In planning the Monsoon escape from Mumbai, the location through which to enter Europe was subject to much analysis. Ljubljana was the favoured location as Kate and I had always wanted to visit the city as it has a reputation of being a beautiful and friendly small European city. Unfortunately, there were issues with a one way hire car out of the EU and the accommodation was relatively expensive.Venice was an option as it has easy ferry links to Rovinj but the ferry added a layer of cost and the times were inconvenient.
In the end, we opted for Zagreb and a hire car to Rovinj. We had few expectations of the City. What we found was a City that was small but had all the amenities, modern but with a beautiful historic centre, green and seemingly very livable.
We arrived to a beautifully warm European afternoon and settled into the Esplanade Hotel which was also hosting the Japanese Princess. After a long work telephone conference on the terrace bar, Kate and I set off to explore the city. A spectacular central park led to a busy city square and the junction between the lower city and the older upper city. After the cathedral, Kate and I stopped in for dinner and a meal in a restaurant precinct at the base of the old city. The girls preferred to stay in the room and snack while watching the iPad!
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| Ada and Kate before setting off on a market frenzy |
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| Clock tower above the markets |
The next day Ada, Kate and I set out to visit the local markets to get some provisions for the next couple of days. The markets lived up to our high expectations of European markets. Apart from the amazing selection of fresh fruit and vegetables, the highlight was the multiple stalls with fresh Croatian ricotta, which ended up on a potato salad, and a great smoked ricotta.
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Kate and Ada elbowing the nuns out of the way
to get the best tomatoes |
On the way back to the hotel, I set of for a brief run before going to pick up the car for the drive to Rovinj. It is worth mentioning that I have become a Runkeeper addict. For those who are not familiar, it is an app that uses the GPS function of an iPhone to track a run and record, distance, elevation gained/lost, speed and calories and uploads the workout and the route is recorded on a Google map which I can review on my computer. I have always loved running when I travel and a morning run is the best way to discover a new city. Runkeeper allows me to "collect" cities.
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| St Marks Church |
Normally I have a good sense of direction and the run started well as I was able to speed tour through the sites of Zagreb. Unfortunately, I was a little too ambitious and ended up circling around the blocks of Zagreb.Unfortunately, Runkeeper doesn't provide a map it just tells you how many times you almost found your hotel before taking a wrong turn. To make it worse your lack of direction is recorded forever.
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Covered road containing a shrine on one side of the road
and pews on the opposite side |
