Pula, Motovun, Istria

Apart from almost nightly thunderstorms, the weather here in Istria is glorious and the oldies are just lapping it up. Her Ladyship is getting quite lazy! Every time Himself suggests an outing, she reminds him of the importance of topping up their tans while they still have the chance. Yesterday, however, he did manage to drag her (and me) onto a bus to Pula, the largest town in Istria.

It was well worth the visit. A port on the southern tip of the peninsula, Pula has a long history of shipbuilding. Her ladyship was able to gawk to her heart’s content at the massive cranes and other unidentifiable machinery and equipment at the shipyard. We only found out later that the cranes there are apparently lit up every evening in thousands of different colour schemes. The first display only starts at 9pm, and as our bus home left Pula at 7.30pm, we missed the show. Her Ladyship was not too pleased about that!

The town’s centrepiece, literally, is the 2,000 year old Roman amphitheatre. It is huge! Tree stories high, it was used for gladiator fights and could apparently seat around 20,000 spectators. It is still used as a venue for shows today. Nothing too gruesome, I might add, just film festivals, concerts and the like. Though on second thoughts, having seen the line-up for the underground electronic music festival, Dimensions, scheduled for the Pula arena on Thursday, I would tend to stick with the ‘gruesome’ label.

I’m more of a heavy metal bird myself.

The rest of the town centre is full of ancient buildings and monuments: the 5^th century cathedral, the Temple of Augustus, the Triumphal Arch of Sergius, and so on. Pula’s more recent history is also fascinating. I overheard one tour guide explaining that her grandfather was born in Austria, her father was born in Italy, she was born in Yugoslavia and her children were born in Croatia. They were all born in Pula.

We also found an interesting Irish connection. James Joyce spent a few months in Pula in 1904/05, teaching English. He was not too impressed with the town though, apparently calling it a ‘naval Siberia’. A bit harsh! Unlike Joyce, I don’t think I’d mind living here at all. But then again, when it comes to seaside towns, I’m just a gull who can’t say no.

Another outing brought us inland to Motovun which couldn’t be more different to Pula, other than the fact that it also hosts an annual international film festival. My owners were making a return visit to this picturesque medieval town which is set on a hilltop amongst the vineyards and forests. Although I was not too happy at having been dragged away from the beach, I have to admit that the views from the town were amazing. And, with a bit of squinting, I could still spot the sea in the distance.

Visitors to the centre of Motovun are only allowed in on foot and you soon see why. The narrow cobbled streets can barely accommodate the few local vehicles, let alone any additional traffic. At one stage I saw a motorbike attempting to pass an oncoming Renault 4, causing a major jam.

On this visit we had no time to go to any the numerous restaurants which are renowned for their Istrian and Italian gastronomic delights. His Lordship was still raving about the meal they had there last spring when local truffles (both black and white) were in season. He claimed he could still taste the desert he had then: panna cotta with honey and white truffle shavings. He pronounced it ‘exquisite’.

I shudder at the mere thought. Come on! Fungus in a pudding? I’ll stick to fish, thank you very much.