Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Rovinj - Pula)

We spent our first night on the Lady Eleganza. The ship itself is well equipped and the cabins are comfortable. Space is obviously at a premium, but there is a queen sized bed (with the weird European doona arrangement), a desk and chair and ensuite bathroom. We have three portholes or pill windows, one of which can open. However, instructions from Cruise Director Nora were not to open the window when at sea and also keep it closed when in port. I guess that means the window stays closed.

The MV Lady Eleganza

The cabins are on the lower two decks. The main deck has the dining room and bar, lounge and open deck at the stern. Above that there are two sun decks, the top one is completely open for the sun lovers and those unafraid of melanoma, and the other has a roof and protection from the sun and contains the spa or jacuzzi. Dinner is sometimes served here. Below the main deck at the stern is the access to the sea. The platform contains two ladders for easy access.

Breakfast is buffet style with cereals, pastries, bread, fresh fruit, bacon and tomatoes, you get the picture, with a separate menu on each table for the egg lovers. The only drawback, dear reader? Coffee. The coffee machine makes the most appalling coffee and the drip filter machine, well, I'm not ready to revisit the 70s unless it's for music.

The town square.

Our first organised shore excursion was a walk through the old town of Rovinj. The old town was initially an island and space for housing was so contested that the channel to the mainland was eventually filled in and Rovinj joined the mainland. We saw ample evidence of the old town wall and gates as we walked the narrow streets. The roadway is constructed from polished limestone blocks and the surface is invariably uneven and slippery when wet.

The first gate to the old town.

Our guide related a history of frequent conquests, from the Romans, through the Venetians, to the Ottomans and the Germans and each new stage has left its mark in both the physical appearance of the place and its customs and languages. The latest iteration is not as a result of a neighbouring conquest, but rather the invasion of AirBnB in which the old town dwellings have been given over to the demands of  tourism and the locals have vacated the antiquated apartments to take up modern residences further away. It might be romantic and quaint to climb rickety stairs to tiny spaces if you are only there for a couple of days but the appeal is not apparent for the modern permanent Rovinj population.   

Now an AirBnB. No lift.

We climbed the narrow winding road towards the church on top of the hill. The main street was lined with shops that were just beginning to set up for the day. There were many outlets selling chocolate and ice cream and a few cafés for the morning coffee and gossip session.

Narrow laneways.

We paused at one point to hear the story of a local man who has been been feeding stray cats for fifty years. As if on cue, he appeared and commenced dishing the most foul smelling concoction into bowls placed near a wall. Naturally, cats appeared from nowhere. The cats are required to keep the rats and mice in check. Allegedly. I've never seen a well fed cat chase anything except a patch of sunshine to rest in.

The cat man of Rovinj.

At the top of the hill was the Catholic church. Croatia is a very Catholic country. The effort required to reach the church would keep me happily in bed on Sunday mornings. The church of St Euphemia has a wooden statue that is covered in copper, adorning the bell tower. Unlike most statues, it is able to rotate in the wind and also acts as a weather predictor. When she faces the sea, the weather will be good, if she turns to the town, the wind is bringing rain and bad weather. Happily she was facing the water today.

St Euphemia is on top.

We went inside the church to see the tomb of the patron saint whose relics will be displayed later this month as part of her feast day celebrations. It was then time to wend our way back down to the main square to reboard the ship, ready for an 11 am departure. Lunch was served soon after we bid the picturesque Rovinj farewell, followed by our daily port talk to fill us in on the afternoon plans for our next stop, Pula.

The ceiling above the tomb.

Love locks and a cannon. Interesting juxtaposition.

We had a leisurely three hours of sailing before we docked in Pula. As we came into the port, the dominant feature was the shipbuilding yard and the rusting hull of a partially completed stock transport ship. Our guide for the afternoon was Nada and it turns out her husband has recently been laid off from the shipyard where previously over 1000 people had been employed. The current workforce is now set at 99, none of whom have the necessary knowledge or skills to actually build a ship - hence the rusting eyesore that now welcomes visitors to the port.

The Roman built arena dominates the foreshore of the town and was clearly visible from the ship and this was our first major stop on the tour. As we made our way there Nada provided a brief history of Pula. Much like Rovinj, there is a history of occupation and shifting borders. In fact, her grandfather was born in Austria, her father in Italy, she was born in Yugoslavia and her children in Croatia - all without ever leaving Pula.

The amphitheatre from the dock area.

The architecture reflected this and there were many examples of Austrian architecture sitting beside Italian and Roman contrasting with the dour building blocks of the socialist period.

Austrian architecture.

