Another new country coming up, Greece! East side of Italy was visited and a flight or ferry from there would be options to get to Greece.
Now to Athens, Greece
Upon my arrival in Athens, Greece, I immediately saw the benefit of having pre-booked a car/driver for hire. The driver picked me up at the airport and drove me about 45 minutes to central Athens to my hotel. There are taxis everywhere and people trying to get a taxi. Pre-booking was slick! So I would recommend booking a driver from airport to city.
Anyway, Athens is crazy busy like other big cities! My welcome dinner was at a friend’s recommendation. The waiter delivered olives and their tsipouro, a welcoming distilled alcoholic shot! Like raki in Albania, but this was smoother. Kebab, olives and beer… yes, I arrived!
I love olives!Kebab
My time on Acropolis Hill and at the Acropolis Museum consumed many hours. Our guide was wonderful providing direction, information and how to pace ourselves through it all. There is so much in the museum I could still be there, but I had enough.
Here are photos from the day, but know they do not give the ruins the justice they deserve. It is remarkable to see ruins, plus the work others continue to put into the protection and restoration of the temples. I can only provide photos; enjoy.
Dionysus, god of wine, TheaterParthenon, columns lean slightly in!Dionysus at corner of Parthenon Erechtheion built in 5th Century BC on top of remains from structure destroyed 60 years earlier by Persians.Side view of Erechtheion
The Acropolis Museum is an archeological site-specific museum. The architect chose to build above the ruins. Inside the museum are 3 floors of Ancient Greek structures, mythology and history. It’s a place that was amazing and yet I really only saw a fraction of it! But here was the ruin below:
I’ll be back in a day or so… have some food to eat and cook!
Immediately you notice how quiet Brindisi is! Then you’ll feel a breeze, nice. Wind flows onto this coastal town and at times it is gusting. I’ve given up wearing a hat because of the wind! Plenty of statues, monuments, churches and places to eat. I like the pedestrian-only areas and there are many benches for people-watching time. I tried sketching there too, but the wind makes it difficult.
Photos from my wandering:
Monument to the Italian Sailor in background; one of a few fishermen in foreground.Duomo di San GiovanniInside of Duomo di San Giovanni
Cooked pasta then swirled around in a cheese bowl is definitely a tourist trap, but why not see it done! Meal was so-so.
Pasta swirled around in cheese bowl.
Pasta-making class: My habit is to arrive early to activities. What I discovered in Italy is to arrive on time. I fear I have flustered my hosts when arriving early! I happen to be the only one at this pasta-making class. The chef’s family grows all the vegetables. The female chef’s goal is to not only teach pasta-making but also to incorporate vegetables. She had a photographic area showing the generations this family had lived and started a winery right here in their home! I also discovered she works with Down’s syndrome young people so they learn appropriate cleaning, cooking and/or farming skills. So besides her classes, the front area is a vegetable shop and other rooms are her restaurant all in the space that was her grandfather’s winery.
Now to make pasta! Very nice table set-up with all my supplies; we add water to the semolina and when ready, this took me a bit of time, begin to knead the dough! Long story short, we made different shaped pastas. I was excited to learn how to make orecchiette! It’ll be decades before I could ever make that pasta as fast as the women in Trieste! Here are my final products:
Took me forever to make each orecchiette!!!Some other pasta shapes and with cauliflower for this meal! Thankfully I had help!
The meal was delicious as were the white and rosé sparkling wines! Time for a walk, then to prepare for tomorrow’s day trip to 3 local towns. See you there!
Did you notice food tours and pasta-making classes are my favorite activities when I travel? Yes, especially as a solo traveler! They are opportunities to interact with other travelers, eat good food and learn new things about the area that I’ll continue to wander around in the upcoming days.
But first I wanted to walk away from city center, along the coast and have a good appetite for my pasta-making and eating later in the day. It’s a beautiful sunny day and always with a wind; a joy of being on a coast! I discover a 10km race is happening and they too are going my way! So I felt like all of us were on a walk-run activity. I cheered them on, even as I noticed no sidewalk spectators did, and also offered to take group photos as needed. Never planned any of that interaction, but it was fun! I turned around at their 4km sign to head back to city center.
A beautiful day for a walk.And for some to run… or walk.Or parasail… others were sailing and surfing!And I observed this egret and some black-winged stilts on a thin canal.
Later in the day was pasta-making time! This pasta-making class was with 14 other people at a restaurant! We made tiramisu, a couple of pastas with a pasta-making machine, and then sat down to eat! We started with prosecco at a fine dining table. The restaurant doesn’t open till 7:30PM so we’ll be out just before then.
Restaurant style!Equipment for all!
We made the tiramisu and pastas with all levels of success. I think I’m catching on how to use the machine. Our chef only spoke Italian so we had a translator. My fellow participants were from Romania, Germany, Denmark, Tunisia and 2 other people from USA.
