Rijeka to Pula

I was very impressed by the manager of Hostel Carnevale, as I passed the front desk he asked where I was going and when I told him I was going to look for dinner he pulled out a map and recommended four different places finishing with a fish restaurant on the front that was his favourite. Then he added, and on the way back you will want to stop in one of our local pubs, the map came out again, try here, or here, or maybe here.

The fish restaurant turned out to be fantastic, I had Adriatic herring, which was not much like a herring as it came in steaks like swordfish. The bar was on a ship in the harbour and had only two customers both watching a local soap opera. At least I think it was a soap opera, it may have been an attempt at actual opera as the characters burst into song, I didn´t stay long.

In the morning I decided to leave the trains for a bit and make my way around the Istrian peninsula by bus for a few days. 

First I explored Riejka, it didn´t take long to find the Roman arch, the ruins next to it were hidden behind fences but I did manage to get one photo and it appeared there might be some kind of excavation going on. From there it was a short distance to the city museum and the museum of the Croatian littoral but neither had any signs in English and the exhibits were limited to random art works. For the rest of the time I wandered the city enjoying the view of the sea and stopping in coffee shops then it was time for the 4pm bus.

The city tower

Roman gateway

Site being excavated

Sculptures in the museum grounds

The disadvantage of travelling at this time of year is that it is dark so much of the time so I only got a vague impression of passing through a lot of hills for two hours.

Once in Pula, I discovered the directions to the hostel Riva had virtually no relation to the streets and had to stop in an internet cafe at the bus station to look it up again. Then I walked the length of the waterfront it was meant to be on and discovered it doesn´t exist. Luckily another place was open.