The arena, or colosseum as we might (incorrectly) call it, is in very good condition given it's 2000 year history. It is not as large or as grand as the one in Rome but it is one of the best preserved in the world. We walked the sand floor of the arena to tales of gladiators, male and female, and explanations of how the canvas roof worked. In its heyday it seated 23,000 screaming spectators. Today it is used for more peaceful pursuits, opera and music concerts.

The opera stage is to the left.

Underneath the stadium is chamber containing relics, amphora that were discovered in shipwrecks and also unearthed on land. There was also a wine press to produce wine for sale to the spectators. The other major exhibit was a Roman map that showed the distance between destinations, measured by travel time in horse and cart.

The wine press.

Back out into the sunshine, we walked the old town and stopped to observe old town gates and other reminders of the Roman days. Like Rovinj the roads were limestone blocks and some of the side streets were steep and slippery with polished limestone. I could imagine local kids sliding down the streets on wet days. 

Fun on a wet day.

In the middle of the old town shopping precinct sat a café with one table occupied by a seated statue of a man, seemingly enjoying a coffee. It turns out the celebrated author, James Joyce, lived in the building atop the café while he made ends meet teaching English. Apparently, he was not a fan of Pula, which is okay because we are not fans of his literary pursuits either.

The gate near Joyce's lodgings. They should have locked him out.

As far as the commerce of the town goes, there were the usual souvenir and ice cream shops as well as handcraft places and café. The Euro has only been the official currency of Croatia for three years and while its introduction was billed as a good thing for the economy, its people are not so convinced since inflation has skyrocketed by over 50% and wages have not followed suit.

We finished the tour at the City Hall, an Italian construction sitting beside the Temple of Jupiter. And that really sums up Pula, it is a town that represents it historical eras through the architecture.

The Temple of Jupiter.

City Hall.

We took our time walking back to the ship having exhausted pretty much what was on offer except sitting down for a coffee or glass of wine and we could do the latter back on board.

Dinner was served on the upstairs open air deck, a Croatian specialty, squid ink risotto with prawns. Entrée was tomato broth with celeriac and dessert, chocolate cake. You never go hungry on an APT cruise.

The shipbuilding yard is not so ugly at night.

The arena under lights.

Sunset from Pula.

The arena at dusk.

I honour of all the civilisations that dominated Croatia at varying times throughout history today's title, Everybody Wants to Rule the World is by Tears for Fears from 1985.

Until tomorrow.

Trains and boats and planes (Zagreb-Rovinj)

Yes, dear reader, trains and boats and planes, but not in that order. It was planes and train and boat, the last two singular. It is, however, a suitable title for this post as we travel to Rovinj from Zagreb, by coach, not mentioned in the song. The song, a Bacharach composition was a hit for Billy J Kramer before Dionne Warwick in the mid 60s. I've opted for the former version, here, because that's what we have on some old compilation album at home.

Today the excitement is almost too much, another funicular ride. Four cities, four funicular, but first breakfast. We returned to the market and the café offering "breakfast/brunch". Winner. There was one table vacant which we happily occupied. This was most serendipitous as we watched many other people arrive and wait for a table. Hardly surprising if you wanted something more substantial than coffee for breakfast. This place was a rarity.

The menu was, as expected by someone who does not like to eat eggs, dominated by egg dishes. Jayne of course opted for an omelette with goat's cheese and mushroom. I selected the bruschetta. It was made with a thick sourdough base, basil pesto, fresh tomatoes and the creamiest burrata I've ever eaten. And espresso, in my case, a double.

A farmer names his produce.

As today was a transit day, a good breakfast was essential. Sated, we set our course for the funicular. It is the shortest funicular ride in the world and lasts only 64 seconds. Let's not make cheap comparisons, dear reader, 64 seconds can seem like an eternity - depending on the situation. Sorry, I am distracted.

We walked through the main square to the bank that Google promised charged a smaller fee for withdrawal, €3,80 it reported. Not true although it was marginally cheaper, it was €5, hardly a saving as opposed to €5,31. Surely Google couldn't be wrong? Anyway, money in wallet we walked around the corner and down the street to the funicular. 

Into the street, we looked to the funicular that climbed the short distance to the base of the Tower. But, it didn't look right. Something was wrong. Could it be the workmen occupying sections the funicular track? Or the digger at the base of the climb? Noooo. The funicular, like much of Zagreb, was under repair.

Tragedy. No ride today.

Shattered we turned for the hotel, my dream of four funicular rides in four consecutive cities lying broken in the rubble at the base of the climb.

Back at the hotel we completed packing and at the appointed hour, 12pm, checked out and dragged our bags the 15 minute walk back to the station and the Hotel Esplanade. We arrived early and the foyer was filled with waiting people, most of whom, as it eventuated were APT customers waiting for the same bus as us. If you're ever in Zagreb the Hotel Esplanade is worth a look, it is opulence on steroids, a curiosity from a bygone era. Over the top luxury? Absolutely.

