Rovinj

Rovinj

We spent our final days in Croatia on the Istrian peninsula.  We stayed in a nice little studio apartment in the city of Rovinj.  Rovinj is on the coast approximately in the middle of the peninsula, and from here we could explore the area very easily. Culturally, Istria presents very similar to Italy.   Of course it was once part of the Roman and Venetian empires, but even today, Italian is spoken widely here and road signs are in both Croatian and Italian.  In addition to Pula and beach time, we managed to fit in a little more exploring:

Grožnjan

We visited the hill town of Grožnjan.  Once you leave the coast in Istria, the elevation goes up and there are many hill towns similar to those we saw when we visited Tuscany. This part of the peninsula is known for its high-quality olive oil, truffles, and wine.  If we weren't driving pass a vineyard, then we were passing large groves of olive trees.  We sampled the local olive oils and supported the local economy by purchasing bottles to bring home. We saw truffle excursions offered so people can watch specially trained dogs find the delicacies. 

We experienced another UNESCO World Heritage Site at the Euphrasian Basilica in the city of Poreč.  This basilica was constructed during the 6th century and has stunning Byzantine mosaics throughout the complex.  It's still in use today as evidenced by the wedding taking place as we were leaving.

Hum

And finally, we visited the "Smallest City in the World" -- Hum.  Apparently, there is a metric used to measure this.  Because there are administrative facilities, facilities for public affairs as well as having its own mayor, Hum, with a population of less than 30, is considered the smallest city in the world.  The couple of folks we saw when we visited proudly proclaim that....as do the souvenir t-shirts.  It gets my vote as the smallest as it was super tiny and you really have to want to be there as it is far off the beaten path.  At least the roads were paved.

We've now returned to Zagreb where we catch our flight home early tomorrow morning. Thanks Croatia for the great hospitality. We truly felt it.