I loved the Primitivo wine with my meal and we finished it all with limoncello! Tomorrow morning I have time to walk and relax before catching a train to Brindisi.
My longest train ride is happening right now as I head to Bari from Bologna. My goal is to visit the southeastern coast of Italy for a first time; but what a long 6 hour train ride!
Finally arrived, checked in at my lodging and off to the waterfront with its couple of ports and plenty of boats! As one looks east from Bari, Italy to Albania, which you cannot see, just know it is an 8-10 hour ferry ride across the Adriatic Sea. Albania is where I started this trip 6 weeks ago!
Anyway, I’m here now to see this city and explore the food! Walking the lungomare, a walkway along the coast, I stopped in at Teatro Margherita where an art exhibit was happening. Various materials were used by the artists to create their work; here are some:
Sofia Loren created with various media
These artists are talented!
Bari’s “old town” was crowded with people as I walked the narrow places and was near Castello Svevo. It was a castle built around 1132 by Norman King Roger II. I thought it a fortress, it is huge! No, it was a castle in its day and now a museum.
Plenty of churches in this town! Huge basilicas … amazing construction when one thinks of the century they were built!! Basilica of Saint Nicholas (San Nicola), houses his relics brought from present day Turkey. It was consecrated in 1197 and is a pilgrimage site for Catholics and Orthodox Christians. Apparently he is the inspiration behind Santa Claus.
At San Nicola, a gilded wooden ceiling!!
Cathedral of Saint Sabinus (San Sabino) does have an entrance fee allowing one to also visit the museum and see archeological ruins. Churches were built one upon another through the centuries. I was amazed to see some of the old mosaics floors many feet below the current church.
No way to capture the size and beauty of this church!Ruins of an older church underneath this one.Notice mosaics on this underground floor!
Of course I joined a street food tour! Wherever I am in the world I love knowing about the food of the region. Plus each local guide puts their spin on the food so I always learn more and eat in good company! A panzerotto is similar to a fried calzone but only with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. It washes down nicely with a glass of Primitivo wine! Next we had focaccia with delicious olive oil, tomatoes and olives, yum! Our orecchiette pasta with tomato sauce was okay, but I loved the one served in olive oil. Italians cook their pasta al dente, cooked to be firm to the bite, supposedly to help our digestive system. Gelato was our final tasting! What I learned new on this tour is that the gelato should not be out in swirls for all to see, but to stay within their metal bins to retain the best tasting gelato and served from there!
Panzerotto cut in half.Orecchiette
This woman could make that pasta with here eyes closed!
Wow!
Other photos are below. I did not try an octopus sandwich. I’ve eaten octopus, but apparently there is a place here with the best sandwich! Tomorrow I want to see a beach and then I have a cooking class! That will be part 2… Caio!
Best gelato and they have a place in Manhattan, New York City!Wind and downpour just as this bride stepped into San Nicola Church.Always wander when you travel!How often will you see red peppers that size? Keep wandering!
I confess! A large meal/dinner after 7pm does not work for me. If I did eat then, I would need to stay active till after 11pm! Okay, that’s not happening.
Instead, for my 7pm time, I discovered “Bottega Botle” so I could try any amount of wine from a dispenser, with available snacks, and a tablet with info about the wine I was drinking. Cool! What’s not to enjoy? I may return!
However, before all of that evening fun, I saw many Basilicas and markets as I wandered the streets of Bologna. Here are some I stopped at as I began to understand why it takes decades to build these magnificent cathedrals! Just hauling a column into place seems a massive undertaking to me!
First, statue of Neptune!Basilica of San Petronio with Meridian Sundial! This is the 6th largest brick church in the world, 22 chapels and 2 oldest working organs besides the sundial!I was there at noon.Palazzo Dell’Archiginnasio, built 1562!Biblioteca deli ArchginnasiaSanta Maria della Vita
Fish markets, meat markets and if you walk the touristy main road you can find all kinds of things!
I stopped for late lunch and with my beer came olives and potato chips, followed by my spaghetti alla carbonara. I am forever a critic and this is still not my best meal. I travel on!
Late in the day I stopped in at Bottega Botle and that was fun. Met other travelers from California and enjoyed various wine and delicious mortadella bologna! Great place to try various wines!
Life for me now has changed as our tour group heads home and I stay on as a solo traveler. My goal is to spend time on the eastern coast of Italy. Now to see the Adriatic Sea from another view!
Note Bologna, Bari, Brindisi
Visiting Trieste, Italy first….
I am only here for 2 nights so I immediately headed toward the Grand Canal. Plenty of cafes along the canal, jellyfish in the water, and musicians playing.
There were many jellyfish!
