Walking with Dinosaurs II
A visit to Dinopark, Funtana, Istria
Travelling with the Oldies has often left me with mixed feelings, but I’ve never yet experienced the combination of absolute terror and deep embarrassment. This happened when they announced that, after having passed by Dinopark in Funtana dozens of times over the years, it was high time they finally paid it a visit.
Now, I’m not too au fait with human rules of etiquette, but I would have thought that, on an outing to a fun park full of kiddie rides, they should have had at least one kiddie in tow. I was certain they’d be unceremoniously turned away. But no. His Lordship just marched up to the entrance and brazenly asked for tickets for “two adults without grandchildren”. The girl at the cash desk just laughed and said, “Right, so two pensioner tickets then.” Great. Now it was official. I was going to Dinopark with my very own pair of dinosaurs.
I didn’t know what would be worse: the terrifying prospect of being surrounded by dozens of huge scary creatures, or the terrible shame of being seen with the only childless couple in the entire theme park. As it turned out, I gradually warmed to the dinosaurs on display – in spite of the fact that many of them moved and roared at the most unexpected moments. But nothing could alleviate my excruciating embarrassment. The Oldies carrying on like a pair of five-year-olds on the roller coaster ride is a sight that will haunt me to the end of my days.
Anyway, apart from the Featherless Fossils making a complete show of themselves, I have to admit that our visit to this amazing amusement park far exceeded my expectations.
As I said, once I got used to them, the scale models of the dinosaurs were quite fascinating and I was glad to see that the information boards weren’t totally overloaded with facts. My little bird brain was easily able to take it all in, and I learned an awful lot about these amazing creatures. I hadn’t known, for instance, that Istria boasts its very own dinosaur remains – just down the road from Funtana, in fact.
Now I even know which species of dinosaur the Oldies are. They certainly are a right pair of Irritators!
These dinosaurs sure are powerful creatures!
The beautiful natural setting alone makes Dinopark well worth a visit. Most of the exhibits are positioned along boardwalks which run through natural forest and around and through an old stone quarry. The handrails on the boardwalks are simple tree branches, so it all blends in with the natural surroundings. I was fascinated to learn that the stone from this quarry had been used in the building of Venice. There are numerous lookout points along the way, and a dramatic rope bridge spans the quarry.
What a lovely, relaxing place. Except you never know what awaits you around the next corner…
It looks like someone gave that crocodile a big hand…
and those rib bones were ripped right out of that poor old Sauropod!
It appears Her Ladyship is still working on her volcanic hairdo.
Luckily, many of the rides had weight restrictions which ruled them out for the Oldies, but they insisted on going on any they were allowed to squeeze their ancient bodies onto. And, of course, there was no way they were going to miss the Jurassic Show in the Dino Dome with real live dinosaurs. I really enjoyed it too. Wow! No spoilers though! You’ll just have to go and see it for yourself.
The Featherless Fossils must have brought the average age of the audience up quite a notch. Of course, they insisted on sitting right at the front, not the remotest bit embarrassed about being the only adults in the arena without children. But, thankfully, with His Lordship screaming like a girl at all the scary bits of the show, I don’t think anybody noticed.
Haha, this is a great joke! At least, I hope it is…
There is no end of entertainment at the park – pony rides, mini zoo, reptile exhibition, archery, monster shooting gallery, fossil hunting… it just goes on and on.
I even got to star in a Dino movie!
There’s no doubt about it: Dinopark puts the fun into Funtana!
