Hello, Croatia!

A lovely bus ride along the Istrian coast (a part of Croatia) took me from Trieste, Italy to Pula. Istria is a gorgeous area with a rocky coast, and truffles, wine and olive oil. Yum!

My first evening in Pula I me up with a couple I know from home. They are on a whirlwind Euro trip and somehow we managed to find out we would be in the same place at the same time! We did some evening sightseeing and had dinner. I had a delicious cheese and TRUFFLE (!!) pizza for about $9 Canadian! And they didn't skimp on the truffles. I've never had truffles before, and I highly recommend them now! I should have taken a picture to prove how truffley it was. 

The amphitheatre at night.

Pula has a very well preserved Roman amphitheatre and a number of other Roman ruins. They are beautifully lit at night. Apparently, the amphitheatre is the 6th largest currently in existence and the best preserved. There was one part that was such a stark white it looked like a poor replica of the original, but turns out, it was original and had just been meticulously cleaned. One interesting thing I learned at the amphitheatre is that the stairs were made to slow crowds by having very high steps.

The white section is original, just cleaner than the rest.

Pula is also known for it's beaches. I went to the Verudela area with a few British girls from my hostel. The beaches are rocky, but stunning. I didn't take my camera so I only have a few photos from my phone that don't do it justice. I'm not used to swimming in such crystal clear water! But it was good because it made it easy to avoid the jellyfish and sea urchins.

One of the beaches at Verudela.

My next stop is Zadar and a few parks nearby... Hopefully the weather forecast is wrong and the sun keeps shining! They're calling for rain but I want to be outside!

Venice: Round 1

After a really long day and very little sleep, arriving in Venice was not the greatest. The airport had a dingy feel to it and no one seemed interested in being friendly or helpful. I almost missed the bus stop for my campsite and when I did get there, the staff weren't very friendly either, but maybe they had just had a long day at work... One of the people who was working when I arrived was also working the next morning before 8am. I stayed at a campsite in the suburbs that rented tents instead of at a hostel or hotel in Venice because it was easy to get to from the airport and much less expensive than staying in Venice proper. It was kind of fun, too. And I was only a short bus ride from the city.

The Rialto Bridge.

The morning and my trip into the actual city of Venice made me forget the inconveniences of the previous night. Venice is packed full of tourists, but for good reason. It's a very enchanting place. The canals were pretty cool. I arrived at St. Mark's Square early in the day so it was only starting to fill up, but the museums around the square already had line ups! I skipped them this time (maybe when I come back I'll brave the crowds). I spent most of the day wandering and getting lost, and it was great. I ended up in really pretty residential areas devoid of other tourists a few times. I had pizza for lunch in a little cafe near the Grand Canal, but at the residential end so it was nice and calm. I think it's the only place I saw all day that had more locals than tourists. Or maybe they were Italian speaking tourists...

Venetians have IKEA bedding too!

I stopped in at a free exhibit about Vivaldi and violin making in Italy. The whole day reminded me of the Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery cassette we used to listen to when I was little.

The one museum I made it to (this time, I fly home from Venice too) was the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. I wasn't a huge fan of the Kandinsky pieces on display, but the Calder, Miro, Magritte and others were great. The gallery was much more intimate than the New York Guggenheim, and is housed in Peggy Guggenheim's former home. An intern did a talk about her life... She was an interesting lady! I sure have been getting my fill of 20th century art so far on this trip.

The Grand Canal.

From Venice, I went to Trieste, Italy for a brief stop before catching a bus to Croatia. The old part of Trieste seemed better maintained than Venice. But the bus station was awful. The train station next door was nice and modern. The toilets in the bus station were free (unlike everywhere else) but there were no seats, no toilet paper, no soap and the stall doors didn't close. I was surprised the toilets flushed. Anyway, back to the actual town... I didn't have a map because the tourist info points tend to be far from the transportation hubs in every city I've been to. Luckily, it was easy to orient myself as long as I knew where the water was.

A facade in the main square in Trieste.

In Trieste.

First Stop: Zürich

Here we go again! This time I'm off to Venice, Croatia, Slovenia, and likely Montenegro, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina (that's the plan at least). But first I had a 10 hour layover in Zürich. Unfortunately, I forgot the usb cord for my camera so my posts are a bit delayed because I didn't want to post without pictures!

The first place I stopped was Zurich, for a 10 hour layover. My flight was overnight but unfortunately I didn't sleep that well so I was exhausted during the day and didn't see that much, but I got a taste for the city.

View from Üetilberg.

 The airport in Zurich was nice, but the woman at the info point was not helpful. Luckily, I had done a bit of research before. I headed into the city and took a tram up to Üetilberg to get a view of the city and the lake. It was quite peaceful. There is an extensive network of hiking and biking trails that seemed well used, so I decided to walk back down instead of taking the tram down the way I came.

After that, I wandered around the city for a while, checking out the sights. Before I got so tired I couldn't walk, I headed to the Zurich Kunsthaus. And what a nice surprise, it was free because I went on Wednesday! (Everything else in Zurich is absurdly expensive.)

I was in Switzerland once before briefly and had rösti  for lunch. I was looking for it with no luck (well, not for less than 20 euros!!), but I did find rösti sticks(?) that were kind of like tater tots at the deli in the grocery store. And Orangina was less expensive than Coke! So that was my fancy Swiss meal. I did buy some Swiss chocolates :)

Flying to Venice.

Next stop: Venice.