Croatia: Istria
- KB Cook
- Sep 11
- 11 min read
Day 31 Rijeka 1 (22 April)
[The first 3 paragraphs for this day were inculded in the previous blog posting. They covered leaving teh NCL Dawn and going to the bus and train stations to await my trip to Croatia.] ... Boarding the fairly full bus, my reserved seat had a dude in it, and I had to ask him to move. As we rolled out of the Italian city, down a valley in Slovenia and onto the coast in Istria, which is northern Croatia, I noted that the countryside reminded me of Western Connecticut during a dry summer.
Ninety minutes on the FlixBus, it took me about 15 minutes to walk a small rise to my lodging’s reception desk. Check-in included an escort to the actual lodgings, and I accepted assistance in getting the large bag up the narrow spiral staircase. I was in Room 1 of the Tre Re Inn, small and efficient. I noted no refrigerator or safe.
The twin bed was walled in on three sides, with the bathroom closed off by a sliding door. The sole window opened out over the staircase and the several cafés below. After unpacking, I grabbed my sack and camera and headed out.
A brief stroll up the street perhaps 100m, and I was at the Church of the Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary / Crkva Uznesenja Blažene Djevice Marije with its leaning belltower. As the narthex was open, I was intrigued and went in. Venetian baroque adornment highlights the presbytery, with lace-like plasterwork covering the arch into the apse.
However, with the nave door locked, I stayed only briefly, as I was interested in climbing the hill a bit further to arrive at Saint Vitus’ Cathedral / Katedrala sv. Vida. A baroque rotunda, the single entryway arch faces south southwest into a small piazza. A small belltower and a church building extend to the north and east.
The eight arched three-panel windows at 6-meter above the nave floor admitted plenty of light, making shots of the three altar shrines below them difficult due to shafts of sunlight contrasting with shadows. Ornate, with filigree and embellishments, the columns were red rose marble and statues white stone. Several of the windows had modern stained-glass. The altar table stands in front of the apse and the altarpiece backing the traditional high altar. The cathedra of dark wood, had a rope to prevent the curious from taking the bishop’s throne. A gallery encircles the nave, with the pipe organ over the entrance door, exposed pipes to either side. A further level up, reduced in diameter, is blank dome with a small lantern light bearing the symbol of the Holy Spirit.
Finding a staircase and a guide, we mounted up to the gallery – something rather rare in my experience. Modernist stained-glass fills the rectangular windows, depicting Church Fathers and the Last Supper. Their light illuminates the items of the Treasury on display. The guide, a young pre-seminary student, was pleased to practice his English and to show off the cathedral. I found the building small and compact, and left wondering how big a congregation it might attract in this Catholic city. Of course, there were 4 more Catholic churches in downtown, plus a Serbian Orthodox.
Leaving, on a roam, I began noting architectural features. A signpost, indicating distances to cities (Dublin, Paris, Miami, Lisbon, Vladivostok, Dubrovnik and Phuket) caught my eye. Then I came to a small church, dedicated to St Jerome and a former Augustinian monastery. The baroque interior reminded me of both St Mary’s and the cathedral. Similar marble had been used.
Out in a plaza near the Military Museum, I spotted what I thought might be an anomaly – a flag hung vertically from a pole. Apparently, this is done to allow the full flag to be visible all the time – something I hadn’t seen before. As I’d had a tour cancellation, I stopped at the Tourist Bureau for ideas on things to do on Thursday. Back to the major pedestrian thoroughfare I’d walked to get to my lodgings, I people-watched, window-shopped and even entered a mall. My last camera photos for the day were of a cast metal door, seemingly illustrating history in a hieroglyphic style, and a statue of a refugee, bent because of a loaded sack on their back, toting a kerosene lantern.
Back to the room, I dropped my camera and broke out the cheese and bottle of wine I’d got while cruising. Using the “house wifi” I got my emails done, had a phone call, and continued to work on settling an issue with a reservation for March 2026. Once that all was settled some 2 hours later, I went in search of dinner. I was surprised to find very few open restaurants open at 7:30 on a Tuesday evening. Yes, it wasn’t “season” yet, but the limited choices sent me to Fox Fast Food (on Fox Street) for a Fox burger [beef, cheddar, prosciutto, goat cheese, truffle sauce on a bun]; onion rings and a strawberry-lemonade soft drink.
Albeit well done, the burger was decent. Back to the room, rock music was playing out in the bar below, with cigarette smoke floating up from the teenagers nursing their beers. I read a bit before crashing for the night.
