Let's celebrate!! Today the French version of my blog (www.claudieenvoyage.blogspot.com) got 1000 view, yahoo!! The English version will have to work harder because you guys are only at 559 views, you're behind!
Today the plan was to go to Labin and come back to Pula at the end of the day. But yesterday the two girls I lended my laptop to said "Labin is boring, Rovinj is much better". I was almost decided to go to Rovinj but then the waitress at the coffee place where we were stepped in and said "Actually older people tend to like Labin better and younger people enjoy Rovinj". I wasn't sure anymore since I'm young but I often like what older people like, so at the last minute I decided to do both!
The bus took me to Labin in the morning. My book about Croatia said that the highlight of Labin is to take a walk in the old middle-age-like streets in the old town. Which is quite true, I will let you judge for yourselves by the pictures:
However I also found another highlight which was a very nice view from a fortification, I could see miles in front of me! There was what I think is another town (unless it's also a part of Labin, not sure) as well as water and mountains, it was really really nice:
I only had 2 hours again in Labin but that was sufficient. The bus was leaving from Labin at 12:30 and arriving in Rovinj at 2:15. However, what I had not realized is that the bus was coming back through Pula! So really I did a lot of extra driving these past two days, especially considering that I will be going through Labin again to go back to Rijeka where I'll stay one night. But anyways, the bus is quite relaxing and I need a few breaks too so it's not a problem. It's so inexpensive too, I don't know how many kilometers I've done today but the total cost was around $30 Canadian dollars.
Splendid view from the bus once again, I will be sad to leave this region of Croatia because I am quite impressed by the roads and it makes the bus ride much more interesting.
There were lots of clouds in Labin earlier but Rovinj had a clear blue sky which was very nice. I have to admit that the two girls from yesterday were right, I enjoyed Rovinj more than Labin, so I guess I am still young! The two cities are similar with the type of streets they have:
However Rovinj is like Poreč meaning it is higly geared toward tourists and the tiny streets are sometimes filled with souvenir shops. It's ok though because as soon as you go on the side streets, it is still clean but it looks much more like what it must have looked like many many years ago.
I believe Rovinj is a tourist town because it is by the sea. The water was so tempting today, even though it was quite cold I felt like jumping in it!
Rovinj also has the biggest church in the Istria region, it doesn't look so big from the picture I'm showing you but I think it's the nicest shot of it that I have so that's what I'm sharing :)
It is possible to go all the way to the top of bell tower and the view from there is quite impressive:
But in order to get there you have to climb millions of stairs
So after that I deserved a break :) I decided to sit in the sun in front of the water and give a quick call to my colleagues because I miss them!! Here is the view I had while they were talking to me from their cubicules haha
The first day I was in Pula, I talked a little bit to a waitress in a restaurant. Actually the reason we started talking is because I spoke to her in Croatian and she was quite impressed so she took some time to discuss with me (lesson of the day: always learn the language of the country you are visiting, you make more friends that way). Well I really liked her so I decided to drop by her restaurant tonight and say goodbye since I'm leaving Pula tomorrow. She offered me a tea and sat down with me to chat for a good 20 minutes. And now I will share with you something I haven't really mentionned yet because it is a little negative but I think it's good to be aware.
I am enjoying myself more than words can say here in Croatia, and as you all know, it was the same in Serbia. For a tourist, these places are like paradise. So many beautiful buildings to see, rich history, restaurants and things to do are relatively cheap, the people are very nice, etc. But for people who live here, life is not so easy. Pretty much everybody I've spoken to told me it is very hard to find a job, even in bigger cities like Zagreb and Belgrade. Even with a university diploma, people often can't find employment at all or they end up working in restaurants. The waitress I spoke to told me that life in Pula pretty much revolves around the tourists. Since tourists are here only during the summer (from now until approximately October), she works everyday 10-12 hours a day during that period but after that they close the restaurant and she has no job for the rest of the year.
One of the things I am learning from this trip is how good we have it in Canada. I feel bad for all these people that I consider friends, especially because my situation is very good compared to theirs. I really wish I could help but I don't quite know how...
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