Croatia

I apologize in advance for how long this post is going to be.  I could probably write for a week about this trip, but with classes starting Monday I feel like it will be best for me to just put this all in one big post before my brain fills up with other things...

To quote Anthony Bourdain during his Croatia episode, "If you have a passport, and you haven't been here yet, you're an idiot".  I wholeheartedly agree with that statement.  This was one of those trips where I couldn't stop taking pictures, even though I realized there is no way to capture everything on film, the breathtaking sights, the sound of the wind and the water, the taste of the amazing food, the smell of salt water and truffles that seems to mix perfectly in the air...this may have been my first trip there, but will certainly not be my last.  

A good friend of mine from school here is from Istria on the northwestern coast of Croatia, and earlier this year we decided that since I was coming back to Vienna a few weeks before the start of classes, that would be a good time to also come visit her and her family for several days and get the real local insider tour.  Of course I was super pumped about this, and was a perfect way to officially cap off summer break.  Last Monday morning I hopped on a train to Ljubljana, Slovenia, and then onto Koper, Slovenia where Jelena picked me up and we drove the 30 minutes or so to her house in Umag, Croatia.        

The changing landscape still amazes me, through the mountains in Austria, down to the gorgeous hills of Slovenia with architecture and landscape changing as you travel south.  The train ride was also a perfect time to get my reading finished for my first week of class.

After Jelena picked me up from the train we stopped in another little town in Slovenia just before the border to have a quick drink and walk around a bit before heading to her house for dinner. 

The next morning we woke up and drove south to Rovinj and then spent the day working our way back north up the coast stopping in several towns.

Walking up to the church at the highest point in the city

Church of St. Euphemia 

walking down through the town, lots of shops and outdoor displays of jewelry and other crafts

The farmers market...this part is mostly lavender and truffles...yum.

From Rovinj we drove to Limski Fjord and hopped out to take a couple quick pictures.  The water is super clear and you can see tons of fish swimming all around.

Our next stop along the coast was Poreč...we walked around a bit and had lunch before moving on

Our final stop on this day was Novigrad, which is another super cute coastal town, with a perfect spot for a glass of wine while watching the sunset over the water.

Wednesday morning we got up and took Jelena's dog for a walk into town, which includes walking along the water...

Umag

We headed back to her family's house for lunch, which was super delicious, I wish I had pictures of all of it...wonderful grilled meat, potatoes, cucumbers, tomato and pepper salad...yum.  After lunch we headed to Grožnjan, which is one of Jelena's favorite places, and it's easy to see why.  A beautiful stone village on a hill, filled with artists who live and work there.

After walking around Grožnjan for a while and sitting and enjoying the view, we met up with Jelena's mom for dinner at a restaurant where they are beyond regulars...which is really fun, also nice since I never once looked at a menu the entire time I was there...food would be ordered for me and magically appear, and it was better than anything I could have possibly ordered I'm sure.

Scallops served in shells with a wonderful sauce

"black risotto" which is squid risotto dyed black with the squid ink.  again...I would never think to order something like this, but it was incredibly delicious.

Once we finished the risotto round...Jelena told me to grab my camera and follow her towards the kitchen...and this is what I found...our fish dinner in the process of cooking.

See those 3 fish on the left...those are ours. 

So incredibly fresh and it tasted amazing.

The terrace at the house...the perfect place to have breakfast in the mornings and coffee in the afternoons

Our last trip was to Motovun, which is the town you see way up on the top of that hill

The view from the top

The town square

This is where the truffles are...and when the wind blows it even smells like truffles...coming from shops and restaurants selling them in several forms.  We just had a coffee up at the top here, before heading down to get truffles at a restaurant owned by some other friends of Jelena's family

The restaurant 

Shaved truffles on toast to start

Truffle pasta...again...beyond amazing 

We took one last walk along the water as the sun was setting on my last night

And that's pretty much the end!  Friday morning Jelena, her brother and I all got in the car and drove the 5 hours back to Vienna.  I'm still making the final edits on my pictures...trying to weed through them and find the best ones before I make a giant album of the rest of the pictures that aren't here.  I have no doubt that I'll be back to Istria again, as well as farther down the Croatian coast.  And seriously...if you ever have the chance to go, you have to make the trip!