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Hi everyone,

we are now back to work and real life... Back since over a month ;( It is far beyond time to get back to our holidays and share with you some beautiful pictures of Croatia.. A country that we visited for the first time - Europe has still got surprising destinations for us !
We just loved Croatia, and regretted not to be able to stay longer and see more... It is a country where you've got a bit of everything: beautiful beaches (with pebbles and rocks, careful!), beautiful islands, nice little villages on hills. If you're fond of cultural discovery or if you like chillin' out on the beach and just do nothing : Croatia is a place to discover!
We spent a week in the Istrian region, on the eastern side of the peninsula to be precise, just in front of the Cres island.
We did not do much during this week, and did not move much either. For our first day, we took a boat to the Cres island and visited the biggest town, a nice and beautiful town with tiny streets and old houses - very authentic! From the port of Rabac, where we stayed, it took us 1 hour 1/2 to get to the island, and on the return trip, we had the chance to see wild dolphins playing with each other, jumping over the water etc. It was just magic and "la cerise sur le gâteau" as we say in French (the little surprise of the trip).
Istria reminded me much of other Mediterranean shores, such as Majorca or Italy - the same forests and rocks going abruptly into the sea, the same little villages with colourful houses.
We also visited the town of Labin, the only village that we could reach by bus from Rabac - it was really worth it to spend half a day there: hence we discovered the landside of Croatia, the enormous forests and numerous hills. In Labin we saw quite a few ruined properties, although we were told that Istria was not so much victim of the war.

Istria was quite a good choice because it is very close to Italy as well, a country that we love. We had already been to Rome (I have visited Rome twice, as well as Napoli and Venice) but I wanted to take my man to Venice as well... To be honest, it was the only part of our trip that was quite a disappointment. During the whole organization of our trip, I had awaited this day in the most romantic town of Italy... But once there, romanticism was not really there :( Too much tourists... The San Marco piazza full of people, the tiny streets invaded by the families and groups... I did unfortunately not find the same charm that I remembered from my last visit.

Of course, Venice remains a nice city to walk through, even if you have only four hours to do the whole ... Four hours only let you go through the most touristic and popular places (Rialto, San Marco Accademia). Vicious circle. Anyway, we enjoyed our stay there, we went naively through the streets, following our instinct. We ate a nice gelato and pizze, we strolled from one church to another and took loads of pictures.. A nice introduction to a city, to which we will go back sometime in the winter, with no doubt!

So much for Croatia, and now our next destination is a well-known one: Fès, Morocco. We are heading to Morocco for a wedding, and are eager to get back, even if it is only for three days...

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