Rovinj.

So after we left Brela Beach we had no set plans.  I thought we could stop somewhere along the way, maybe in Italy.  But the problem with that was that if we have no set plans then we tend to not do anything, so I remembered that our friends Nathan and Michaela had driven to Croatia last summer and said they really liked a city on the way.  So I looked up the pictures on Facebook, and we were off to Rovinj.

We drove around a bit and looked for signs that said Rooms (actually Zimmer- a lot of people spoke German there), and the first couple places we asked were full, then we drove just a bit farther away from the sea and saw a place.  Brett went and asked and they said they had rooms and told him the price, and then when we all started getting out of the van to go in, the lady was like, “Wait, you have FIVE kids?”  And Brett said, “Yeah, I told your husband that,” and she was like, “Well, he doesn’t speak German very well.”  And proceeded to charge us more money because she thought we only had two.  I told Brett we’d just pay the extra, but still it made me quite annoyed.  I mean, for crying out loud we’re renting the same amount of space—who cares how many kids?  The whole being discriminated against for our family size was getting old.  And the lady was really hyper-sensitive about the safety of the kids, and wouldn’t put us in the sane rooms she was going to at first, because it had stairs that she didn’t want the kids to have to go up.  Crazy lady.  Anyway.  And the place was really dirty.  At first I was trying to think of it in a positive light, and then when Brett was looking for a pot to cook some dinner in, he found one that had gross burned-on yet gooey gunk all in it, and I was like, umm this place is nasty.  Good thing I’m not OCD.  I just made myself not think about it too much and then I enjoyed coming home to our clean house even more.  :)

Our Croatia book says that it is one of the last of the true Mediterranean fishing ports.  Although now it’s getting to be more and more touristy.  But anyway, the first thing we saw (and smelled) were the fishing boats.  Very cool.

Then we walked around town.

Here’s a painting of Rovinj.  Originally it was an island, but in 1763 was connected to the mainland and became a peninsula.

Octopus in the oven for dinner, anyone?  (You can see me and Brett and maybe Hazel reflected.)

 

Then we went to the grocery store and got food, went home and ate, slept in our nasty apartment, and came back the next day.

  

Lots of paintings for sale, along with a lot of other stuff- shells and knick-knacks and jewelry and whatnot.

 

This is the only picture I sneaked at the Cathedral of St. Euphemia.

I just loved wandering around the narrow alleys with colorful walls, flowers, cobblestone streets, and hanging laundry.

 

  

Couldn’t leave without a classic squinting-in-the-sun Here-we-are-in-front-of-{insert whatever site you’re at, in this case, Rovinj, of couse} picture.  :)

On the way back we saw a car with a NEVADA license place!!!  Holy cow that was amazing.  And definitely picture-worthy.   Look, you can see me.  :)

Back to our home.

Okay, that wasn’t our apartment.  This was.

 

After lunch we headed to the beach.  We were definitely spoiled in Brela.  The water here was nowhere NEAR as clear as at Brela.  In fact, it was a bit yucky comparatively.

I just love Ethne’s swimming suit.   It is so adorable on her!

 

Jump.

Another crab Jethro caught.

I loved this spot for pictures.  I wished I could get a family picture there, but that would definitely have been too involved.  That’s okay, the girls are sure cute!

And guess what!  When you go to Croatia you can get Pringles like these (a little too peppery for me though):

 

These pictures are the two postcards I bought in Rovinj.  I really like them.  So I’m sharing.

Rovinj was cool.  And that was our amazing, wonderful, beautiful trip to Croatia.  The end.