day nine - pula and rovinj, croatia

Our last day of touring had arrived. We docked in Pula, the largest city in Istria County, in the morning, and left the ship to meet our guide, Nada.  You may remember that our guide in Korcula was also named Nada.  Different women, but both named "Hope" in Croatian.  I think it says something about the people of this country, that in our small exposure to its residents, two women of a similar age were named Hope.

Pula is known for its shipbuilding, and in fact, Nada's husband is a naval architect.  The large shipyard is the biggest employer in Pula and tourism  is a close second.  Pula has also been Istria's administrative center since ancient Roman times.

And the impact of the Romans was immediately apparent, as we visited the sixth largest Roman amphitheater in the world.  It was originally a small amphitheater built by Claudius and then enlarged by Vespasian in 79 AD for gladiatorial fights.  In Roman times it could hold 23,000 spectators; now it can hold up to 5,000 spectators for concerts and an annual film festival.  We approached from  the pier:

Once inside, we were impressed by the size of building and how much of it remains: 

The metal girders being dismantled by an Italian crew were the remants of an ice hockey game that had been played the night before.  This was a first for the Pula amphitheater, and Nada said her husband and son felt they HAD to be there.

Only a small part of the structure has been cleaned of thousands of years' worth of dirt and grime, but the difference in appearance is striking. Nada said she thinks the rest of the stone cleaning will not be completed for hundreds of years, as the work is so very expensive:

We then went down beneath the seats to the area where the gladiators and the lions prepared to meet each other. The prisons and cages are now a well-lit museum,. We saw rows of amphorae that were used to transport wine and other substances on ships traveling the high seas.  The type of amphorae found at the site of a shipwreck helps archeologists date the wreck.  These containers looked to be in good shape:

We left the amphitheater and continued on our walking tour of the city, passing by a relief map of the city:

Nada pointed out the architectural differences of the buildings nearby, which reflected several different eras and styles.  She also mentioned that 4 generations of men in her family have lived under 7 different governments.  We don't appreciate the stability we have in this country until we hear what others have borne.

We walked along one of the main streets looking at Roman ruins, including the Gate of Hercules. Built in the 1st century BC, it is the oldest and best preserved Roman monument in the city: 

The head of Hercules is in the center and his club is to our left.  Just to the side is what Nada called 1st century graffiti.  Translated from  the Latin, the words essentially say Kilroy Was Here:

We walked past the lovely flower market:

and past the Arch of the Sergii, erected in the 1st century BC on the orders of Salvia Postuma Sergia, to honor three brothers who held important positions in the Roman Empire:

We ended up near the fish market (no, I didn't go anywhere near it), but I did sit on the edge of a fountain while waiting for others to gather, and as I looked across the square I saw this shop:



I got the Charlie part, but had to wait until I got home to translate the "slasticarnica."  It means cake - a perfect translation for Sweet Charlie, our #2 grandson.

Nada led us back to the ship, which was going to sail north to Rovinj, our last stop on this cruise.  One of our group asked Nada if she would like to join us for lunch on the ship, and she thanked us, but said that while we would be sailing for 2 hours to reach Rovinj, she would hop on the fast road and be there in 30 minutes.

Two hours later....we arrived in Rovinj and Nada was there to meet us.  The look of the town was very different from Pula:

Rovinj was originally an island port built by the Romans.  In 1763, Rovinj was joined to the coast by filling in the channel dividing the island from the mainland, creating a peninsula.  In the square in front of the pier is Balbi's Arch (an ancient city gate), dating from 1680, and a late-Renaissance clock tower:

One last peek up one last Croatian sidestreet and we were on our way back to the ship.  Goodbye to Nada and goodbye to Croatia.  We set sail for Venice and we would be traveling home the next day.  More thoughts on that in another post.