Day 6

Hey everyone, Jessica here! Well today was definitely a change of pace from the last few days. We decided that we needed some relaxing. It is our anniversary after all ;) We woke up around 7:30, a little bit later than normal and started the morning off with fresh croissants and melon that we picked up from a local market. And lots of coffee! Since it was such a lovely morning (and we were in a relaxing mode), we had breakfast out on our balcony. The weather was perfect, again! 2 croissants later, we were off to the city. We meandered through the city streets, passed through a market or two, and stopped for a few photos along the way. Our only real goal for the morning was to climb the bell tower of St. Euphemia Church. When we arrived, we noticed a somewhat large group of people standing outside, which meant the church wasn't open yet. We walked around it for a bit to catch some views of the city below before deciding on a nice shady spot to sit and wait. at 10am on the dot, the doors opened an we were in! We paid our 20 kuna and started the decent climb to the top of the bell tower. The stairs were wooden planks that were very narrow and felt like they could break at any moment. I must have looked like the biggest weirdo because as I was walking up, I was spreading my legs as wide as the stairs would let me to avoid stepping right in the middle of the planks (that seemed like the weakest spot). After 5 minutes or so we emerged from the narrow opening and onto the top of the tower. The views were well worth the uneasy feeling walking up. We could see all of the little islands off of the coast, as well as the town below. There were pigeons everywhere, so we snapped some pics, took the views in one more time, and started heading down. I don't know which was worse, the climb up or the climb down. Let's just say that you want to make sure your feet land on the entire step which requires you to look down, which forces you to see exactly how high you are the entire time. It was definitely not the greatest feeling. We walked down quickly and made it safely to the bottom with no incidents. Now that the tower was out of the way, we had the rest of our time in Rovinj to relax. Our next goal was finding a beach to lay out at and maybe even go into the water. Beaches in Croatia are not like anything you would find in California. Most of them have no sand, only rocks, or rock platforms. We were able to secure a spot with a set of handrails leading into the water which allowed us to ease our way in, rather than having to jump. I will say that the water was very cold, but also very clear! It was so clear that we could even see the jellyfish swimming around! We both took turns hopping in and swimming around. Hopefully with the continued warm weather, the water will be perfect by the time we reach the islands in a few days! After an hour or so of relaxing, it was time for lunch. And when in Croatia and on the coast, you must order seafood. We found a nearby restaurant that had tables right next to the water. Adam ordered the mixed shellfish platter (clams, mussels and one unknown type) while I ordered the langostino (mini lobsters) covered in a garlic sauce. Both looked so good, so we decided to share. After a very filling (and inexpensive) lunch, it was time to say goodbye to the relaxing town of Rovinj and be on our way back inland and to the countryside area of Plitvice National Park. The ride was supposed to take 3.5 hours, but with a few stops and a few missed exits, it was closer to 4.5 hours...There may have been a moment where I was supposed to be navigating, but perhaps fell asleep on the job instead. After what felt like forever, we finally made it to our Airbnb. It was a little cottage in the high Croatian countryside and a nice change of scenery for us. After getting settled in, our host greeted us with some glasses of her family's homemade cherry sherry. It was excellent! We relaxed for a bit and even walk outside to enjoy the sunset. Our seafood lunch was very filling, but around 8pm we decided that we should grab some dinner. We went to authentic restaurant nearby where we shared beef noodle soup and a salami pizza. It was very filling and there is still 1/2  pizza in our fridge. Once we got back we caught the end of the Dodger game (they won!) before calling it a night.

Rovinj

View from top of tower in Rovinj

Beach in Rovinj

Our place in town of Smoljenic