20 years ago today - Day 194

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Friday, September 13th - Porec to Pula - 11,353 km

I had a lovely breakfast of jams, rolls and coffee fed to me by my hostess Francesca this morning. She is a real angel. I love it when I can see love and kindness radiating in a person’s face. She is that way.

I am determined to take it easy today as I make my way south to Pula, the largest and southernmost city in Istre. There is a youth hostel there and a large Roman amphitheatre. But because my schedule today is light I visit the Eurphrasian Basilica, a rather Spanish looking church with a good view over the town. Then I wheel along the harbour, pausing to take some art shots of boats.



The west coast of Istre is pitted with bays and sprinkles with small islands. The road south avoids the headlands, running from town to town at the inner reach of each harbour. The first town is Funtana and the second is Vrsar. They are both tourist towns with lots of hotels, resorts and low-rise condo developments outside of the cores. I think I would prefer staying in Porec over these two.

At noon, I reach the Lim Fjord, a huge inlet that would require two or three hours to cycling inland to find a safe way to cross it on a bicycle. Fortunately, there is a passenger ferry across the mouth of the fjord that takes bicycles for a reasonable fee. Once on the other side I continue south to Rovinj, a former Venetian town with its buildings built right up to the waters edge, like Venice itself. Even the basilica at the crest of the hill above the old town has the same design features and the Campanile in Venice. The old city is built at the end of a peninsula jutting out into the sea. Its reflections shimmers across the harbour enticingly.

I stop for lunch here, pushing my bike through the narrow cobblestone streets made with large bricks of white marble. I could stay here on the seawall and take in the beauty and the sea breeze all day, but I want to get to Pula at a decent hour.

There are no towns of note on the coast between Rovinj and Pula. I had hoped to cycle along the water but the road runs inland, with access roads running off of it to the sea. An hour south of Rovinj, in a sparsely settled area, I take one of these access roads to find a cove where I can take a swim. I find a shallow rocky bay with no houses in sight, and to prevent getting my cycling shorts wet I strip naked. It isn’t easy getting into the water as the stones beneath the surface are cracked ridges of slippery limestone, with sharply-spiked sea urchins making their homes in the crevices. I have to wade out carefully about 20 m before the water is deep enough to swim. Two men arrive at the beach half a kilometre away and begin launching a boat so I decide to return to my bike. I am sure they see my white ass shining in the sun like marble for a couple minutes as I delicately negotiate my way back to shore.

From here it is an uneventful ride south to Pula. I arrive as the sun is low in the west. It’s a much larger city than Porec or Rovinj and I have arrived in rush hour traffic. I manage to find my way to the centre of town without getting run over. The tourist office is still open. The staff really look bored. They can suggest a couple hotels but they aren’t sure if the youth hostel is open or not. It is not official closed either, so I make my way to the address listed, which is on the southern perimeter of the developed city.

There is definitely people inside drinking and having fun, but they are staff who tell me the hostel is closed for the summer. It doesn’t look closed, but they aren’t going to let me in. As I am leaving, I notice a new extension of the hostel under construction beside the occupied part. There is a roof over the second floor but only low retaining walls around the sides. This is perfect. I have been worried about my finances since my stay in Italy, which was well over budget, so I sneak up to the second floor with my bike and spread my sleeping mat and bag out without fear of being caught in a rain shower during the night.

This part of town is deserted but I passed a convenience store a couple blocks away on my way here. I slip down the stairs and buy some food for dinner. When I return a dog in the hostel hears me and barks insistently for several minutes. I am afraid the staff will come out and find me, but they don’t. I am restless. I don’t feel like being in bed by 8 pm. I would like to go into the town and find a pub and people to talk to but I don’t want to risk having my stuff stolen by someone who sees me leave. I also don’t want to be evicted by disturbing the dog again, so I lie quietly and wait for sleep to come. At least I am saving some money, I console myself.


PHOTO 1: my landlady, Francesca
PHOTO 2: Eurphrasian Basilica
PHOTO 3: interior of Eurphrasian Basilica
PHOTO 4: view of Porec from Eurphrasian Basilica
PHOTO 5: fish boat and racks, Porec
PHOTO 6: tug boats, Porec harbour
PHOTO 7: town of Vrsar
PHOTO 8: Vrsar
PHOTO 9: limestone cliffs of Lim Fjord
PHOTO 10: Rovinj
PHOTO 11: street in old Rovinj
PHOTO 12: my loaded bike at the bay where I swam
PHOTO 13: the bay where I swam naked
PHOTO 14: Roman amphitheatre in Pula
PHOTO 15: the Pula Arch
PHOTO 16: 6th century Chapel of St Mary of Formosa, Pula