The replacement bus arrived, the original had some mechanical issue and we commenced our journey to Rovinj about an hour late. We had two brief stops en route and were regaled by our guide with tales of import regarding the local area. The most fascinating of which concerned Rijeka, a beautiful coastal city. Apparently the big tourist concern here is dental. Yes, that's right, dear reader, dental tourism. Admittedly it's not a cost effective option from Australia, but from Italy ...  absolutely.

Another interesting story was that the stone used in building the White House in the US was limestone mined on the island of Brač. I was not convinced at the time and have since checked numerous sources. It is, of course, not true, but is a widely held and popular belief here in Croatia. This story was softened a little by a later guide who suggested it was just the columns of the White House that originated in Croatia. Still a myth. Imagine if it was true, Trump would have the building torn down and rebuilt with locally mined stone, good old US stone.

Rovinj from the ship.

I thought I'd make an offer on this little number.

We arrived in Rovinj about an hour later than expected, in part due to a significant traffic jam caused by the construction of a new road tunnel. We walked through parts of the old town to where the Lady Eleganza was docked. We had drinks while we waited for our bags to be taken to our cabin. Then we unpacked, well, removed the packing cells and placed them on the shelves in our wardrobe.

Rovinj is one of those places that gets under your skin, immediately. Even from the afternoon walk from the bus to the ship I felt comfortable. The sun was shining, people seemed happy, everyone was friendly and it is so, so beautiful. The water is crystal clear. It would be easy to waste your life here just swimming and eating at one of the many restaurants or cafés.

By then it was time for welcome drinks, the meet the crew, a briefing, and dinner. In typical APT fashion, it was superb. Local wines served with salmon tartare, duck à l'orange and blueberry cheesecake. I can feel my waistline expanding already.

After dinner, when most other guests had departed for bed, we had a chat with the cruise director, Nora, who is going to  provide us with suggestions on what to do in Barcelona, a place she has frequented.

The ship stays in port tonight.

Until tomorrow.

Uptown Girl (Zagreb)

We were warned on arrival by Luca, one of the Art'otel workers, that Zagreb is the capital of Croatia but it is "not big like Canberra". In essence, dear reader, it is divided into the original old town areas of Lowertown and Uppertown and then there is new Zagreb, built after the 1960s. Luca maintained we could see it all in one day. Perhaps, but we don't like to rush. Yesterday, most of the day was spent on foot exploring our end of town, Lowertown. Today we are going all Billy Joel and visiting the Uppertown, or as he would say, Uptown Girl. That song was released in 1983, goodness, time flies.

Flowers everywhere

I'm still not comfortable with the breakfast culture here, but we purchased our pastries at Mlinar and then located a table at a nearby café and ordered our coffee. Again, the coffee was excellent. My pastry not so, half of it remained stuck to the bag. I blamed the sour-faced person who served us. She had one of those faces that made you think you were serving her. While we were enjoying breakfast, a very heavy rain shower swept across the area to the surprise and bemusement of the many locals seated around us.

Outside the Cathedral.

The Uppertown area is not as large as Lowertown and everything is significantly closer. Once the rain had stopped, we set out for Zagreb Cathedral. As you can see from the picture below dear reader, it was closed for renovation. Major renovation it would appear. The old town ramparts next to the Cathedral were also inaccessible. A pity, they looked quite interesting. Apparently many of the renovations are due to the earthquake from March 2020. It also explains the many buildings that have cracked and missing render.

The Cathedral under wraps.

From the Cathedral, we moved to the open air markets. In Ljubljana, they would be called covered markets because they used the same umbrellas to protect the stall holders from the elements. Again the produce looked a picture, fresh fruit and veggies as far as the eye could see. There was a stall of dried and candied fruit that was attracting every wasp and bee in the area.

The ramparts.

As we walked through the markets, I noticed a café that offered breakfast and brunch. Duly noted for tomorrow's breakfast. There was also the ubiquitous coffee and alcohol service next door. Like Slovenia they seem to start drinking early here.

The markets.

The map we scored at the Visitor Information Centre was not totally accurate in that it didn't show every street or even name them. The result was some educated guess work and a blending of information with Google maps.

A peasant woman at the markets.

We continued beyond the markets and came across, 'eat street'. It was the other side of the old wall that separated an already divided community. The street was lined with restaurants. Obviously this is the place where people come to eat. At this time of the morning there was very little open and those places that were, were serving alcohol of course. 

The dividing wall.

The street itself used to be a stream and was once lined with watermills. These are long gone but, in a link to the past, there are gas lamps in this area, around 200 of them, that are still hand lit every evening. We wandered down the quiet street; it would obviously come alive at night. We already had dinner reservations otherwise we would have returned here at night.