I stepped into churches: Saint Antonio Taumaturgo and a Serbian Orthodox one. Each beautiful. Then I walked to the huge Piazza Unità d’Italia where a “Maker Faire” was happening. Tons of people at booths checking out puzzles, 3-D printing, robotics and I return here the next day too. So many displays! Really fascinating, but I wanted to walk the Molo Audace, a long pier out into the water. People are walking or sitting and enjoying the simple rock pier. After walking the waterfront and back by side streets and seeing numerous statues, I decided to eat. My pizza with eggplant at Barattalo restaurant was delicious!
The next day I considered going to Miramare Castle. It was built in 1856 -60 for Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian. I figured it and the gardens would be beautiful. I was too early to catch the Delfino Verde ferry for the 50 minute ride, so I decided to visit other places I had in mind. (BTW… ferry to and bus 6 back was the recommendation to me for Miramare, in case you want to easily get there from Trieste.)
I headed to San Giusto, a healthy uphill hike from the waterfront. I worked my way past a couple of old churches to the Cathedral of San Giusto and attended mass. Interesting listening to the Italian language spoken and sung by a choir. Of course the “peace be with you” handshake was clearly understood as I shook my neighbor’s hands.
Mosaic work was unbelievably beautiful!
Walking down a rocky hill isn’t the easiest. I stopped at some ruins, such as the Arch of Riccardo and the Roman Theater and was glad to be on level ground at the “Maker Faire” again. I loved seeing people of all ages engaged in the activities.
My late lunch was at La Caprese Trattoria and there I had spaghetti with eggplant and clams. I have been drinking small Moretti beers with my meals.
Then hours were spent at the Revotella Palace and Gallery of Modern Art. Baron Pasquale Revoltella, in 1872, left his artwork, books and furniture…. his house to the city! I walked through the modern art museum first and then this historic house! Amazing paintings, sculptures and some info in English, but all easy enough to follow. The house is opulent!
Not your ordinary house!
Can pasta-making be this much fun? I’ve given it a try in Croatia and will again Bologna. Wow, that’s how she makes that shape!?!
This step, then shaped on her finger!
As I was winding down my day, I decided to try an aperitif which is typically a pre-dinner drink. My late lunch was already enough food, but I decided to try an Aperol spritz. If I like it, maybe in the upcoming weeks I’ll enjoy it as a pre-dinner drink … like it is meant to be!
Got to admit, great advertising there!
So the drink has aperol: a blend of bitter orange, rhubarb, cinchona, and gentian with Prosecco and soda water. A fresh orange slice is a garnish. (I researched cinchona – comes from an evergreen tree in South America and the bark contains quinine. Cinchona is used to treat malaria and possibly irregular heartbeats. I see it is used as a pre-dinner drink to increase appetite.) Okay now knowing all that, I can decide if it will continue to be my drink of choice! I’m still wrapping my head around eating dinner after 7pm. So far I like a late lunch. But one also has to eat before 3:30pm as many places close till 7pm.
I walked 10 miles in 2 days and still have more to see plus Miramare Castle. I’ll have to return another time. Off to Bologna… I’ll post again in a couple of days.
Food in any of the countries was delicious! While I took a photo of every food I think I ate, there is no way to include them all here! Some meals were washed down with water, juice, soda, local beer or wine and a few times with rakija! Wow… strong one! Also, tea or coffee was offered at the end of meals.
Meals with meat were chicken, lamb, pork, beef or goat. Seafood choices included mussels, oysters, octopus, and most often sea bass or shrimp. Typically with a potato on the plate too.
Salad was often red peppers, corn, zucchini, greens of some sort, cherry tomatoes, cheese, red onions, cabbage and olives in a bowl served family-style.
Pastas include spaghetti and different shaped pastas. I especially loved our pasta-making class as that was freshly made! Some pasta meals included truffles!
Breads were delicious! With olive oil, we often were dipping our bread!
Unique foods:
Burek: a filo dough with spinach and cheese and often in a spiral shape.
BurekCheese and Swiss chard in it, delicious!
Ekmet dessert
Cream custard with shredded wheat
Black risotto was unusual option at times as more often it was regular risotto. No, teeth were not black at the end of the meal from the squid ink which makes it black.
Black risotto
Just when you think you’ve seen risotto, here was delicious beetroot risotto with burrata:
Risotto with burrata
Swiss chard or stinging nettles were often with a meal. So was polenta.
Pizza varied wherever I was; however, I had the absolute best pizza at Roko Pizzeria in Opatija, Croatia. Off course I’m on my way to Italy so I may find better pizza!
The best!!
Here was another amazing pizza with 4 toppings:
Artichokes, mushrooms, ham and cheese pizza.
My favorite meal and I wished I had it more than one time was ćevapi.
Sausage, red pepper relish, onion, cheese, tomato and stuff all into flatbread.
Desserts were often lava cake, tres leches, strudel or of course, often gelato! But let me taste Italian gelato and decide which is best! I’m off to Italy!
