Rovinj Ride

September 28, 2023

Wednesday afternoon we drove on with our group from Plitvices Lakes National Park to Rovinj, Croatia on the sparkly Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic Sea. A ferry took us to the Hotel Katarina, an uber fancy place on a small island just offshore from Rovinj. The hotel is way nicer than anything I would book but no complaints here. We had an open day Thursday and a ride lined up.

Sculptor Ivan Vukušić's three brawny sailors guard the harbor in Rovinj

It's a quick ferry trip to the island, less than 10 minutes.

The bell tower rises from St. Euphemius Church in Old Town

Hotel staff scrub the gravel beach on the island

Pinch me. I can't believe we have this big balcony to ourselves.

Dinner was at the hotel, an easy night. We enjoyed getting to know Deb and Rich from Media PA near Philadelphia. It's really been wonderful traveling with this group.

Thursday morning we had one chore to complete before playtime. I couldn't put off the laundry anymore. We ferried over to the mainland with our dirty stuff and bike gear and wandered the streets of Old Town in search of a place that would wash the clothes for us while we played. Alas, self-service was the only option on offer. While the washer chugged along we used the time to find a couple bikes to rent.

I love the green. Wonder if the neighbors got together to coordinate?

The first rental shop near the laundry had a fleet of dusty bikes, but no helmets for adults, only kid-size. This seems strange to me. Most of the locals riding around town are bare-headed, but don't any of the tourists want a helmet? The owner pointed us down the street to a place that rents bikes, kayaks, snorkeling gear, fishing tackle, and scooters. They had exactly four bikes - two beach cruisers and two mountain bikes. And helmets. MTBs it is.

My bike had the hardest, most uncomfortable saddle I've ever sat, a men's model of course, that squashed my bits. Fortunately Barry travels with an Allen wrench and he tilted it down for me. It helped, a little.

I get that men are built differently, but still can't figure how these saddles work for either sex.

The rental shop owner agreed to store our backpacks with all the clean laundry while we rode. As we pulled away he mentioned he would be closed between 2 and 5. That complicated the day since we'd want to shower and change before happy hour with our group back on the island at 5. Not a huge deal though since we'd be back on the ferry to the mainland again for dinner and could reclaim our stuff them. Off we rode towards Bale.

Scott Anderson had kindly sent us a 50-ish mile route suggestion, more than we need for a day ride so I massaged it down to 40-something. After getting acquainted with the bike saddle I studied the map again and cut it down into the 30s.

The weather was fine as we rode past olive groves and fruit stands. Traffic was a bit heavy on the shoulder-less road but there were lots of other cyclists out so it seemed we must be in the right place.

The road is well-traveled by cyclists. These folks were part of a group ride of at least 60 people.

After two cars close-passed us we'd had enough and pulled out the map again, finding a bail-out point that ran west toward the Adriatic Sea. That sounded pleasant. The lonely road calmed our nerves and we caught a glimpse of the sea on the way down.

We found lunch at Konoba Lucky in Barbariga - chicken for Barry, black spaghetti for me. I've wanted to try this pasta made with black squid ink and lots of garlic ever since I read about it in Isabel Allende's A Long Petal of the Sea, about the people who fled Spain for Chile during the Spanish Civil War. The pasta was wonderful.

Venice is just 60 miles across the Adriatic and my black spaghetti had a strong Italian flavor with cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. Delish. It will be interesting to see what it's like in Spain.

After lunch we turned back towards Rovinj, riding parallel to the coast. We started on a paved, shady deserted road and soon moved on to various flavors of gravel. The mountain bikes were up to it and the up and down tracks were pretty fun. On some downhill stretches I could stand on the pedals to let the blood circulate. We saw quite a few other cyclists here, some touring with panniers, some apparently local residents.

Two miles from Rovinj, the first decent bike lane of the day

28 miles, so much better than no miles

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Back in town, we locked up the bikes outside the rental shop and headed for the ferry, a 20 minute walk according to Google maps. With 18 minutes to the 3:30 departure we picked up the pace. By the time we got close it was evident this was not the right pier. A passerby pointed us to another pier across the harbor, a 1 kilometer walk retracing our path to this point. Aargh. We could have swam to the island faster. We broke into a run and got close enough to see our boat pulling away from the dock. Whaddya gonna do? We found a bar, summoned our militant optimism and waited for the 4:30 ferry.

Looking across the harbor at the wrong pier after the second lap around

Let's just sit and do nothing for a change.

We found Helena on the boat; this is definitely the right one.

Back on the island, a look at where the smart kids spent their day, relaxing and swimming in the sea

There was just enough time for a quick shower before happy hour with the gang, then one more lap on the boat back to the mainland to pick up our laundry before dinner. Phew!

Looking forward to two more days with our merry band of travelers in Slovenia, and hopefully one more ride.

A farewell to our driver Roc, who will be leaving us tomorrow when we get to his home country of Slovenia

Anchovies are not usually my thing, but the little white ones on the right were unsalted and yummy.

Pat and Margi, our dinner companions. They grew up together in New York and now live not far from each other in the Bay area.

Today's ride: 28 miles (45 km)
Total: 117 miles (188 km)

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Scott AndersonSorry this ride didn’t work out better for you. When we were here the roads were reasonably quiet. But then it was autumn of 2020, and things were quiet everywhere.
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1 year ago

Janice BranhamNo worries, we had fun. And the next one in Bled was gorgeous.
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1 year ago