Rovinj

We're starting to learn to pronounce this unusual language. The title city is pronounced Row'veeyn. It is another (yes, another!) medieval city. This is going to be our base for the next four days as we take day trips into Istria: vineyards, olive groves, hill towns--oh my!

We drove from Opatija without incident, taking about 90 minutes, including a 5 km-long tunnel. We got our first rain this morning during the drive, but it has cleared now and it's perfect weather.

We arrived in the late morning and went in search of accommodations. After talking with a few agencies, we scored a large luxurious apartment about 15-minute walk from the old town (we now need to have a parking place. It's new with a living room, bedroom,bath (with tub and shower)and kitchen It has almost every amenity we could imagine, including a dishwasher, ice-maker, etc. We have an ocean view, breeze and a lovely terrace, where we ate our lunch. There is a washing machine and the clothes dry really quickly

The town of Rovinj was built on a little island just barely offshore. It has houses going right down to the sea-like Venice. It has a lot of Italian influence since is close to Italy. At its peak in medieval times, it housed 10,000 people. Its great to be able to walk all over without any cars and to see the quaint architecture of 600 years ago. There is a church on top of the hill in the center of the island with great 360 degree views.

We had coffee in a swing chair overlooking the fishing boats. It was so relaxing that Joe fell asleep while drinking a double espresso!

It's almost dinner time, so bye for now.