CROATIA - HOT! HOT!! HOT!!!

The contrast between Croatia and Italy could hardly have been greater.  Everywhere we have travelled so far the roads have been excellent, the towns and countryside have been clean and well cared-for and the icing on the cake is that it has turned hot and sunny with day-time temperatures rising into the thirties!

We just drove straight across the neck of land belonging to Slovenia and into a large peninsular in the north of Croatia called Istria, stopping briefly at the small hill town of Bizet which was very peaceful but in need of a little TLC.  We spent our first night at Motovun, another hill town. 

The small site was half way up the hill and run by the hotel in the old castle at the top.  It was quite a hike up the old cobbled road…

…to reception – but worth it.  We were able to walk round the old walls and swim in the indoor pool at the hotel.  The views were splendid.

We turned west to get to the coast.  On the way we passed through the small town of Pazin where there is a very deep gorge which ends suddenly as the stream disappears into a hole in the ground.  We enjoyed the walk down into the gorge, round an interesting trail with boards pointing out the different flora and fauna and back up to the other side.  Reaching the top we found a zip wire right across the gorge to near the castle – we were not sure if we were glad or sorry it was not operating that day!

We reached the coast at Poreč with its unusual and interesting church – the Basilica of St Euphrasius where we had views over the town from the bell tower. 

The Basilica had some lovely mosaics and in the museum we were able to see archaeological finds from much of the Basilica’s past back to roman times.

Travelling south we came to Rovinj (the j is pronounced like the y in yes) where we camped right by the sea...

…and visited the old town next day.  Rovinj, like most of this part of Croatia, was once ruled by Venice and the winged lion – symbol of St Mark, Patron Saint of Venice, can still be seen on the gate into the old town.

Continuing south towards Pula we came across a re-constructed shepherd’s hut remarkably like the houses called trulli that we saw at Alberobello in Italy.  Perhaps the original settlers in Alberobello came from this area.

Pula’s only claim to fame – its huge Roman amphitheatre – sits somewhat incongruously between hotels and shops and overlooking the busy commercial port.

Nothing could have prepared us for the coast of the Kvarner Gulf south of the city of Rijeka!  The journey took much longer than our sat-nav said it would because we stopped in nearly every layby to look at the ever changing scene of seemingly barren off-shore islands and limestone cliffs.

In the bays and inlets were lovely, clean little towns with small harbours and delightful piazzas and the sea was as calm as as an English village pond.  Wherever we stopped we saw new wild flowers for Jane to photograph such as this Bladder Campion…

… and interesting wild-life like the Scarce Swallowtail Butterfly.  (Not as rare as its name would suggest!)

Senj had a castle high up on a headland and a pretty little Cathedral with an eclectic mix of old and modern decoration.

From the village of Jablanac…

…we walked round the coast to the idyllic Zavranica Cove…

… before reaching the Paklenica National Park.

ART, GONDOLAS AND MORE!

Arriving at Siena late morning we parked up and walked into the city where we spent the afternoon before heading out to a site a few kilometres away.  

The hill-top old town has narrow streets and very high buildings which John found a little oppressive.  In the centre is the large town “square” – Piazza dei Campo which is a sloping D shaped area with, along the straight side, the Town Hall – the 14 Century Palazzo Comunale with its 102 metre high bell tower. 

Normally a busy area surrounded by cafés the Piazza is the setting for “Il Palio” – an annual event dating from the Middle Ages.  Following a series of colourful pageants there is a wild horse race which lasts about a minute as ten of Siena’s 17 Contrade (town districts) compete.  The prize is a silk banner called the Palio.  On race days the cafés charge €300 - €400 for a seat on their terraces.

The Cathedral is another one made of black and white striped stone.  Inside there are unusual pictorial floor panels and a side room housing books that belonged to Pope Pius II and walls decorated with colourful frescoes by Bernardino Pinturicchio.

Our next stop was Florence with its famous Ponte Vecchio bridge, over the river Arno, lined with jewellers’ shops.

We stayed on a “Camper-stop” run by the local caravan club.  It was a short bus ride from the centre which we spent a couple of days exploring.  There are many interesting buildings including the spectacular Cathedral, Baptistery and Tower.

