Croatia part one...

We are certainly covering a lot of ground in short order. We arrived in Pula early yesterday afternoon and checked in to our Airbnb. The host and his father were there to carry bags and make recommendations - really sweet people. They took us into town and dropped us off at Aligheri's in Dante Square (clever, eh?) where we had a late lunch al fresco.

She looks like an Italian model, doesn't she?

I had only two must see things on the agenda - the Roman floor mosaic and the Roman amphitheater. We really had to search for the mosaic - it was in a filthy back alley and not well marked.

Pula was an interesting combination of old world beauty and Cold War era ugliness. The harbor was full of enormous shipping barges, the entire city smelled alternately of sewer gas and ashtray, but then there were things like this 

Roman arch from approximately 27 BC

Roman Forum

Roman Amphitheater

We checked out early Wednesday morning and headed for Rovinj. What a charming little seaside town! Full of history and beautiful architecture, and a thriving fishing community. We walked the cobbled streets and stopped for a glass of wine in a harborside cafe. Some of the vignettes:

We then took a boat ride down the fjord north of there (don't have the name in front of me) and had an amazing lunch at the Viking restaurant overlooking the fjord.

And Mom says thanks to the girls for the picture! She's missing you.