Quick visit to Pula

Pula Roman amphitheatre
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Next stop in Croatia was Pula, on the Istrian Coast. Istria was actually part of Italy for about 30 years in the first half of the 20th century, so there is a strong Italian influence in the town.

In fact, Pula has many ancient Roman ruins. There is a massive Roman amphitheatre which we checked out on our first afternoon, as well as numerous city walls and gates, a forum, and an arena.

We found a beach which we had all to ourselves!

Richard on the ferry on the way to Brijuni National Park
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On our second day, we took a day trip to Brijuni National Park, which the owner of our hostel in Zagreb recommended as one of the must-see attractions of Croatia. Brijuni is a collection of small islands about 15 minutes by ferry from the coast. There is a zoo, 6 churches, an ancient Roman villa and lots of gardens to see, as well as many beaches. Oh, and there is Koki the cockatoo, the island's mascot! He is a huge cockatoo who can say his name and phrases like 'How are you?'. We managed to get him to say his name which was funny!

Brijuni National Park
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After a busy few weeks we decided to concentrate on the beaches of Brijuni, so we walked to the other side of the main island where we found a beach, which we had all to ourselves! The beaches here were beautiful - quite rocky, but we managed to find a patch of sand so we lay on the beach, read, and swam in the warm calm water.

Unfortunately we had to cut our time in Pula down to one night, as we had to get an overnight, 10 hour (eek!) train to Split. We survived the bus trip, although it wasn't fun. Now we are looking forward to spending some lazy days on the beach for the rest of our time in Croatia.