Europe 2006

We bid a very fond farewell to Menaggio, swapping addresses with one of the employees there (Paul), who will hopefully come and visit us in Canada (you reading this, Paul??) and trained it down to Treviso, our last Italian stop before heading into Croatia. Treviso is gorgeous, a nice mixture of ancient and modern architecture, and the home of the Benneton dynasty. Our hotel was in a very upscale district and we felt distinctly underdressed in our travelling shorts and wrinkly tshirts amidst the designer clothing and gold dripping from fingers and necks, but what can you do? We had just taken three trains and a ferry to get from Menaggio to Treviso, and we didn't feel like getting our ballgowns out of the backpacks.

Treviso advertises itself as "Little Venice" as there are many bridges spanning many canals, and it's really quite beautiful. We really only had one full day there, arriving one evening and leaving the morning of the third day, so we spent it criss-crossing the city, viewing the ancient city walls, playing in parks, admiring the architecture, and delighting in our find of the best pizzaria ever created, the Pizza del Fausta. A little hole in the wall restaurant, which is our favourite type, with excellent food at very cheap prices.

Saturday (the 12th) we boarded the train from Treviso to Trieste, and enjoyed our last comfy train ride. We had first class, and for most of the journey, the entire car to ourselves. Once we arrived in Trieste, which is a really beautiful place, we found the bus station, and spent a stressful 30 minutes learning how to buy our tickets for Pula, how to deal with the luggage, and where the bus was hiding, all from bus station employees who really weren't all that interested in the Canadian tourists. Still having 45 minutes before the bus, we found a supermarket and bought fruit, bread, meat, cheese and water for the trip, then took a deep breath and braved the excessive humanity at the bus station, all of whom were told perhaps, that if they sharpened their elbows and practiced their foot stomping, they could be first on the bus and therefore guaranteed a place in heaven.

Well, we didn't get to sit together on the bus, of course, but it was really nice to sit beside a local, to be honest, and I had a wonderful conversation with a Croatian woman who was returning to her home town, Buzet (pronounced "booze-it) for a holiday from her work in Menestre, Italy. She helped me sharpen my Croatian words, all 7 of them (which wasn't too bad, according to her, and told me all about her family. Martin sat beside a very pleasant man who was a wine maker and had to take the bus to a family reunion, due to the fact that the family car seat 6 people and he was #7. Bad luck.

Due to construction and two lengthy border inspections (Italy-Slovenia, Slovenia-Croatia) we were very late getting into Pula, and had been on the bus for about 4.5 hours. Despite this, the ride was actually very pleasant, as the scenery was breathtaking (mountains and forest for the most part)and the company was friendly. We took a 15 minute rest stop at some location, and during that time I made some sandwiches for Ben and Adam and shared some cookies around the bus, much to the delight of Martin's seatmate, who had a self-confessed "sweet tooth".

Getting into Pula, we had another obstacle to face, and that was how to use the phone. As I suspected from other experiences in other countries, one had to have a phone card rather than coins, and as it was past 6:00pm, most of the stores were closed. We had to call the woman who owned the apartment we were renting in order to get a ride... finally I was able to find a store that sold the card, and just as I was sure that I would dial the wrong series of numbers, or she wouldn't be home, she answered the phone. Oh, glory day. Not to make things too easy, she asked us to find a certain location and she would pick us up from there, and of course we couldn't find that location. But we managed to find each other, and she drove us to the apartment.

So now we are on Day 1 in Pula, our first full day in Croatia. We have met a mixture of friendly people, and snarky people (I'm talking to YOU, blond gestapo at the Tourist Office... could you BE any ruder?), and have seen a mixture of modern and ancient architecture, swanky homes and Soviet-era, run down slums. But we have a view of the Adriatic from our terrace, and the beach is a mere half kilometer from the apartment, and I'm very much looking forward to a swim.

Lots of English here, by the way. Italian and German, too. It was fun last night when we went out to dinner, to order our meal in a variety of five languages (saying hello in Croatian, mixing a little Italian and French into the English sentence, and Martin going off in German). The handsome waiter spoke all five languages perfectly, and probably more besides. We all tried some local fish and a local apératif (which I believe is called Medicina) which was LOVELY (yes, Adam had a sip).

This morning we had breakfast on our terrace; eggs, cheese, meat, bread, cereal with fruit, and coffee, all while watching the sea. It was really lovely. And now the internet café is playing the Red Hot Chili Peppers over the stereo system, what more could I want?