Day 32 Rijeka 2
Church bells, probably St Mary’s, woke me at 8, and I was out and checking WhatsApp to locate my driver. Pavel, my daytrip.com driver, was parked up near the reception office, so I climbed past the cathedral and found him in the parking lot in a VW hatchback. He had a sinus problem, sniffling all day (drove me crazy), consuming breath mints by the handfuls.
Our itinerary that I’d planned would take us to 3 cathedrals in 3 city-towns. First stop was Novigrad, basically heading west 100km to the coast, passing frequent occurrences of road construction where heavy equipment was removing hillsides to widen good roads. Reaching the coast about 10, we found that the former cathedral was deep within a restricted pedestrian zone. So Pavel let me out, directing me along empty streets in the direction of a church spire. I found the yellow church, entry facing the waterfront, with a tall stone bell- and clock-tower on the side facing into the smooth marble plaza. The ex-cathedral (900-1828) Church of Sts Pelagius and Mazimus / Crkva sv. Pelagija has a red neo-classic front. It was locked, but the signage indicates the interior is baroque, and there is an early Romanesque crypt under the sanctuary. Apparently, the tower is climbable.
A nice tree-lined park filled the space between the church and the waterfront. Large painted eggs were positioned in the middle of grass squares. As I made my way back to the car, a quartet of local runners went by, making me aware how much taller these men were than Yanks. I walked along, tulips were in bloom alongside the marina full of smaller boats.
Back in the car, we had to head around the Luka Mirna, a large inlet before heading south to Poreč, maybe 20 kilometers. Again, the commercial center was restricted to pedestrians, so I lit out, trying to follow Google Maps to find the cathedral. I passed the ruins of a Church of Our Lady of Angels, its footprint and remaining wall hosting an arch. Eventually, at the far end of the stone brick street, the pink rear end of the church, with a tall belltower appeared beyond café umbrellas.
Once I found the entrance to the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of Mary / Eufrazijeva Bazilika Uznesenja Blažene Djevice Marije, there was a 10€ fee for the mandatory visit to the museum. (3251) Attached to a former monastery, the building edged along a cloister that adjoined the fortress’ sea wall. With a baptistry, a tower that is climbable (and has great views,) I strolled casually through the exhibits and treasury. Most stunning to me was the large expanse of tiled floor that had been excavated, part of the former Roman temple, then becoming an earlier cathedral. The crypt has more examples of mosaic tile flooring.
Finally, into the cathedral nave, tall pillars held up arches and the timber vault. A baldachin is poised over the altar in the apse, which is full of brilliant mosaics. Most of the rest of the nave, except the carvings of the arches and capitals of the columns, is unadorned. Escaping the fellow tourists, I found the prayer chapel and Presence, and was able to offer my prayers. Leaving, I was rather frustrated – there had been no really excellent option for a truly representative picture. I had a decent shot taken through an arch of the front façade, a view of the roof from the tower, and the inside shots of the sanctuary, but still felt inadequate.
On my way back to Pavel, several retail shops caught my eye – kids football jerseys, handbags, purple housewares. Once in the car, he had his challenges as Poreč was a mass of one-way streets on a finger jutting into the Adriatic.
He had good news for me, as I had told him of my desire to find an activity for the following day: the GetYourGuide tour I’d booked (Istria Hightlights Tour) had been rescheduled to a week later, so I had to cancel. Pavel had called his boss, and offered a great price for a private tour with him to the castles in Hum, Motovun and Labin.
Sixty kilometers further south to the point of the Istrian peninsula, we were off heading to Pula. The ancient port city is based around a protected harbor of the Pulska Luka, and the Co-cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary / Katedrala Uznesenja Blažene Djevice Marije is located a stone’s throw from one of the many marinas that fill the basin.
West facing, there is a standalone belltower almost in front of the entry door. A long, tall building, few windows appeared from the outside to be on the floor level, but light would be incoming through the upper clerestory windows. Trees in a park to the south provided cooling shade, while the Park Jurja Dobrile on the north bordered the seafront road.
Pavel had driven off after dropping me, and I found that the cathedral was closed. With time before our rendezvous, I started wandering, getting shots of narrow streets as I climbed to the monastery/convent Church of St Francis. For a euro, I gained admission to the building and grounds, much enjoying the covered walkway of the cloister. Archeological fragments were mounted on the walls, with some mosaics also displayed. Into the church itself, dark wood timbers formed the vault, two sets of pipes bracketing the console in the loft. The only ornaments on the nave walls were the Stations of the Cross, black and white etchings in dark frames. Interestingly, there were radiators in each pew, between the kneelers and the unbacked seat benches.
