June 17 - Rovinj and Motovun

Rovinj and Motovun

We got to watch the US soccer game vs Ghana at midnight last night, which means we slept in a bit and spent a lazy morning soaking in all of Rovinj, doing some souvenir  shopping and getting some more bread and salami from the store for lunch.  Because the old town is much smaller than Dubrovnik, we could see the whole thing in a few hours.  That left us the afternoon to do something else – either take a boat to two islands that are connected by a bridge, or head for a village in the country on the top of  a hill.  Because it was mostly cloudy and I hadn't found a European Speedo to wear on the islands, we opted for Motovun.   If we ever come back, we’re going to the islands though.... with that Speedo.

We drove north for about an hour, past a fjord (Norway in Croatia too apparently) to a cool little town at the top of a steep hill called Motovun (moto-voon).  This is truffle country as well, so we learned a lot about hunting truffles (there are black and white truffles).  The city of Motovun had some incredible views.  I’ll just let the pictures do the talking.  

Overall, a very beautiful area, again with lots of variety in the landscape at fairly short distances.  We’re glad we have the car, even if it means taking wrong turns and getting a little lost.  There are not nearly as many buses in this part of Croatia, so it would be difficult to trek outside of the city.

Rovinj - Old town

Lots of great stained-glass in the Rovinj cathedral

Like Dubrovnik and Korcula, very much a city that is also being lived in.  Hard to see, but a lady hanging her laundry on the covered balcony.

The Rovinj lighthouse

Motovun

Motovun bell tower and chapel

The gates into the city.  Notice the balcony on the second floor.  This is where the citizens would pour boiling water or oil onto intruders trying to break into the city.  Watch out Jen!

Black truffles are in season.  Each one probably cost about $50.

Goodbye Motovun

Hello again, Rovinj

Enjoying the sunset on the rocks

A few other things we've been meaning to mention:

Ice Cream (Sladoled) update:  the past few days we've tried coconut, pannacotta, nutella, and snickers.  We've tried so many flavors that it's getting hard to keep track of them all.

Things we've seen here that are different from home (not in a bad way, just observations).  We mention them only because that is what makes travel so interesting - seeing how different cultures do things differently.

1) While driving up the coast, we saw a number of sedans pulling camping trailers- BMW, Mercedes, Audi, and all the other less expensive brands.  Obviously the trailers are not as big as some of the ones we see at home, but it has been surprising to see them pulling campers with the smaller cars/sedans.  I guess Tyson and Calley can get a trailer now and pull it with his Toyota.   They also have a different looking hitch to hook up the campers to the cars, which you can ask me about when we get home.  

2) We have only seen 1 pickup truck, which was obviously owned by someone very rich (pulling a huge boat behind it).

3) Parking is different - since the streets are very narrow, it is ok to pull up onto the sidewalk to park.  And if a car needs to stop to run something into a store, they just stop in the road and turn on their hazard lights.  Driving is a bit different too.  As I mentioned earlier, most of the intersections do not have street signs.  And folks use their horns a lot more.  No turns on red, and the yellow light turns on between red and turning green.

4) the size of everything - everything in europe is so much smaller. The cars are just the beginning - no SUVs at all.  There are also no Costco-sized packages.  Even the drinking glasses are much smaller than at home.  This probably is one of the reasons why everyone is fit and skinny here - 4 oz of juice is what they pour for us, but they only take a small sip for themselves. Although I must say that the personal sized pizza for dinner has been difficult to finish, as have been some of the other dinners we have ordered.  The point though is that at home it feels like there is an emphasis on 'bigger', 'now 30% more', 'footlong sandwiches', super sized everything etc. We definitely live in a culture of excess.  I think I prefer the simplicity and size of things over here in Europe.