In Europe public transportation is so much better than in America, but still it can sometimes be difficult without a car. Figuring out our route from Bilbao, Spain to Rovinj in Croatia that didn’t involve 24 hours of travel gave Sara major headaches. In the end we flew from Bilbao to Venice, spent one night in Venice because we couldn’t make the connections work, and then took a long bus ride from Venice to Rovinj. This was no real visit to Venice, since our evening (10/20) was spent double-checking where we had to be for travel the next day, and then one dinner along the canal. So in the end it still took TWO travel days, not one, to get from Bilbao to Rovinj. However, a travel layover in Venice was pretty nice!
Rovinj (pronounced “row- VEEN”) is amazingly photogenic. Everywhere you turn, there is another beautiful sight, whether you’re watching the sunset on the blue Adriatic Sea, hiking a beautiful park or beach along the coast, or navigating the maze of narrow, medieval, white-stone streets in Rovinj’s “Old Town.”
Today, Rovinj is clearly a tourist attraction, so we were glad – tourists that we are – not to be here in the busy season. It was plenty busy enough for us, although the locals were already celebrating and lamenting the drop in tourist traction.
Rovinj goes back to Roman times when the settlement was a small island just off the coast of the Istrian Peninsula, which lies just south of Trieste, Italy. The Venetians took control from the 9th Century until 1797. Rovinj provided a good harbor for shipbuilding and fishing. In 1763, as the city continued to grow, the canal separating the island from the shore was filled. From 1797 to 1918, the region was ruled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the Habsburgs. From 1918 through WWII, Istria fell again under Italian rule. After WWII Croatia was part of Communist Yugoslavia. Croatia declared its own independence in 1991, during the difficult disintegration of Yugoslavia in the early 1990’s.
Istria’s history offers much to explain the mix of cultural influences in Rovinj: Roman, Venetian, Austrian, Balkan. Today, both Croatian and Italian are official languages in Istria. Signs read “Rovinj / Rovigno.” In Rovinj, the languages you are most likely to hear are Croatian, Italian, German, and then English.
Whether pictured from the southern or northern coast, or from a boat on the sea, the island “Old Town” of Rovinj is lovely. On the hilltop sits the huge Church of Saint Euphemia & Saint George with its bell tower rising high above. The statue of St. Euphemia atop the tower shifts with the wind like a weathervane. Surrounding the church is a large park with trees and grass. Below this are the crowded buildings and mazelike streets that lead down to the water itself.
In the midst of this maze was our Air B&B, a third-floor apartment in a building that had to be 500+ years old. The location was great; we could walk easily in five minutes, down to the harbor, to the Green Market, to the main square, or we could climb up to St. Euphemia. We loved walking the streets of the Old Town, for around every corner was a surprise, an artist’s gallery, a small shop selling wines and liquors, a restaurant, café / bar, or souvenir shop. The buildings are all stone, and the narrow roadways all paved with white Istrian limestone used here and elsewhere in Venice and its lagoons.
Marshall Tito Square sits right along the harbor, with tour boats along the water, a small fountain in the center, and beautiful sights along the water looking out at nearby islands. Outdoor restaurants and cafes line the area. We would often select a café, order our coffee, or wine, or gin & tonic, and just sit to enjoy the view. Most afternoons, a saxophone player would set up in the square playing his own version of popular music and jazz. Modern electronics allowed him to carry his own back-up, but the treat was primarily his own saxophone music. Evan really loved the music, reminiscent of Stan Getz and Paul Desmond. We spent some lovely café hours just sitting here, sipping our drinks, enjoying the music, and watching people.
Highlights of our days in Rovinj:
Some great meals: We rediscovered two favorites from our time in the Balkans two years ago: the Schopska Salad of veggies covered with cheese and the Burek, a pastry stuffed with meat or cheese. Sara loved her great seafood in the restaurants. Augusto’s hard-to-find shop was the best coffee in town. Our host Zjelko (I have no idea how to pronounce that) recommended we visit La Vela at lunchtime and ask for the “Marenda,” an inexpensive meal of the day, usually a traditional Croatian meal. We enjoyed this on two occasions and learned that Croatian Gulash is really delicious.
Croatian Wine: We were introduced to Malvasia (Malvazija), a lovely light Istrian wine. We hiked out to a winery vendor and purchased a great Malvasia and a sweet muscatel.
Dune in English with Croatian Subtitles: We watched the new film version of Dune in Rovinj, on the same day it was released in America. We heard the English soundtrack, but the characters sometimes speak in other languages. Since the subtitles here were in Croatian, we missed out on the translation for those lines.
Punte Corrente Park Forest: Walking south from the harbor, we passed some luxury hotels and found ourselves in a beautiful forest park along the water. The views over the water and the islands beyond were spectacular. We passed through an area where serious cliff climbers were at work, and then on to a lovely café/bar on the southwest corner. What a lovely day!
Day Trip to Pula: We set out early on a bus trip to Pula, a larger city about an hour away, with some important historical monuments. After our ride and a café stop, we met our walking tour guide just outside the remains of a Coliseum. Today that Coliseum is a historical site, and occasionally the setting for concerts and performances. We learned a good deal about the life of a gladiator, and then our guide took us around the town where we saw the remarkably well-preserved Temple of Augustus. Surprisingly, the town also features a statue of the Irish writer, James Joyce, who once taught in a Berlitz Language school here.
Boat Trip around the Islands: On our last full day in Rovinj we finally took an excursion from the harbor for a two-hour tour around the nearby islands. The views were great, and we even had an unexpected siting of dolphins. The crew included a social director of sorts, a friendly man with an impressive yellow mustache. We were not long at sea before he took out some unlabeled bottles and began passing out plastic cups. First he offered us a sample of home made rakhia. After that, he came around again with a bottle of Malvasia. He was a jolly fellow who would sing and joke and speak with each group on board – requiring fluency in at least three languages. All great fun.
Chasing Sunsets: On many evenings Sara looked for the best place to capture a magnificent sunset on the Adriatic. As the sunset approached, we would find a place, somewhere along the rocks on the southern or western part of the former island. We shared the rocks, on occasion, with fishermen who liked the dusk, as we watched the boats come and go, and waited. Looking west over the Adriatic, in the direction of Italy, we would hope for that perfect combination of sunset and clouds on the horizon.
