Had our day in Rovinj...what a lovely church we visited ...the Basilica of St Euphemia....apparently her stone sarcophagus floated to shore in Rovinj in 304 & the only person able to pull it ashore & up to the church was a small boy!! Sheś been there ever since. There is a statue of her on the top of the spire & it revolves in the wind as it is set on a base of metal ball bearings...so itś sort of like a wind vane. We could see her from our apartment. Anyway had a good day wandering around...headed home for lunch of local Istrian ham, cheese, olives & bread..then it was time for a siesta. Found a lovely little bar with seats right on the waters edge for pre dinner drinks & sat there for a couple of hours before looking for dinner. This morning, we had organised to leave at 7,00am & they were there to check us out right on time. A 3 hour drive back to Zagreb & we returned opur car in time for the train to Ljubljana.
Wasn´t that an interesting ride...only 2hrs 45min...but 45 mins of that was spent sitting at the station across the border in Slovenia...they turned the train off so there was NO aircon & the doors were shut!! We watched guards walk along beside the train extending mirrors underneath...then they came on board & checked every spot someone could possibly hide...even opening roof panels & shining torches inside. Then we had the Policija come through to check our passports...our names & birthdates were relayed via a small mike...but then it got interesting as the 2 guys in front of us were Iranian...the guy took their passports away off the train...one of them was doing stuff on his laptop & it was all in Arabic which made the Policija raise his eyebrows...so then we sat & waited...the Customs came through twice asking if we had anything to declare & the Iranian guys were getting tense about their missing passports!! Eventually, the boss Policija came on & wanted them to write down their address in Iran, the passports were returned & away we went.
We were most impressed with the countryside, very Austrian looking & sparkling clean...no rubbish aywhere.
Tonight in Ljubljana, we have stumbled across a local wine & food festival....plus there is a Summer festival of music & we sat & listened to that for a while...quite funny to listen to Frank Sinatra songs sung in Slovenian!! We have tasted many wines & cheeses & local ham tonight...then John found a stall selling the local goulash which has 3 different meats in it...I found chicken!! It was quite spicy (paprika) but very tasty. An ice cream & a walk back to our hostel & we are ready for bed.
Going to Lake Bled tomorrow so will maybe have some more photos for you. Love to all
I recall crossing that border in reverse. From Slovenia into Croatia. Heavily armed guards who had NO sense of humour. Seaching our luggage, inputting our passport data and generally stating orders firmly and loudly... but not quite shouting. Quite intimidating for sure... and yes... a long wait while they made their way through the train.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have certainly having great timing in catching the local festivities. Food, drink & music... all in fabulous surroundings... it doesn't get much better.
Keep having fun... xD
What have you done? Police checking you! Just like the movies eh? What sights you see, Australia will be a bit bland in comparison.Good timing for the festivities too. Busy weekend here. Much love Mum Dad
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