Blogs from Rovinj, Istria, Croatia, Europe

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Europe » Croatia » Istria » Rovinj April 14th 2019

In a buffeting wind we drove along the sea coast to the historical city of Pula. Our guide, Branca, rode in our bus for this first half of the day to give commentary and answer questions. Susan asked a series of good questions that informed us about high taxes: VAT at 25 per cent, income tax at 45 per cent, and property taxes, all of which pay for government services, war reconstruction, generous maternity leave, and good health care insurance. Housing costs are high because of demand and supply. Often university education is pursued in Italy, because it is closer than either Zadar or the capital, Zagreb. In the back seat, Gary and Mici giggled over phone photos, conversing in an odd combination of German (Gary knows some, Mici is studying), English (Mici is good at ... read more
Branca, our guide
Spectacular candy store
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 4-5 centuries

Europe » Croatia » Istria » Rovinj June 7th 2018

We had another full day in beautiful area of Istria. We were up and ready to be picked up by 9. Toure drove us about 90 minutes to a different coastal town north of where we are, and it's on the peninsula. It used to be an island, but they filled it in, so now it's a peninsula. The weather was sunny, hot and beautiful. We walked around this town that is very reminiscent of Italy. Venice is actually not that far away, 2 hours by ferry. The streets are all small and wind up the hill to a church. We stopped at spots to look at art and other souvenir shops. We toured the church at the top and then made our way down the other side of the church. The streets are made of ... read more
Rovinj Streets
Rovinj
Rovinj

Europe » Croatia » Istria » Rovinj September 7th 2017

With the weather in Rovinj not looking so good today, we decided to drive to Porec. Porec is located around half an hour away from Rovinj, and has a history dating back to the second century BC, when it was a Roman Town called Castrum. With rain starting to fall, we took shelter in a cafe in Porec and warmed ourselves up with a coffee. By the time we had finished our coffee, the rain has just about ceased, so we headed for the main attraction in Porec, the Euphrasian Basilica. The Euphrasian Basilica dates back to the third century, when the settlement had an organised Christian community. We thought it would be like many of the old churches we had visited on our trips to Europe. Not so. The mosaics are something else to see, ... read more
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Europe » Croatia » Istria » Rovinj September 6th 2017

This morning we were invited for coffee with Johnny, the son of the apartment owner, who wanted to share his insights into the must see sights of Istria. Johnny is possibly in his late thirties and has had MS for sixteen years. Johnny’s mum provided strong espressos to kick start our day, and the advice provided by him was invaluable, even down to the best restaurant in Rovinj and best souvenir shop. We took the apartment bikes and headed for Rovinj to explore the Old Town. There was a cruise ship docked at the pier, and the obligatory farmers market was full of tourists in the main square. We bought some fruit to keep us going through the day, chained our bikes to a lamp post, and proceeded to wander the old cobblestoned streets leading up ... read more
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Europe » Croatia » Istria » Rovinj September 5th 2017

Sadly our stay in Budapest has come to an end. We have almost checked off our list of things to do in this amazing historical city, but there is still so much more that we want to see and experience. Still, Croatia calls and we have a long way to go on our Eastern European odyssey. After packing up our gear and thanking the extremely helpful young ladies at our Budapest Apartment, we were collected by the mini bus for transfer to the airport. We flew to Venice with EasyJet to pick up our Citroen C4 hire car. When we arrived at the counter, our car wasn’t available, so the young lady offered us an Alfa Romeo diesel six speed manual. Do I have to drive an Alfa? Let me think about that for a micro ... read more
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Europe » Croatia » Istria » Rovinj November 26th 2016

As we were getting closer to the end of our adventure in Croatia, I thought that probably we could’ve planned that part of the journey a bit better. Well I could have... There were still quite a few days left before meeting my friends in Ljubljana but I wasn’t exactly sure where to go to next… I checked out a few places in Slovenia and even Italy since we were very close to both borders, but the prices of accommodation were almost two times higher over there! Welcome to Eurozone I guess… Also long bus trips were out of the question (simply had enough of these for a while) so I needed to find something not too far away… It made me think about all these beautiful villages we passed by on the Dalmatian coast… We ... read more
Picking through Arena's windows...
Colours of Rovinj
Beautiful Rovinj

Europe » Croatia » Istria » Rovinj April 12th 2015

What a gift to get up Saturday morning and go out on our balcony and take in the beautiful view of the Adriatic, where the water is as still as glass and the white steeple of St. Euphemia is set against a brilliant blue sky. We are so very lucky. We walked along the water's edge all the way to Hotel Eden, where we were to meet the car rental people. He was there right on time and we picked up our little Chevrolet Spark. Curtis was a little miffed that the lady who had rented a car also got the red Fiat!!! He asked her how she got it and she replied, "I don't know. I just rented a car online and this is what they gave me." Green with envy he said he has ... read more
Sveti Lovrec Gateway
Porec
Novigrad

Europe » Croatia » Istria » Rovinj April 10th 2015

We trudged down to the bus station at 6:30 this morning in order to catch our bus from Ljubljana to Rovinj. As we walked along the streets we were amazed at the number of people already up and about. Upon arriving at the bus station we set down our bags at the assigned post and waited with anticipation. Dozens of highschool-aged kids were getting of the train and walking into town. Evidently school starts at 7:30 am! At 7:10 our big, blue Crnja bus pulled in. We showed our ticket and asked if we had to change buses in Trieste (as indicated on our sheet). The driver said no, that this bus went straight to Rovinj. Thank goodness as we were both a little worried about the transfer, recalling the bus drop off point in Trieste ... read more
Drinks on the Terrace
View from the Bell Tower
Croatian Island

Europe » Croatia » Istria » Rovinj June 23rd 2014

Geo: 45.0831, 13.6457 GÜN 54 GÜNLERDEN PAZARTESİ: Tam karşımızda yer alan Hollandalılar, herhalde babalarından miras kalan kamp yerinde, yayıldıkça yayıldılar ..Himmet edip bize burada bir yer verdikleri için medyunuz.. Ayşecik uyandıktan sonra, kente gidip para bozdurdum. Döviz büroları kafalarına göre bozuyorlar .. Her hangi bir yazılı bildirim yok. Kaçtan bozacağını söylemeden önce sizi bir süzüyor ona göre bir fiyat biçiyor .. En temizi banka da bozdurmak.. Bankada Resmi fiyat 7,57 fakat komisyon muhabbetinden 7.50 den bozdu. Yine de etraftaki sahtekarlara göre daha iyi… Öğlende Ayşecikle, buranın deyimi ile "Bürek" yiyoruz . Yanında muhteşem Ojulsko eşliğinde o kadar iyi gidiyor ki anlatamam../... read more
Rovinj
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Europe » Croatia » Istria » Rovinj June 4th 2014

Here is another blog entry from me to express my disenchantment about my circumstances I find myself in here. The place itself is real beautiful and I like many things here but not the loneliness of not meeting and conversing with different people. Had a fabulous time in Rovinj today. Rented a bicycle to tour around the city and it cost me 30 Kuna for two hours. Had a lovely lunch with sea bass and spinach and potatoes and a mixed salad but the price was also too high for my taste. It cost me 143 Kuna which came to 154 NOK. It was not worth this large price for the food I received. Because I am on a limited budget I must watch every Kuna I spend and make sure this does not get too ... read more




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