Eight Boots Abroad

After our month of full-on hiking and climbing through the Dolomites, we headed to the Istrian Peninsula (Croatia) for a few days of fantastic, relaxing beach time! We camped on the Adriatic coast near Rovinj, spending our days swimming, snorkeling, and relaxing. Howie and I took evening walks into the charming medieval town of Rovinj. We visited the little bohemian/artsy hill town of Grožnjan, and watched a beautiful sunset from inside the ancient Roman colosseum in Pula.

We sprung for a full-day fun pass for the kiddos at what we referred to as “the inflatable lawsuit” in the sea near our campground. This ginormous floating, slippery playground brought hours of joy and amusement to spectators as participants slipped and fell off it’s slick surfaces into the seawater below. Unfortunately, this also meant the kiddos ended up inhaling and swallowing copious amounts of seawater. Honestly, we didn’t think much of it until we were visiting a medieval castle the next day and found poor H vomiting in the castle toilet. By “castle toilet” I am definitely referring to the primitive hole in an exterior castle wall that launches the contents several stories downward. Luckily for us, we were the only people in the entire castle at the time of this misadventure!

Luckily(?) by now, we’re traveling with a full-on pharmacy. A few does of antibiotics to cover for the E. coli commonly found in seawater and a few days later H was good as new.

Istria is often nicknamed Little Tuscany, with olive groves and vineyards covering the rolling hillsides. We loved driving on small, winding, quiet backroads through the picturesque countryside. Our time here was exceptionally wonderful and WAY too brief. We’ll definitely be back for more exploration some day!

Croatia – Istrian Peninsula – Howie’s Addendum

Our time in Istria was a delightful surprise – definitely a place that outperformed my expectations! Four days at the beachside campground was exactly what we needed after six straight weeks of pretty intense hiking in the Dolomites – a chance for the kiddos to play in the Adriatic and search for sea creatures, and a chance for Howie and Sonya to open water swim, stroll along the seashore to a delightful coastal medieval city, and rest.

Highlights for me included:

The Roman Colosseum at Pula was an amazing appetizer for our upcoming visit to Rome itself! Prior to planning our visit to this region, I had no idea that there were other well-preserved colosseums beyond the famous one. It was free from crowds and gave amazing access to the ruins – our evening spent there was spectacular.

Swimming in the clear waters along the coast of the Adriatic was glorious – Sonya in particular loves open water swimming (as do I, but as I am what Sonya refers to with affection as “sprinter trash”, I do sometimes struggle once the distance goes above 50 meters). I am delighted that Sonya got to do something that makes her heart so happy.

Driving through along the quiet roads past vineyards and olive groves with the windows rolled down in the late summer evening sunlight. All the local food featuring olive oil and truffles galore!

Only current downside is that we have now added numerous bruises (courtesy of the day the kiddos spent on the inflatable) and about a million mosquito bites on our legs to our previous list of aches and pains from the past six weeks of hiking. We currently look quite battered from our adventures, but that means we’re having fun!

I have a feeling this is a place we will return to in our future journeys – it is a special part of the world! Next, back to Italia!