After 3 days staying at the least known place on earth called "Lukovo Sugarje" I had more Croatian beauties to explore heading North so the peninsula of Istria was next. I really enjoyed the first km by the sea on great tarmac but I definitely didn't enjoy the lack of it later when on a straight I was doing 100km/h or so when...it was suddenly pure gravel without any warning signs. Glad I kept the rubbers down but my spirit was not that much up after this. Scenic coastal km around Karlobag and Rijeka later on my way looked quite lovely. For sure same did my route on Istria heading for my next AirBnB except it rained a lot during the last part till I arrived at Marcana for my stay. This was meant to be one of the most Value For Money AirBnB ever if not the sole most VFM. I had a brand new, fully equipped, pristinely clean, spacious apartment and my hosts were the loveliest family possible. They welcomed me with a fantastic BBQ which was more than welcome for a hungry biker on a Sunday (all closed).
They also offered shelter to my iron horse in their barn:
And the view from the balcony wasn't too bad either:
I stayed there for a couple of days and the weather fortunately cleared up. Actually became just perfect making touring around Istria such a joy but a dilemma too: "where to go first?". Rovinj won this contest and I must admit I was very impressed by this seaside gem:
The Italian influences on this part of Croatia are more than obvious and Rovinj felt as cute as it gets. I leave it behind to ride South East in order to visit Pula while during a stop outside Vodnjan a grasshopper decided to be my travel companion for the rest of the route:
Pula is a nice little word with different meanings in various languages. An Indonesian uses it to say "also", a Greek in order to say "sell", a Romanian to call his boss (means "dick"). In my case it was one more nice part of my trip. The local arena was more impressive than I expected:
A great long day riding and walking around Istrian beauties came to an end so I rewarded myself in a classic way as soon as I came back to my AirBnB at Marcana:
I also came up with a one off recipe which came up quite delicious. I've never tried it before or after but here it is in case anyone's interested:
"Fresh Tortellini Oresti ala Croata":
Carrots, ginger, parsley, potatoes from my host family, fresh tortellini with 4 cheeses. Boiled all together (except the parsley and ginger) for 15 minutes (I put the tortellini 5 minutes later). A bit of olive oil on the dish, cut some parsley and ginger on top and...bon apettito!
A nice ending to my nice days around West Croatia. Riding around this country was such a joy. Next morning though I had more North ways to go - it was time for Slovenia.
Fancy following?
Stay tuned for part 4!
