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Published: April 28th 2016
Today we visited Rovinj, a coastal town built on land that was once an island, but was connected by a causeway in the 18th century. It has a population of approximately 14,000. You hear a lot of italian here because this area was formerly part of Italy. It is a quint little town like so many other European towns, with the narrow cobbled streets. The houses are tightly crowded down to the seafront. At first sight it reminded us of Venice. I was surprise to see so many bicycles as it is hilly and some of the street are actually stairs. It has a big marina. All around the marina you find restaurants and shops. It also has a market where there are a lot of people selling olive oil among other things. Of all the old towns we have seen this is my favorite so far.
After lunch we continued to Pula. It is the largest city in Istria situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula with a population of approximately 57,000. It has been a strategic port since the time of the ancient Romans. The only site we saw was the 23,000-person amphitheater overloking the seacoast
that is the 6th largest of its kind to be preserved in the world. Our guide was so lively and energetic. She explained to us how the gladiator games were played. Pat became the gladiator, Bob was the emperor. She showed us were the animals were kept, where they were released and also that there were other tunnels were the animals would pop up above ground anywhere in the arena. She was so good you could almost here the crowd roar. We got to visit underground. It was so facinating. Although we only got to see the amphitheater it was worth the trip.
Tomorrow we leave Opatija for Bled, Slovania. Our guide announced that yesterday Bled got 30 cm (12 inches) of snow. She says it should all be melted before we get there. I hope so, nobody brought boots.
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Natalie
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Awesome pics and commentary Danielle! You are giving us a good descriptive walk through the past. I am really enjoying your posts. I am going to share this one with my son who enjoys history. Looking forward to the next site you visit!