Pula, Croatia

We have two nights or one full day in Pula.  Arrival at our Airbnb is very welcoming.  The daughter who speaks English is rushing off to work.  She sings and plays sax while her husband plays a keyboard.  They are usually a duo but tonight is a festival so three other musicians will join them.

Her father 'John' speaks some English, while her mother whom we call 'baba' has no English.  We are invited to the patio.  John pulls out a jug of Croatian wine ... all we've tasted so far are excellent, while baba brings out a platter with chunks of fresh bread, their own olive oil for dipping and big slices of parmesan (Reggiano).   Heaven.

There are 15 olive trees here at the house and they have a farm with 200 more olive trees.  They are proud of an award they won for best Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

We would love to come back in October for picking and pressing.

So the afternoon becomes evening.  We get our bags upstairs and walk to a great little restaurant.

The restaurant uses a kazun as an outdoor kitchen with BBQ.  A kazun is a traditional dry stone, circular, stone building used as a shepherd's shelter.  They also display a traditional batana (explained in the last post).

 There is an enormous BBQ with a spit for roasting a whole pig.  

We have seen many of these as we rolled through the country on buses.

Pula is a stop for us on the way to a seven-night rest in Sali on the island of Dugi Otok.  

What the web says about Pula:

Pula, a seafront city on the tip of Croatia's Istrian Penninsula is known for its protected harbour, beach-lined coast and its Roman ruins. Settled in the prehistoric era and valued for its strategic location, Pula has been occupied, destroyed and rebuilt numerous times.  The Romans, Ostrogoths and Venetians as well as the Allied Forces in World War II have administered the city.

We awaken to rain so don't start walking to the old town until 2 PM.

No, we are not in Rome.  This is the Pula Arena.  

We learn this about it from Wikipedia:

The Pula Arena is the name of the amphitheatre located in Pula, Croatia.  The arena is the only remaining Roman amphitheatre to have four side towers and with all three Roman orders entirely preserved.  It was constructed in 27 BC - 68 AD and is among the sixth largest surviving Roman arenas in the world.  A rare example among the 200 Roman surviving amphitheatres.  It is also the best-preserved ancient monument in Croatia.

There are re-enactments of Roman Gladiator clashes; live theatre and live musical performances by the likes of Pavarotti, Leonard Cohen, Elton John and Sinead O'Connor.

The Roman influence was strong here.  There is also a forum and beside it, City Hall.

 Cobblestone alleys are filled with interesting buildings and architectural features:

This is the most interesting shop by far.  One side sells loose-leaf teas, while the other sells fresh herbs and spice mixtures.  Both are packaged in plastic tubes ... perfect for the traveller.  Up the middle of the shop is candy.

And a traditional Croatian recipe just for you.

There is the Pula Cathedral in the old town, used for worship since ancient times:

We walk the waterfront back.  It's hot and humid.  After dinner, our server gives us a shot each of a wine liqueur from the Istrian Penninsula.  It is delicious, not too sweet and has hints of blackberry and chocolate.  It's so good I photo the label, hoping we can find some to buy:

We have to get a taxi at 04:30 hours for a flight to Zadar.  We get up and find baba is waiting to keep us company until the taxi arrives.  How sweet she is.