Today we set out to explore Northern Istria. Ton had picked out a couple of towns she wanted to check out, and she told me that we were going to look for a wine tasting room to drop into if we saw one.
Just south of us is the small town of Vrsar which Ton said had a pretty harbor We were there in about 10 minutes and the parking lot I chose was supposed to be paid, but the barriers had been removed for off season so it was free. This lot allows overnight parking so we lamented the lost opportunity of a couple of free nights, but decided we deserved the luxury we were living in our resort campground.
We followed the promenade around the harbor which was a mixture of fishing, tour, and private boats. Ton was in heaven as the sky and sea were both beautiful and with no wind to speak of the sea was reflecting the clouds.
We finished with Vrsar and headed for Umag which was close to the Slovenian border. We followed a winding seaside highway for the 40km’s to Umag. About 7% of the population of Istria is Italian so the town names were listed in both Croatian and Italian. Near the town of Novigrad (Cittanova in Italian) Ton spotted a sign for a winery so we turned in. The wide road turned into a one lane track and just as I was about to turn around we found the winery.
I wasn’t sure if they were open so I was turning François around when Ton hopped out and told me she was going to take some pictures. Just as I got François pointing in the right direction I heard a shout from her to grab my wallet as the winery was open for tasting.
We tasted 3 whites and a red and they were all delicious. The conversation was limited as the person poring only spoke Croatian and German, but we settled on a white that is an Istrian grape, but were not sure the name of the grape. All we know is that the wine is delicious.
Ton picked Umag because the guide book she was looking at said it was off the tourist route. She wanted to see what a working port town looked like. Umag was not very touristy though they were trying. Most of the boats in the harbor were fishing boats. There was a small waterfront promenade with a couple of restaurants, and an old town of three roads about 100 yards long.
Near the end of one of the alleys we saw a sign for a sea food restaurant and followed it to a waterfront restaurant tucked away out of site. As we walked up we decided that it was going to be our lunch. As we approached one of the staff gave us a wave and asked if we were hungry. When we said yes, he paused and asked if we were Americans. When we replied affirmatively he surprised us by asking what in the world we were doing in Umag! He said that they hardly ever see Americans here. He was an interesting fellow and asked us a lot of questions about home, and also our impression of Croatia. He told us he was hoping to immigrate and if he had a choice it would be the US. He was not happy about the conversion from the Kuna to the Euro coming up in January as he was convinced costs were going to go up, and his real wages were going to go down. It was an interesting perspective we had not thought of because having everyone on one currency makes our life much easier.
Once we got off of politics, our server took Ton inside the restaurant to survey the fish on offer. When she returned we ordered the Umag platter which consisted of two fish, octopus, shrimp, and mussels. It was wonderful and served for two meals as neither of us was hungry for dinner when we returned to the campground.
We accomplished all of our targets for the day and even found the wine tasting that Ton had added as a bonus challenge. The last thing we accomplished was getting a load of washing done when we returned for the evening. All in all a very productive day for us.
