Onwards to Pula!

Well I'm a Dutchman! At least Mr B is according to his 'new' ACSI card since ours was transposed with someone else's at Polidor. This discovery slowed down our departure somewhat, until a document could be produced by the staff (in Croatian, Italian and German) to show our next campsites that we were still members - just with someone else's card!

So far, so good, as we write this from our second site since then, and it hasn't been an issue.

Leaving Polidor a little later than planned, we decided to take a more direct route to Pula, stopping for a walk at the Dzamonja sculpture park near Vrsar, all metal orbs and granite and marble blocks, instead of the inland village trip we'd originally planned – something for the return trip perhaps.

Not one to appreciate the nuances of modernist sculpture, Mr B was more enamoured of the abundant poppies and rural idyll to be found right outside the entrance.

The drive south was an easy hop and in one village, there were more pigs and sheep slowly roasting on spits by the roadside than you could shake a stick or basting brush at. Clearly a hotspot for coach trips (as we saw in the carparks) it was none-the-less something we fancy at some point in Istria or northern Dalmatia – some clichés are just too good not to be eaten!

Arriving in Pula early, we had plenty of time to explore Camping Arena Stoja and choose a pitch. Choice with ACSI is restricted here to woodland pitches (i.e. not the prime beachside ones) and we found ourselves sharing with the jays, blackbirds, thrushes, martins and hooded crows in the forest, as well as a visiting hedgehog of an evening, and of course, the by now inevitable Scops owls once dusk fell. As an added woodland bonus, we also had hundreds of weird abseiling caterpillars that descended from the trees on silken threads – every evening – at gin-o’clock!

Although we were denied the fabulous direct views from the beachside pitches, we decided that our views were pretty good all the same, and after all, it wasn’t more than a short walk to catch the wonderful sunsets…

Our primary reason for being here, however, was to up the culture intake after lazing at Polidor, and in particular one of Croatia’s most iconic landmarks, the 1^st century BC Roman Amphitheatre, the sixth largest in the world and in pretty good order. A short bus-ride from the campsite and only 11HRKpp, the bus dropped us near the main municipal market. Keen to see what was on offer (a useful insight to what locals are buying and what the restaurants had access to) we were impressed with the range of neatly presented fruit and veg, but less so by the limited range of non-farmed fish. This is the second fish market we’ve seen and the majority of fish on sale are farmed – so we’re hoping Croatia’s reputation as a must-go-to fish-frenzy destination is awaiting us further along the coast!

We left the market with possibly the most expensive bunch of wild asparagus (about £5 for maybe 20 little fronds) – but it was delicious – slightly peppery and sharp – and a first for us. We also bought local cherries and a half litre of local olive oil – unlabelled, so a bit of a risk but very nice all the same. Olive oil is heavily promoted as a local product on the Istrian peninsula, but we are still a little bemused by all the fuss. It’s nice enough but seems to lack the individual varietals and flavours that we’ve become so fond of in Spain.

After the market we made our way to the amphitheatre, adjacent to the main port area of Pula and a truly impressive sight.

Having had a year off from big scale Romano/Greek monuments since our trip to Italy/Sicily in 2015, Mr B was on a mission to soak up the atmosphere in the arena – famous not only for its ancient scenes of gladiatorial combat, but also for live performances by a wide variety of artists.

Baking under the 30 degree sun, it was easier to feel the tension of mortal combat than the chill-out sounds of many of the arena’s more contemporary performers that have graced what must be an outstanding venue to see a live performance in. As we wandered around and appreciated the space and grandeur (helped by relatively few other tourists) we headed over to the entrance to the well-preserved underground part of the arena. Used in antiquity to house animals, gladiators and assorted folk destined for a brief moment of death or glory, it is now given over to an exhibition of wine and olive oil making and storage from Roman times – thanks largely to the substantial number of amphorae discovered here.

Emerging from the gloom of the subterranean basement, we headed off to find somewhere to eat. We’d started our wander near the market and as usual, Mrs B had spotted a ‘konoba’ with a set lunch offer, where many of the locals seemed to be eating – and so we headed there in preference to the plethora of obviously more touristy places that looked to offer near identical menus to each other.

Causing a few quizzical looks as we entered (there didn’t seem to be any other tourists at all) we were greeted in the now customary German (the vast majority of visitors to Istria seem to be German or Austrian), to which Mr B had his well polished if doubtfully accurate Hrvatski response, asking if anyone speaks English.  And after some behind the scenes shouting, the chef emerged and greeted us in English – to which we added some sketchy Hrvatski in order to order our lunch – no menu, just a choice of three dishes.

