11 & 12 May, Porec, more rain and actually cold

May 10, 2023

Poreç looked nearly as miserable as me when I got off the ferry. Everything was either closed or closing. So dinner was a bag of cheese crisps, a Snickers and a bottle of water on the ferry.

Once the bike was safe I retreated to my 2 rooms and proceeded to handwash some rather ripe cycling gear. Given the rain and lack of social interaction I managed 4 days riding in this kit so it REALLY needed a wash. Washed in the bathroom sink and rinsed, sort of, in the shower. It wasn't warm so I wasn't confident that it would dry in time for the next day riding. I had 2 nights booked and one day to look around. I hung every thing on M&S coat hangers I found in the wardrobe and suspended them from the curtain rail. I perched my sodden shoes on the window ledge. Then bed for a sleep and to warm up. Hunger and chats with Laura kept me awake until 0200 at which point I gave in and scoffed the remnants of the, very large, bag of crisps bought on the ferry. It's all I had other than dri d pasta, sesame crackers and sachets of porridge!

I awoke to more rain so, despite the hunger, I stayed in bed and tried to sleep. Eventually I had to give in and got up and dressed whilst looking for somewhere for breakfast on Google Maps. Nothing stood out so I did the wander and sample something randomly routine.

I found myself at The Cotton Club, Poreç. It was on a main street but wasn't too busy. The head concho was engaging so I thought I'd try it. I ignored all the warning signs - touristy city, main street, not busy, smarmy maitre'd. That said the photo menu (anothef red flag?) looked ok. So I went for the local breakfast relishing the thought of no fecking croissant or pastries! Scrambled egg, porcini mushrooms, bacon and truffle (14€). An OJ and a strong latte.

The OJ appeared very quickly (drink up and order another) followed by warm milk masquerading as a latte. It was so weak it wouldn't have run off the table if I knocked it over!

Then all hell broke loose. I swear, a hundred elderly Germans appeared from nowhere. There was zimmer frames, crutches and beer bellies all over the place. The smarmy guy was in his element! Coffees, breakfasts and beers were being ordered quicker than the customers could get their towels down on the seats! Interestingly all the beers were large with nothing else being offered.

I was glad to have ordered before this happened however it didn't seem to help my breakfast arrive much sooner than the others'. Eventually it arrived. Neatly stacked in a circle and looking a tad tired and over cooked. It tasted of firm egg, bacon, mushroom and truffle.

I ate slowly whilst I watched the waiters manouvre and perform. It was like sheepdogs rounding up sheep. They corralled the Germans into a tight circle and, basically, squeezed every fecking Euro out of them all. If I wasn't a victim, to be, I would have been impressed.

Eventually I finished everything hoping that the glass of warm milk wasn't going to make me sleepy and asked for the bill.

26€ making my shitty coffee and OJ 12€. The most expensive of the trip so far. The coffee was running a close second as the worst so far too.

I paid up noting that a Google and Trip Advisor review was needed.

That's the first time I feel I have been duped and it didn't feel good. I'm too old for smarmy waiters getting the better of me.

I subsequently read the online reviews of this place and their tactic is not to put drinks on the menu and always serve large beers. They then charge inflated prices for the drinks.

To cheer myself up I decided it was time for an ice cream. I inspected a number of ice cream places and got the distinct impression that every Monday a large ice cream lorry arrived in Poreç and delivered the same stuff to every ice cream parlour in the city. It all looked the same!

Given the lack of differentiation I plumped for one at random. I decided to take one for the team. I have 2 ice cream flavours I rarely, if ever, would choose. Coffee and Rum & Raisin. Coffee is a drink not a flavouring. Coffee cake, gateaux, ice cream, tiramisu and anything else pretending to be coffee all belong in Room 101! Rum ice cream just tastes crap.

So I ordered Coffee and Vanilla. Just as I left the shop my phone rang. It was Laura so I answered and, distracted, started to talk and lick. Oops,no photo of the just served ice cream. I tried to recover and snapped a quick one but to be honest the photo represents my impression of the ice cream. Flat and bland. Coffee?! My arse. It might have had some Nescafé added but it was no nearer coffee than what I drank at The Cotton Club.

Vanilla,beige, 2/10

Coffee, (very) beige, 1/10.

Then the rain started again and it got colder. I was rapidly becoming disenchanted with Poreç!

I retreated to my bed and started planning the next few days. I booked 3 nights in Izola in Slovenia. A short ride north. Then looked at how I would get to Pula and then onto the northern Dalmatian islands to head south to Dubrovnik.

At dinner time I found a more down to earth cafe serving burgers where I continued my planning.

The following morning I woke to torrential rain bouncing off the roof of my accommodation. I was in the attic. Then I found the puddle between the bed and the bathroom. A quick check of the forecast confirmed my fears thT this was on for the day. Thankfully I was able to extend my stay in Poreç and cancel my booking in Izola. No point in cycling with the rain especially when I have very little in the way of spare/dry clothes.

These changes gave me an extra day in Poreç and whilst rain was forecast it didn't continue with the same intensity. It was moving north as I should have been.

I used the day to make a more detailed plan for cycling down through the islands. I had to account for cycling, ferry times (and days), overnights and not arriving too early in Dubrovnik.

It took a while to prepare something which might work. Then I booked a couple of nights in Pula.

I popped into a supermarket and bought some cheese, crisps, an apple, beer and a newspaper (for my still wet shoes).

It was a very lazy day which ended with even more rain and a bigger puddle in the bedroom!

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	0