From Rovinj to Pula and Rabac

Thursday, March 20, 2025

115km, 1204m of climbing - two pizzas, a salad and a coffee...

I left this morning from Rovinj with a temperature of around 4 degrees and frost on the ground. I warmed up quickly under the sun and while riding unpaved trails that were much better today allowing me to maintain a reasonable speed.

Visiting PULA

The seafront city became a military town because of its strategic location and was occupied by the Romans, Ostrogoths and Venitians. I saw the impressive Arena for 23,000 people, the Temple of Augustus and the Arch of the Sergii. In the city center we can visit section of the underground tunnels that have been built to protect the population in case of an attack and to store ammunitions in what was a strategic location for the Allied Forces during WWII. I also saw the Shipyard cranes that reminded me of Gdansk and Gdynia - at night they are illuminated providing a magical spectacle of colours that I will have to see next time.

I stopped for coffee at Caffe Sirena across front he tourist center nearby city hall and the Temple of Augustus where I had a nice chat with Nika:

Surprise encounter with fellow Canadian!

Meet Fulvio from Toronto with Italian and Croatian roots - a polyglotte now based on the Peninsula with whom I argued that it was Montreal and not Toronto that was #1 :)

I finally descended on the city of Rabac where I had a wonderful place for the night. I stopped at Perla for ice cream and that is where I ordered Pizza from the neighboring city as everyting in town was closed. Thank you Salmir from Pizzeria Pineta in Labin.

Cyclist from Besançon heading to Greece! First cyclist I encountered in days...

What a great day!