And what a delight that was – a pork and rice combo and a goulash and pasta one that were nowhere to be seen on the other menus we’d passed but both of which were (according to our Rough guide) authentically Istrian. Washed down with some local pivo (beer) we left feeling suitably full and pleased that we’d made the effort to make an effort to find local food.

We’d read about the not often visited Austro-Hungarian fort at the top of the town and fancying a chance to get a different view of the amphitheatre as well as the famous (illuminated at night) cranes of the dockyard, we made the slow but steady climb through the old town to the fort. Dominating the view over the harbour, the fort was a useful reminder of the position Pula played as the key naval base for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

By chance, we also discovered a museum in the fort dedicated to Croatia’s anti fascist movement before, during and after WW2. It was a fascinating insight into what led both to the creation of the former Yugoslavia under Tito, and also some of the competing interests that created the powder keg that became the ‘homeland war’ of the early 1990s.

Replete with enough depressing but timely-reminder-ing history, we couldn’t resist a dip into a contemporary exhibition about sexuality, featuring the male and female way of accepting the topic of sex, sexuality and eroticism in Istria, from ancient times to the present day, called ‘The Bird in the Bush; the Covered and the Exposed in Istria’s Sexuality’.  Quirky, interesting and humorous, the exhibition was an unexpected treat.

On our way back down to the bus stop, we also spotted this intriguing and clever way of accessing water for building works – and paying for it with a portable meter!

Preparing for our return to Camping Arena Stoja, Mr B’s growing confidence with his Hrvatski was soon dealt a body blow when we stocked up on some fresh bread before returning to the van. Launching into his well versed  “I’m sorry, I don’t speak much Croatian – can I have half a loaf (soft) please” he was given short shrift and a fluent reply in English along the lines of – ‘if you are going to speak Croatian you might as well learn how to pronounce it properly’ by the woman in the bakery. Suitably chastised and muttering his now re-worked Hrvatski, Mr B practised for the return journey by bus, drawing some interesting glances as we waited at the stop.

Returning to the campsite after a quick stop for a lemon ‘sladoled’ by the imposing Arch of the Sergians (30BC) we decided that as Croatia is famous for its sunsets, we ought to make an effort to see some more, so we wandered over to a vacant prime pitch where we watched the sun go down before dinner and reflected on just how much we were really starting to appreciate the Croatian vibe… Of course the largely good weather we’d enjoyed for the past few days may have had something to do with this!

And to finish the day, we had our first foray into van-cooked Croatian food – a seasoned pork loin oven roasted with veggies and white wine – a recipe shared with us in the supermarket by a friendly local woman who spoke a lot more English than we did Hrvatski!

Of course, all good clichés have to come to an end, and the next morning greeted us with some light rain as we packed up to head up the east coast of Istria to catch a ferry for a bit of impromptu island hopping…

S&J.

Of Poreč and Pirates

Our Rough guide chapter on Istria had highlighted the port town of Poreč, just a few kilometers from our campsite near Funtana, so we thought we’d have a look. As we followed yet another scenic, but direct-route-deviating peninsula on our cycle route north, we soon realised that a short distance (as the crow flies) and a short ride, would soon mean very different things.

This part of the Croatian coast is blessed with dual-purpose cycle/walking tracks that (often literally) follow the coastline. They are interesting for lots of reasons: the scenery right on the rocky coast can at times be outstanding; they are a lovely way to explore in a hot climate, as for much of the time they cut through woodland that runs right to the shore’s edge; they pass many photogenic sights (some of which are helpfully signposted as such, in case budding photographers were unsure of where to best take a good pic); they pass plenty of bars/cafés etc, most of which are just setting up at this early-ish part of the season; and, intriguingly, they also cut through campsite and hotel grounds that let onto the seashore. As far as we could tell, this is a legal requirement to allow public access, so long as you don’t try and sell anything! We’ll see how this pans out as we travel more of the Croatian coastline, but it’s an interesting approach to balancing a public ‘right to roam’ the coastline, with commercial interests that want a piece of the coastline for their guests.

After a good hour of zigzagging our way along the wooded shore, with the Adriatic shimmering invitingly on one side, we arrived at the port of Poreč. We were struck immediately by the posh motor cruisers moored up, the dual language signs (it’s also known by its Italian name of Porenzo) and the absence of the hordes of ice-cream wielding tourists our Rough guide had warned us of from May to September. Apart from wanting to have lunch out after an appetite-prepping ride, we’d come mainly to look at the Romanesque Basilica of Euphrasius, a UNESCO Heritage site.

