Rovinj

June 26, 2011

Rovinj (pronounced “Roh-Veen”, unless you want to try it in Italian & then it's “Roh-Veen-Yo”) was at the end of our road from Plitvice Lakes. Sitting on the west coast of Istria, Croatia's triangular western peninsula, Rovinj is only 1 ½ hours by car from Trieste, 2 ½ hours south of Venice by ferry., and, as it turned out for us, about 6 hours of sightseeing from Plitvice. With Cee again at the wheel and Bee navigating, I could sit back & enjoy the rolling hills and vineyards, small villages, and roadside stands selling homemade cheese and honey.

Yes, of course we stopped and bought cheese, and as Rick Steve's has pointed out, everything in Croatia is expensive. We paid the equivalent of $12 for a half round of cheese, a bargain when we looked back & I had spent $28 on about the same amount of cheese in Korcula. Croatian Kuna, like all the foreign currency, becomes like “funny money” and it is easy to lose track of the actual cost of things in US dollars. Coffee, called white when it is made with milk runs about $2.50-$3.00/cup – no refills. A plate of french fries, nothing special, the kid that are already peeled, cut & frozen in bulk, average $4-$5/plate – size equivalent to a large order at McDonalds. Our lodging, basic, clean & definitely not fancy, is averaging $150-$200/night. We are probably spending about $100 + per day on food ($12-16 for a salad; $16-$20 for a pasta entre; $20-$40 for fish or meat; bottled water is more expensive than beer; Schweppes Bitter Lemon (which Cee & I love) or a coke is about $3-$3.60 at a restaurant; $1.50 in the markets. But I digress. Anyway, I have no complaints...Can't put a price tag on a memory.

We did some unplanned sightseeing in Istria, before we found the town of Rovinj. It is right on the Adriatic, some buildings built right on the sea wall, and very lively at 8pm on a Sunday evening. It has a very Italian feel to it. We did not know how to find our “luxury” apartment, Villa Ernesta, so leaving Cee & Bee enjoying local libations, I went to the nearest hotel in sight and asked for their assistance. I got the Croatian eye-roll & shrug from the desk clerk, who reluctantly telephoned Ernesta and directed me tothe short walk. She charged me the equivalent of $1 for the less than 2 minute call and then lectured me about booking with someplace other than her hotel. Right.

We were a little taken aback when we saw the apartment. It was on the 3^rd floor of a 17^th century building that had been converted to small apartments. We had 2 small balconies, one looking out at neighbors' rooftops, the other looking into neighbors windows. We mainly used the balconies for hanging our laundry to dry and it was nice to have the fresh air. It was a 2-room apartment with a very small bedroom, queen size bed on the floor, small bathroom with shower, and a living room/kitchen with a sofa bed, table & chairs, small tv, and refrigerator. We had air conditioning in the main room. Thankfully. We wouldn't have defined luxury this way, but I guess Ernesta describes it thus. It would be a little off-putting for many Americans. A washing machine was located on the roof of this 5 story building and we spent one whole day washing all our clothes & hanging them to dry on our balcony. We maxed our time by editing photos & creating the text for the blog.

We mostly relaxed in Rovinj, just sightseeing and eating. We had planned to bicycle, but the bikes available were not in good shape, it was hot during the day, and it seemed good enough to just walk through the town, shop at the open air market, look in the shops.

On our third night, over drinks with Ernesta, we settled our bill, talked about chiropractic (there used to be one in Rovinj, but he died), and talked about our trip. Ernesta speaks only Italian, so all her translating is done through her business associate, Vedran, who was very pleasant and had been helpful during our stay.

Wednesday, June 29, found us on the super highway and toll road back to Zagreb to return our car, sight see, and take the over night train to Split.