. It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea. Because of its history with the Italians, the population of Rijeka uses its own unique version of the Venetian language called Fiumano. Rijeka is the center of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in Croatia. The city's economy is based largely on shipbuilding and maritime transport.

We rented a motor boat from the company SailingEurope, with whom we've traveled before and were very pleased with their services. We were all set to begin our historical journey across the Adriatic!

We approached Rijeka from the north, where we kept a careful watch for commercial traffic entering or leaving the main harbor of Gradska Luka. On the entrance of the harbor we saw a tall lighthouse, painted in white with alternating bands of black. We were getting close to our finish line. Once we had set anchor inside the harbor we continued our travel on foot.

Since Rijeka is mostly an urban city there are numerous things for tourists to explore and witness. One of the best workouts we got, was while climbing the top of the hill of Trsat which overlooks the town. There we found the restored medieval castle as well as the important church of Our Lady of Trsat and a nearby Franciscan monastery. We were starving for some good old fashioned fast food, so we were thrilled that Rijeka is one of the fewer places on the Adriatic coast that has a McDonald's restaurant working day and night. Those sweet calories made us feel just like at home.

One place that we were particular happy to have found was the Peek and Poke Museum of old computers. It's a must see for geeks and computer nerds that want to enjoy a time trip to the 80's. Nostalgia trips, you've gotta love 'em!

Rijeka is mostly a historical place and can sometimes be a bit intimidating to tourists and newer visitors because of being an overpopulated area, but we're certain that you're going to enjoy your stay and learn more about Croatia and its history during your holiday or vacation in Rijeka.

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