An altarpiece stood in the central alcove of the presbytery, a modern altar table in front up four steps from the step-up sanctuary area. Two devotional chapels bracketed the main worship space, one Marian, the other the relics of Brother Otto of Pula. On my way out through the cloister, I saw two box turtles crawling through the grass. Once on the street and heading to the car, I passed “Roma, a gelato experience” with 36 flavors offered. I’d noted that many tourists had difficulty resisting any gelato shop, almost always with a cone or a cup in hand. This would have been heaven for them.
Before we left Pula, Pavel insisted that I check out the Pula Arena, ruins of a Roman amphitheater. A beautiful structure, it was closed, but it houses a museum and the seating is still used for presentations. Getting out of town, he followed a more northly inland route back to Rijeka, climbing valley walls as we traveled the E751 highway. I used the phone to snap too many pictures as we zoomed through the countryside.
Back to the room, I sipped on my wine as I checked a few emails. At 7 I headed out, finding Konoba Feral (konoba means seafood) as I was looking to eat fish. Cod fish fritters to start, and the cod fish cheeks as a main, drinking house red wine. Back to the room, I backed up the camera and phones, read a bit, and slipped into my small bed.
Day 33 Rijeka 3
After picking me up, Pavel veered off so that I could get a look at the mosque, northwest of downtown Rijeka. A stunning modern structure, merged domes provided the prayer space, which a modest twisting tower was the minaret. Visible from the highway, its understated elegance impressed me. I’d seen it from the highway below, but seeing it direct on was awesome.
Hum! A true gem! That’s what my notes start out with. A quiet hilltop village, I wandered around to start, grabbing pictures of buildings, walls, gardens and views. A small museum offered a look at how life had been centuries ago. Carved stones held messages in a now-forgotten script. Even a church, which I was able to enter. Several shops offered local products, and I ran into Pavel at the only café, where we had coffee together. One hundred pictures in the hour we spent there. Additional photos can be found here.
As he drove down the hill. I made a number of 10-second videos with the phone, thinking I could share them on Facebook. And then never figured out how to do that. So here’s one:
Our next stop was Motovun, another Istrian hilltop town to the west, a 45-minute ride and 30km. More commercialized, I was blocked from buying a ticket to access the formidable wall walk due to time constraints. There were many more buildings below the walls: residences and shops, most with great views of the surrounding flatlands below. The second arched gateway brought me to a closed square, with the tall tower standing alongside the Church of St Stephen. Gaining access to the rest of the hilltop required that wall admission ticket.
After prowling a bit more, I began my descent to the car park, passing arriving tourist who walked below the blooming chestnuts. Before leaving, I got a panoramic video of the surrounding countryside.
After capturing a shot of the Motovun hilltop as we circled around to head south to Labin, I began snapping pictures and videos as Pavel drove the dual-lane carriageway through forests, farms and small towns. Approaching the town, I was able to see the Adriatic, with the island of Cres and the port of Rabac. Laban proved to reflect the process of progress, being more modern, still with cobblestone streets, many closed off to pedestrian use only.
Stepping into the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, a touching memorial to the recently departed Pope Francis (who died three days earlier) stood by the altar. I strolled a bit more, getting some nice art-y shots. My last tourist shot was a chestnut tree with red blossoms, something I don’t remember seeing before. There was still some time before my pickup, so I stopped at a small café for an open-faced grilled cheese sandwich and a bottle of Karlovačko lager.
Our trip back followed the coast, so I enjoyed the views of the sea as well as town life as the road weaved its way north. Probably 75 minutes later, we were in Rijeka proper and I was back to my lodgings by 4. After unloading, I chilled for a bit, pouring through the email and taking a brief nap. By 6:30, I was ready for dinner, so I headed out. After passing the Opera House, I settled into King’s Caffe, which is associated with a brewery. The Session IPA was an excellent accompaniment to their double bacon cheeseburger. The fries were crispy, the meal a bit too much, so I skipped most of the roll.
My waiter, while settling the check, told me that the Rijeka Craft Beer Festival was across the jetty and opened that evening. With nothing planned, I headed over. Admission of 15€ got me a half-liter plastic cup (which became very handy for the rest of the trip) and 30€ in tickets to swap for pours. In a former warehouse, stands were set up around the perimeter, while a band was setting up at one end. I was very early, so I had the luxury of chatting with many of the staff manning booths, getting pictures on the phone.
After two hours of sampling a good number of craft beers, the band began playing at a volume that precluded any conversation or thought. Too much for me, I decided to leave, heading back to the hotel. I packed up the large bag, read a bit after I journaled, and then went to sleep.
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Cathedrals to the Glory of God
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