After chaining our bikes to a lamp post (checking first that it was OK with a passing local), we wandered into the old town in search of the basilica, clocking potential eateries to return to as we ambled through the very picturesque ‘Dekumanska’ – the old Roman main street. Using only the page map in our Rough guide and Mr B’s unfailingly accurate sense of direction, we managed to walk right past the edge of it without realising, taking pictures as we went and blissfully ignorant that we’d snapped bits of it whilst still searching for it!

After finding the wrong church first, we sought help in a local bookshop, from where, and equipped with a larger scale town map, we were able to find it in a few minutes. The grounds of the basilica are enclosed and the layout is set out very clearly, with multilingual signboards to help explain each area.

We’re not usually big fans of ecclesiastical sights but the basilica held the attraction of being established in the mid-to-late Roman period, at the point that Christianity was starting to be recognised. Some of the sights in the basilica hark back to these early days.

One of the best bits has to be the bell tower though, with views to all points of the compass and the looming presence of the four big bells. They are still used, so you need to choose your time to climb the steep stairways to the top.

The bit most folks come to marvel at however, is the 13C apse which was indeed pretty impressive.

Sated with the basilica and with tummies rumbling, we headed off to find an eatery. Mrs B has a great eye for possible eateries and before long we had ambled back to one she had spotted as we entered the old town that had good views of some of the older buildings in the town.

90 minutes later we had tucked away a couple of Croatia’s ubiquitous Aperol-spritzers, and shared some delicious mussels and a ‘scampi pasta,’ whilst listening to the owner and a group of Ukrainians and Romanians discussing the dubious benefits of democracy, in English.

Keeping our opinions to ourselves (Istria is generally liberal/left leaning but you never know…) we then girded our loins for the return ride. With the benefit of hindsight we were able to return by a slightly more direct route, with the glimmer of a plan that we might just sign up for one of the many day-trips by boat that left Poreč for trips down the coast to Rovinj, Vrsar and the Limski ‘canal’ – all on our itinerary anyway!

A colleague of Mrs B’s once said “Never put any obstacles between an old person and free food!”; an observation that was to be a theme of the day on the boat trip!

We arrived bright and early for the 10am sailing and were welcomed on board by the lovely crew.  Surprised (and secretly pleased) that an 80+ capacity boat was sailing with just a dozen guests, we smugly took our seats on the prow of the boat for the best views.  Ten minutes later we pulled into the next bay to collect a party of forty elderly Germans, complete with tour guide and microphone.

The next hour was spend being deafened by a loud and apparently hilarious commentary on the coastline, nudism in Croatia (the boat sailed a little too close to some sunbathing nudists, causing a huge roar to emit from the party), Casanova (who stayed in Vrsar, one of our stop offs) and other amusing anecdotes which were completely lost on us!

The sun was shining though, and the views were wonderful, even if the sea was a little choppy and the breeze a tad brisk.

An hour and a half later we were in Rovinj, a picture postcard of a fishing village and a welcome two-hour escape from our fellow passengers. Once past the slightly touristy market on the harbour, it was fascinating to wander up through the town, past the combination of artist-colony businesses, tucked in with the eateries and day-to-day info on politics and music events. There was even a large convoy of guided cyclists that rode through – a popular way of seeing this part of the coastline.

Back on board, lunch (included in the bargain £25 fare) was served.  Foolishly we imagined this would be eaten in the harbour, but captain and crew had a timetable to stick to, so we went lurching off into the high seas as the valiant crew balanced plates of delicious, freshly grilled mackerel, chicken skewers, smoked sausages, salad, and the all important litre carafes of wine.  Our dining companions, an Austrian couple, branded the wine ‘a disgrace’ and agreeing, we stuck to juice and water. 

Next up, the Limski canal, famous for its farmed oysters and mussels nowadays, but in the past had made a name for itself by (allegedly) being a hiding place for Captain Morgan of rum fame. 

By this point much disgraceful wine had been imbibed by the rest of the passengers, and the waters were calmer, encouraging one of the guests to stand up and take the microphone (we think they’d lost the guide in Rovinj), and regale the assembled German speakers with more anecdotes.  Cue much laughter and singing and a sneaky bit of wine re-allocation from our table to the one behind.

As the boat headed back into open seas, we reclaimed our perch on the bow just as an elderly woman tottered over to rescue our table’s second carafe.  By now it was getting very messy with more wine and a second round of fish, chicken and sausages being stowed away by our shipmates.  We suppose the crew have to break the monotony of these trips somehow as suddenly, the boat seemed to turn and hit a wave broadside, soaking the passengers, who gamely tried to leap up. One chap went sprawling headlong across a table as jugs of juice went sliding down, exploding their contents all over the guests and deck.  It was chaos – and just a little entertaining from our vantage point 

In the tiller room, the captain was grinning from ear to ear…

By the time we reached Vrsar it was time for the crew to clean up whist we had freedom to roam for an hour before the final leg back to Poreč. We were convinced that this stop had more to do with deck swabbing than spotting evidence of Casanova’s stay!