One of the gas lamps.

Next we crossed the "Bloody Bridge" which is no longer a bridge but a street. It was the site of many battles between the two opposing communities. The bridge is gone but it's name has remained. From there our map led us to a statue of St George and the slayed dragon. I'm tempted to read up on St George as I'd always associated him and his fictitious exploits with medieval England. However, it appears he is very popular in both Slovenia and Croatia. To Slovenia's credit, their St George actually battled a pretty scary looking winged dragon. The Croatian version slew a giant salamander - well that what the statue look like.

Ooh, a salamander. I mean dragon.

The old city gate.

Our path continued around the brave knight and his dead salamander to the a city stone gate that dates back to 760. It has become a place of pilgrimage for religious locals. In the alcove is a altar dedicated to Mary. There is a counter where you can buy a candle to light and place on the altar. The walls are lined with what look like funeral plaques, many commencing with the word "hvala", Croatian for thank you. That's pretty much the extent of my language knowledge so I have no idea what the rest of the inscriptions read.

The altar at the shrine.

In an attempt to find another point of interest, we discovered St Mark's. The surrounding streets were cut off, some by renovation work of nearby buildings. The roof of the church is covered in vivid glazed tiles depicting the Croatian coat of arms. Quite spectacular.

Impressive.

Given the street closures, we decided to head back towards the main square in search of some other attractions that were marked on the map and happened across the Museum of Broken Relationships. Our intention had been to visit in the afternoon, but since we were at the door, we went in.

The explanation for the museum.

The museum is small, maybe five rooms and the exhibits are generally small, but it is well worth visiting. Each exhibit is accompanied by an explanatory story mounted alongside. There are stories from many places, mostly Europe with a few from Asia and three or four from Australia. Read Melbourne. Now what does that say about Victorians? Every story, bar one perhaps, tells the story of a relationship breakup. Some involve the death of a relative or friend, but most are about romantic break ups.

One of the exhibits.

There were never look back stories, tales of still broken hearts, unrequited love and my favourite ones, the vindictive, cathartic revelations of destruction. There was a video tape of a second wedding and the children of the first marriage smashed, shot, drove over and set fire to the tape. I'm not sure they had moved on.

While we were in the museum, it turned 12pm and the earth moved. The Tower fires the cannon everyday at this time as it has done for centuries. It is extremely loud and frightening if you are in proximity and unprepared for the noise.

Around the corner was a viewing platform. We think it was near St Catherine's but aren't 100% certain. This provided limited views over Zagreb. It was then time for our regular rest and review so we adjourned to a café for a beer.

Locks are as common as funicular.

Our next target proved elusive and the street not so safe. It was narrow with little protection afforded to pedestrians and the cars sped along within centimetres of us. We turned and headed back down to where we had been and followed a set of stairs down to another street looking for the 'tunnel'.

The tunnel entrance.

The Gric tunnel is 350 metres in length and is a former air raid shelter. It is now used to link different parts of the city. It is also used as an exhibition space at times. We had looked for the tunnel earlier, unsuccessfully. and when we emerged at the other end we noted that we had walked straight past it. The entry appeared to a covered walkway into an ante area in front of a building. 

The tunnel.

The funicular and Tower that were next on our list were near to there so we returned to the tunnel and retrace our steps to the only side exit that remained open. This deposited us on the main street, close to the funicular and the Tower. The afternoon was wearing on and we had little to do tomorrow morning so we decided to head home. The funicular ride, the shortest in the world at 64 seconds, would be the highlight of tomorrow morning. Zagreb is the fourth city we have visited this trip and this will be our fourth funicular ride.

We stopped at the a bank on the way home to cash up before the Croatian coastal cruise commenced (I love a bit of alliteration). I tried one bank yesterday and they were going to charge me over €5 to withdraw money from the ATM. Today I tried a different bank who were also going to charge in excess of €5. $10AUD to make a withdrawal. Ridiculous. Especially if you're bank was then going to charge an overseas transaction fee. Fortunately my bank doesn't, but I'm checking Google for the cheapest rates. The remainder of the afternoon was spent blogging, processing photos and watching the Vuelta as unpredicted showers developed, happily endorsing our decision to head home early.

Coffee? No food.

Dinner that night was in the hotel at Yezi, a dim sum restaurant with a fine dining twist. The food was exquisite. Dim sum like I've never had before. It certainly was in contrast to our experience in Hong Kong. Who'd have thought we'd eat dim sum in Croatia? Once again the food was reasonably priced, dinner for two with a bottle of wine was under $200AUD. I'd eat there again.

Tomorrow we have the funicular to look forward to before a transit day to the Rovinj on the coast where we board our boat, the MV Lady Eleganza.

Until tomorrow.