Back in England

Been a whirlwind few days now back at work etc., but still thinking back to the concert in the Arena at Pula - we didn't know Solomon Burke, but what a voice! He was the 'warm up' for Joss Stone, whom he called the 'Queen of Soul'. The amphitheatre has amazing acoustics and there wasn't a bad place to be. Brilliant concert.

It was amazing to think that 2000 years ago people sat in the very same place and watched the gladiators fight for their lives.

Last day here

There was one of those sudden Mediterranean thunderstorms last night and we're watching the weather carefully because of going to the open air concert tonight!

More later...

Last couple of days

With only a couple more days left here we are revisiting some favourite places, so today it's back to Mala Draga (means Little Dear) beach to swim and enjoy the peace.

Then this evening we'll go back to Veseli Ribar in the village for a simple dinner - good food and not expensive and great staff.

Tomorrow we'll no doubt be sorting things out before we leave but we have a special treat in the evening - we're going to see Joss Stone in the amphitheatre in Pula see here - the arena is so well preserved that it forms a wonderful setting for concerts of every kind. And the weather looks set to be warm and dry so it should be great.

Wines of Istria

Whilst we've been here we've been trying out a few of the more expensive wines you can find at supermarkets such as Mercator - we like the white Malvazijas so we picked up a Cossetto, a Zigante (well it's famous for everything else we figured the wine would be no exception) and a Legovina.


So far we've really liked both the Zigante and Cossetto but haven't tried the Legovina. They were all around 80 kuna or £9, which is a lot for here, but you do get quality wine. We've been to Momjan on other trips to buy from the Koslovic vineyard but it's hard to find in the shops. Most vineyards don't have enough to export, or so I've heard, so you don't find them in England.


They also say they 'don't travel' whatever that means. We've taken some home occasionally but it's a risk putting them in the suitcase and Ryanair luggage limits don't allow for extras!
The local supermarket has a Laguna malvazija that is cheap (30 kuna) and drinkable. I'm hoping the new airport shop will have something to take home. At the very least I want to buy olive oil which is some of the best in the world.

Lazy day at the villa

A quick walk down to the beach so that our friends could swim before they went back to London - the Tues flight is the late one, so dropped them off at the airport after lunch, then just lazed around reading for the rest of the day.
Going to eat at Galiola in the village tonight - saves driving further afield and great food, very typical Istrian dishes - fish, scampi, pasta, steak with truffles etc.

Blue skies...

The weather has settled at 28 degrees, but the pool temp is lagging behind! Did some shopping in Pula earlier.

Swimming at Mala Draga

Glorious sunshine so walked down to Mala Draga early and swam and sunbathed on the rocks - the sea temp is pretty good and the water is so clear because it's very still. We had our little cove to ourselves for the first couple of hours. Alan rode down rather than walk, but I'm not so secure on the bike! We have a book of mountain biking routes that start in and around Liznjan for when the boys come out.

Brijuni

Took a boat to Brijuni from Pula - lovely calm sea, and apart from the guide losing us briefly it was a great trip. The museum shows photos of Tito (old Yugoslavian president who died in 1980) with all the great and the good (?) of the time - everyone from Castro to Ghaddafi to Queen Julia and Queen Elizabeth.

The safari park Is stocked with the remnants of the wild animals from Tito's time - visitors gave presents of animals native to their country - our Queen gave cattle, a pony and trap and a Rolls Royce - how lavish was that? Makes Cameron's gift to Obama look pretty mundane.

First time we'd ever seen 'greens' on a golf course made of sand!

Booked on to a boat trip to Brijuni

Last night had drinks and Istrian plate at Tinja (a wine bar between Medulin and Pula) and finally saw a good sunset.
Today went to see Varia at the tourist office and booked to go to Brijuni tomorrow then went into Pula and had lunch in the Forum opposite St Augustus's temple.
Now sitting on our terrace with a glass of Malvazija listening to the cicadas.

The best beefsteak ever

Fabulous meal at Valsabbion - their menu is new and very funky - so much so that it's a bit of a mystery. Fortunately they still have the old favourites such as olive oil tasting and seafood risotto and the sommeliers are very helpful! (See here for more details...)
Tori and Alan had risotto and Jaclyn and I had beefsteak cooked in salt - they wrap the filet in ham and then encase it in salt and bake it. When they serve it they take all the ham off first and then roughly slice it. Fantastic. And I don't much like beef as a rule.

Dinner out at one of Istria's premier restaurants...

Going to Valsabbion in Pjescana Uvala on the outskirts of Pula tonight. It's one of our favourites, and another chance to see the sunset.

Sunset at Rovinj

Mis-timed the sunset in Rovinj last night, were sitting in the Valentino champagne/cocktail bar, perched on rocks at the water's edge waiting for the sun to set, but hunger took over and we left to find somewhere for dinner.

Didn't get the full impact of the underwater lighting.