Party in Croatia

Beautiful Rovinj

On one of the weekends Susannah was here we took a quick last-minute trip to Rovinj, Croatia, a little gem of a city on the Mediterranean. This city was beatiful! It seemed like it could be a sixth town on the Cinque Terre, even though it's not anywhere near the Cinque Terre.

It's about a three hour and 45 minute drive to Rovinj from Vicenza. We woke up on Saturday morning and made the drive through north eastern Italy, a tiny chunk of Slovenia and then South to Croatia. We checked into our hotel, Casa Garzotto. Since we planned this trip, so last-minute, Casa Garzotto was the only hotel available that could accommodate three people. But we were pleasantly surprised. They had free parking, free breakfast, and bikes that we could use free of charge. And most importantly, it had air conditioning. Very important in the hot, humid Croatian summer. Our room was also conveniently located in the middle of the city, on a quiet back street. After we checked into our hotel, we were off to explore this beautiful town.

Our first stop was the Church of St. Euphemia, the landmark church of Rovinj. The church's 190 foot campanile (bell tower) which shoots up from the middle of the town is a replica of the one in St. Mark's square. The church dates back to 1754. We climbed up the bell tower for a commanding view of Rovinj. The climb up was very memorable. The wooden stairs that lead up to the top seemed to be as old as the church itself. Being able to trust those stairs was difficult, making the journey upwards, a bit scary.

View of Rovinj from the top of the tower.

Enjoying the view

After climbing all of the stairs to the tower we were hot and sweaty and ready to swim, so we searched for a good place to jump in the water.

After a little dip in the refreshing, sparkling Mediterranean.

We then headed towards the harbor and went for a little stroll by the water.

See Jane Snap and her model at work. Contact...Chemistry...Camera...

Another beautiful shot of Rovinj, by Dallin Rosdahl

As we walked along the water we came across a beach with a little water park type thing with huge inflatable toys and trampolines and such. Of course, my little kid of a husband could not resist. Sooz joined him. My pregnant self enjoyed the show from the beach, snapping pictures and videos.

Sooz and Dal climbing up the big inflatable mountain thingy.

After Sooz and Dal's adventure. We got some dinner at a pleasant restaurant right by the water.

At the restaurant.

Susannah and Dallin were adventurous and got the mackerel. I stuck with a chicken Caesar salad.

After dinner we walked out onto one of the piers and watched the sunset. It was beautiful!

Pretty boats

After the sun set on Rovinj is when the real party started. The town lit up, and everyone came out to walk and party. The town happened to be having an end-of-the-summer celebration and there was an art show going on, some bands playing, and some yummy food. They even had fireworks at the end of the night!

The atmosphere of Rovinj was magical. The cobbled streets and warm light exuded such romance. This is me walking down the "Artist's Street" checking out the art for sale. The roads were paved with these shiny, slippery stones. They were super hard to walk on! I almost fell several times.

Video of Sooz and I doing what we do best.

This is one of the bands that were playing that night. Me and Sooz made a real connection with the lead singer (the guy with the sequined beret). He loved that we were dancing it out all night.

The next day we had a yummy breakfast at our hotel and borrowed some bikes from our hotel as well. We rode the bikes along the water in search of a nice beach. We stopped at one, and unfortunately came in contact with some nudies as well. They were everywhere! It was so odd. People of all ages: old folks, middle-aged people, teenagers, and kids... NAKED. Even whole families lying out naked and groups of friends just chatting with each other, naked. The worst were the old men and old ladies. I may never get those images out of my mind. Yikes!

The beach. Don't worry no naked people in this picture. I made sure before I posted it.

After swimming for a bit and trying our best to ignore the unclad Croatian senior citizens, we rode our bikes to town, checked out of our hotel and made our way back to Vicenza. It was a lovely weekend in Croatia discovering the unique city of Rovinj.