Florence is a city of art with a huge number of classical sculptures and paintings (many of people killing each other!) but, unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos in most of the museums.

It was the home of Michelangelo and we really wanted to see some of his sculptures as we had read about his life in “The Agony and the Ecstasy” by Irvine Stone. (It is an easy-to-read, entertaining and fascinating account of his life and work.)  We had already seen his beautiful “Pieta” in St Peter’s in Rome as well as the ceiling and end wall of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, which he painted but his best known sculpture is probably his statue of David. This was one of two copies on display in the town as the original is in a museum!

As well as beautiful art and sculpture we thought the local Police were worth a photo!

We fell in love with Venice!  

It is amazing – literally – a maze of canals and streets sometimes so narrow that two people could hardly stand side-by-side!  When high tides and strong winds combine to raise the sea level a few feet they put out walkways rather like large low tables and the ground floors for many houses and palaces are flooded!

We went to the Anglican Church on the Sunday morning and then just wandered, seeing the Grand Canal with the Rialto Bridge (another one covered in shops) …

… ate ice creams in St Mark’s Square with its palaces and Cathedral  …

In the Cathedral we were not allowed to take photographs of the walls and ceiling, completely covered in gold mosaics.  Because of the poor light the effect was rather oppressive but in the logia, a covered area outside the main doors, were some more fine examples of this decoration.

We  saw the covered Bridge of Sighs across which condemned offenders were taken to the new prison …

… and watched tourists enjoying gondola rides.

Venice depends entirely on its canals.  As well as gondolas, water buses, water taxis and numerous pleasure boats there were police boats, ambulances and goods boats ferrying everything from ready mixed cement to frozen food for the local shops. 

The refuse was also collected in floating “dustcarts”.

Venice brought us almost to the end of our visit to Italy.  We had been shocked by the dirt and squalor of the west coastal towns and countryside where everyone seemed to be miserable!  Sicily was somewhat better and we enjoyed its wildness and cheerful people.  As we moved north and through the mountains we saw delightful, clean villages and towns and stunning scenery. We have been almost overwhelmed by the wonderful art treasures and remains of ancient splendour but Venice was one city that we agreed that we would like to return to and spend more time exploring. 

So now it is across a little bit of Slovenia and into Croatia.

EASTER IN ASSISI

Having crossed to the mainland we headed back up the road we had come down earlier but then crossed over to the east coast near to the “heel” of Italy.  On the way we paid a short visit to Locorotondo which like many towns in this part of Italy was built on a hill, though in recent years it has been enlarged with buildings outside the lovely old walled town.

The old town has houses and the odd palace with balconies, narrow winding streets paved with stone, no traffic, no stray dogs, no rubbish and hardly any people!  Very peaceful!

A short distance further on is the strange town of Alberobello.  There are over 1000 tiny houses, dating from the 14^th century, built with bee-hive shaped roofs.  They are called trulli.

It is said that they are based on the tents of the nomadic tribe that originally settled in the area.

Although some are still occupied as homes, many are now souvenir shops catering for the thousands of tourists who visit each year.  Many have symbols painted on the roofs to bring good fortune and ward off evil.

From Alberobello we headed into the mountains and stayed a couple of nights on simple “camper-stops” before reaching Assisi – the home of St Francis.

It is a beautiful, walled hill town built of stone of various shades blending together to give a pink-brown effect.  This was his parents’ house.

St Francis’ presence is felt everywhere and there is a huge basilica dedicated to him.  In it are churches on two floors and the older, lower church has magnificent frescoes.

We couldn't help feeling that St Francis would be horrified at the splendour of it as he lived very simply and asked that his followers should refrain from all forms of ostentation in their places of worship!

We were staying on a site about a mile from the centre of Assisi on the road to the Eremo delle Carceri – a hermitage built where St Francis and others spent some time as hermits living in tiny caves.

By contrast with Assisi itself the Eremo delle Carceri is a lovely peaceful place hidden in the forest high up a hill.

There is an Anglican Church in Assisi so we were able to share in the worship on Good Friday and on Easter Day when we also joined the congregation for lunch afterwards.

Our next night was spent on a site right on the shore of Lake Trasimeno – this, the view from our van …

… on the way to Siena and Florence.