Before my trip, I used colored markers and tried to be aware of some birds I may hear and/or see on my trip. Above is one possible bird.
My travel through the Balkan countries: Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovenia was not a “birding trip”. However, I cannot help but notice when birds are or are not around. Then if I have some time I like to read about the bird and sketch it. I only used pencil to keep my backpack light in weight on this trip.
Of course, if it is a new bird for my life list, that is very exciting. But what I also noticed, is if I think I know the bird and work to identify it, the bird may be a totally different name and a new bird for me, such as the shag you’ll see in a sketch below. Surprisingly I knew house sparrows are all over the world. In Albania though, it got listed as a new bird in my life list. Had I never listed that bird before? Wow, I guess not!
Eight new birds in Albania, seven in Croatia and three in Bosnia-Herzegovina. No new birds in Montenegro and Slovenia since the birds there were already seen in a previous country.
Here are some quick sketches. Nothing is to scale!
In AlbaniaIn CroatiaAlso in CroatiaIn Bosnia-Herzegovina In Slovenia
Will I see new birds in Italy and Greece? Time will tell!
Our day began with a visit to a 5th generation olive oil production, a small family operation, Grubic, producing quality olive oil. They are recognized in a 2026 competition within the top 500 olive oil producers in the world!
After an explanation of their harvesting process and seeing the centrifuges they use, we did have a tasting. Interestingly centrifuges are now used rather than the old press method! The equipment is very expensive. They do have a cooperative spirit here in providing local olive growers to pay for the use of their equipment.
Centrifuge now used, not a press.
We had 3 tastings each of a monoculture and the 4th was a blend. We were to warm the cup holding our olive oil and then slowly sip it with some air. That is to be the correct way to taste the oil. Also, the tasters at competitions receive each oil tasting in a blue glass as the color of olive oil has nothing to do with its quality. The first tasting has a fresh grass sort of taste and the last did not.
After our tasting we had some snacks with the olive oil drizzled on it. The biggest surprise though was vanilla ice cream with fig and plum fruit on it and a drizzle of olive oil!
Olive oil drizzled on snacks.Olive oil drizzled on ice cream!
We walked through the small, very quiet town of Bale. Of course, had a coffee. Everything is quite relaxed! I met a couple on their honeymoon and enjoyed talking with them. They are from northern area of Croatia.
Walking through townOld church with few frescoes remaining.See the barn swallow that flew in and has nest on ceiling.
I did see bicyclists throughout this trip. This day they were part of VBT tour. While many towns in the Balkan area have very bicycle-friendly lanes/paths, the roads between the towns have no bike lanes or shoulders. The cyclists with front and rear lights and colorful clothing and helmets were easier to see. Motorists also seemed to provide some distance between their vehicle and cyclists which I was happy to see!
On our way back to Poreč, we stopped at Lim Fjord. Mussels and oysters are grown in the brackish water, but very beautiful area! Water was a bit cool so no swimmers! The area does look like a fjord.
Lim FjordLim Fjord
Where we are staying in Poreč does have a place for bicycle storage:
Farewell dinner is tonight and I am off to Trieste, Italy tomorrow. Here is a map of the travel so far with the Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) group I have been with these past weeks! Tomorrow I am a solo traveler for a few weeks in Italy and Greece.
We drove south the first part of our day to a seaside town, Rovinj. Upon our arrival, we see houses along the coastline and then on top of the hill is Church of Saint Euphemia. People could truly jump out of their window into the water below, if they wished Probably not, but the homes are straight up from the coast!
Rovinj is on the coastline!
Later in the day we did stop in the church. The steeple also functions as a weather vane. Here too is plenty of history.
Church of Saint EuphemiaChurch
We walked around this town and fishing port. Stopped by the fresh market too.
Olives, olive oil, honey and more!Fresh fruit and vegetables
Fourteen islands are just offshore from here, some of thousand plus islands off Croatia. Rovinj does have pedestrian-only area and plenty of shops. We enjoyed a cappuccino as we looked out on the water in sunshine.
Comfortable place to relax and sip any drink!
After lunch we drove to Cattunar Winery. It is beautifully located! We had an informative tour of their harvest and bottling process, plus to see their cellar with some very old wines. I love red wine; however, I did like the Malvazija white wine the Istrian peninsula is known for. Of course, we had delicious snacks with the 2 wines and a third sweet wine! Since the red wine has more tannins it was served with cheese and black truffles on the bread. What was not to enjoy!
White wine was very good!Loved the red wine too!Black truffles and cheese on bread.
I’ll be back tomorrow as it is our last day on Istrian peninsula and last day of tour before I am off as a solo traveler.
Here are a few more photos from this day:
Winery, vineyard in beautiful area!Notice pointed ends of this boat which is only found here, called a batana.Homes
