Roc
After leaving the beautiful town of Senj and our wonderful host who gave us a list of places to see, we drove to the tiny hilltop medieval town of Roc in the Istria region. The small village is surrounded by a medieval wall. There are many tiny village towns here to visit like Buzet, Hum the world’s smallest town, Pazin with its Castle. The country side was alive with vineyards, olive groves, lavender and corn fields.
Rovinj
We drove on to explore the old town of Rovinj. It is an extremely picturesque town that looks out over the turquoise clear sea. Salty water lapped against colourful old Mediterranean buildings. Plump vegetables sat proudly in the market place whilst boats bobbed happily on the shoreline.
We made the mistake of sampling the delicious truffles for sale at the market place. Market stall vendors are desperate for a sale due to the fact that they all sell the same products, and they think tourist have deep pockets. A tiny jar of truffles cost around 40 to 80 dollars. The vendor had chosen what she thought we should buy and she had bagged it. She was waiting eagerly for us to hand over the cash. Didn’t she realise we are just teachers!! She was bitterly disappointed when we said no, and then came the hard selling tactics which included frantic discounted prices. As we walked away every other vendor then proceeded to pursue us. We settled for cheaper items from the less aggressive vendors which was a big bag of voluptuous apricots and potatoes, Robs favourite food!!The garlic and chilli also looked amazing strung and very well hung!!
We made our way through the cobbled stone cool alleyways over shadowed by timber shutters, blue doorway, stone over hanging archways and time faded facades. These features all added to the romance of the gentle slopping uphill climb to the top.
On our wander uphill we saw many alley cat lounging around on the shiny cobble stone pathways. Just where we wanted to be somewhere cool! The stone pathways had become so shiny over centuries of being walked on. The stone under our toes just beckoned you to touch it.
Once we had reached the top we were greeted by a panoramic view over the tranquil ocean, some welcoming seagulls and the mighty St. Euphemia Church of Rovinj. It has a magnificent belfry which took 26 years to complete.
The alleyways were filled with charm. Unique quaint shops selling homemade crafts and cafes spilled over onto our path. We stopped for an ice coffee and I was admiring some hand strong pearl necklaces and a cute vintage shop. The promenade harbour was alive with tiny boats as we made our way back to the car. Rovinj was truly a great town to explore!!!