Returning to Poreč by 5.00pm as promised, we admired the parking/berthing skills of the skipper as we promised ourselves a quick ‘sladoled’ (one of the best words for ice-creams we’ve encountered!) before returning back to camp.

It was a grand day out and we hoped that the olds had a good time too, in spite of the bruises and almost certain hangovers. Let’s hope that we’re still travelling when we’re their age!

J&S.

Camping Polidor - our first stop in Croatia

Ahhh. . . Camping Polidor, our first campsite home in Croatia, and worth its own little entry.

Picked because of its compact size by Mrs B from the plethora of ACSI sites that are scattered along the Istrian coast (there are only 70 touring pitches at Camping Polidor compared to hundreds – and counting, at most of the others). Small is indeed beautiful here, think camping-meets-glamping-meets-boutique hotel.  The high level of care, attention to detail and quality that has gone into designing and developing this family run site is second to none. In addition to the pitches, there are cluster of chalets and ‘glamping’ facilities that sit on the edge of two of the site’s sides and we noticed a number of campers meeting up with friends/ family staying in chalets during our stay.

Ordinarily we’re not overly choosy about where we stay, so long as we like the vibe when we arrive and the facilities are half decent. So, walking the site to choose our pitch, we were pleased to see a mixed layout of fairly standard (and large) open pitches, and then what could best be described as a lovely wooded glade, set with two concentric circles of pitches. The extremely helpful staff at reception had said we could choose between sun and shade, and now we could see why – so, without further ado we chose a large raised pitch in the inner circle, sheltered by trees and providing loads of space with dappled shade.

A proper exploration of the site then delivered one smile after another. The ‘shower block’ was equipped with state of the art washrooms and showers (think sensor operated lights and taps, and tropical rain shower heads in the shower rooms that are guaranteed to keep your clothes dry with their separate glass doors) and vanity rooms with extendable magnifying mirrors and hairdryers. There’s also the cutest kids’ bathroom area too. Everything is maintained to a very high degree of cleanliness (we came to see how with the large, efficient and friendly staff that work here). Downstairs were more discoveries; a modern laundry room, a small gym, a massage room, and a well equipped children’s play area (complete with a great tube-slide between the two floors).

This also has to be the best ‘library’ we’ve seen for campers to swap books they no longer want to keep!

There is also a compact infinity pool (with a bar), a children’s pool and outdoor play area, a large decked area for lounging in the sun (complete with very comfy loungers) and a small restaurant/bar that serves good food at lunch and in the evenings. A mini market (with fresh bread daily) is just outside the site. Another nice touch – if you order bread/pastries from reception before 2100, it will be delivered to your van at 0800 the next day!

The site is a 15/20-minute walk from the sea, where there is also a Polidor beach and bar, with some rather swish arrangements including gazebo-type structures, complete with curtains for shade/privacy. One is even moored out to sea on a small pontoon! The same access road to the beach also lets onto a cycle path that runs north to Poreč (see next entry) and south to the local village of Funtana – both with plenty of shops. Of course, Polidor also does bike hire! 

There’s plenty of wildlife too, and as well as being serenaded at night by what we now know to be Scops owls, we saw a pair of golden orioles swooping across the tree canopy as we cycled for a sunset drink one evening! There are also bee-eaters, kingfishers and hoopoes about, but they saved themselves for another visit…

We often say that the vibe of a site lends itself to the general level of friendliness of fellow campers, and here, this is driven by a combination of the amazing staff who are always cordial, helpful and speak excellent English (as well as being very patient with Mr B’s valiant attempts at learning Hrvatski) as well as the high quality of the facilities, the beautiful surroundings and coastline.

It will come as no surprise that we ended up staying a week, where not only did we have the benefit for a couple of very pleasant nights of drinks and natters with fellow Brit travellers from Hampshire, Mike and Suzy, but we also fetched up alongside the only other home made Iveco camper we’ve seen in mainland Europe! We met the very friendly owners, Klaudia and Jōrg from Langelsheim in Germany, and after admiring one another’s creations, we swapped addresses with the hope of catching up with one another in our own countries, or even on the road!

So, thank you Camping Polidor for a very enjoyable stay and a high quality experience – at €17 a night on ACSI, there’s every chance we’ll be back, as it’s a great base for exploring the Istrian peninsula!

S&J.