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
We drove about 50 minutes to Pula, the largest city and major port on the southernmost tip of the peninsula. Our guide explained the importance of this location was because it has a protected harbor. Now however you only see abandoned ship building projects and maybe small boat repairs. At once I realized how beautiful our 5 nights in Poreč is compared to staying in Pula.
However there is plenty of history here. Our first stop was at the Roman amphitheater built between 27 BC and 68 AD. It has all 4 walls intact and I was reminded of my first visit to Rome’s amphitheater. This one in Pula is one of the world’s six largest surviving Roman arenas. Centuries ago there were gladiator contests, now it is a tourist attraction and concert venue.
Walking into the arenaLooking down and into the arena
We also saw the Temple of Augustus built between 2 BC and 14 AD. He was the first Roman emperor and the temple was probably built during his lifetime.
Temple of Augustus
The Venetians built the Kaštel Fortress/Pula Castle in the 14th century on the hilltop which provides great views of the city. After walking around the fortress, you can take an elevator to 2 lower levels with access to a network of tunnels. This was amazing to see as the tunnels are a good size and long.
Approaching the star-shaped fortressA lower level tunnel
Arch of the Sergii was another stop on our walking tour of Pula. This 1st century Roman triumphal arch was built and fully paid for by a family member to honor three members of their family.
So much history… and then we saw stone shelters. Many places you will find the dry wall stone construction, but seeing this stone shelter was fascinating!
The water in Lake Bled at this time of year is simply beautiful. Here it is…
We drove from Ljubljana to Lake Bled through green countryside to arrive at this scenic spot. High above the lake, clinging to the rocky cliff, is an 800 year old castle which we visited.
Castle on the cliff
In the middle of the lake is a 17th century church which we rode a pletna to get to it. A pletna is a boat similar to a gondola.
A pletnaOff to the islet to visit the church
We had fantastic weather for this day trip as we climbed the steps to these locations and learned about this area’s history. We returned to Ljubljana by way of Radovljica for lunch and a walk through the town.
Back at Ljubljana we also had a snack … one that went to space! You may know the info about NASA astronaut, Sunita Williams, celebrating her heritage by bringing a traditional Carniolan sausage, kranjska klobasa, to the International Space Station in 2006. (Info is specifically on the sign.)
Celebrates her mixed heritage
Yes, I got a chance to taste this sausage! It was delicious with a touch of mustard. Others added horse radish.
Or eat it with no condiment; the sausage is delicious!
The next day we cruised on Ljubljanica River, I visited with my Slovenian friend who I met in Naples, Italy a couple of years ago, and my fellow travelers and I had our farewell dinner. A few of us will now continue with a new guide for 5 nights as we explore the Istria area of Croatia and sleep in Poreč. I’ll be back in a few days. Look at this food in the photos below… so tasty!
My friend and I shared this cibanica… it has 4 layers: poppy seeds, curd cheese, walnuts and apples separated by filo (phyllo) dough. Light and delicious and was served warm.We shared this also -jabolčna pita which is apple pie… yum!
While we drove toward Postojna Cave in Slovenia, I thought I was in upstate New York! The rolling hillsides with varied shades of green remind me of upstate NY’s countryside. But in the distance the treeless, sharp-edged 8K to 9,000 foot rock of the Julian Alps is seen and I realize I am in Slovenia!
Postojna Cave is a must see! I have been in many caves and this one is huge and beautiful in its own way. It is the only one I have ever entered by railway. The small railcar takes you on a 15 minute, 3.7km ride through the cave; duck your head if you are tall person! Then you walk 1.2km through the cave looking at a variety of cave formations. There is an audio guide that explains the karst formations you are looking at which is very helpful. This cave is huge and all I could wonder about is who discovered this and what a find!!
Walkway surface in cave felt very safe.At the start of rail car ride… soon to enter cave. Staff are very well organized at this popular site. It is not a UNESCO site, but a nearby one of 4 other caves is. This cave may be a future UNESCO site.
Plus in the cave, there is a sightless, whitish with red tufts amphibian only found here called an olm. They can go without food for 10 years, live for 100 years and is the largest animal in the cave. Legends abound about this “baby dragon”. They had a few in an aquarium while we were in the cave so we could see them. However, no photos could be taken to protect them. This photo is of a video display the info board provided.
An olm is a cave salamander about 8-12 inches long.
No photos really capture the cave, but here are some. I’ll continue with Slovenia tomorrow.
On our way to our hotel in Opatija, we stopped at a pasta-making class. With our aprons on, a swig of wine and clean hands, we made pasta! So simple, why don’t I make it at home!? Anyway, we created two differently shaped pastas and ate them! Delicious!!
Pasta-maker taught us how to make pasta! She went to Italy to learn pasta-making.IngredientsLunch!And more lunch!
Arrived at our destination…. Opatija. Wealthy people and tourists stop in this town where hotels are huge and overlook Kvarner Gulf, part of the Adriatic Sea. Way across the water is Venice, Italy. This place is so relaxed compared to any of my Venice visits!
Lady of the Seagull with live one on her head!Water is so clear!Some resorts have a swim area available. People were dipping their toes in the water.Beautiful!Our hotel’s use of the old ballroom!
My fellow travelers visited the hilltop towns of Motovun and Hum. It was an optional day tour with a truffle shop stop. I remained in sunny, windy Opatija to walk part of the 7.5 mile waterfront promenade.
In my free time I sketched some of the 14 new birds I have seen on the trip thus far. No colored pencils or paint with me here.
My farewell dinner at Opatija: pizza and wine:
I ate the whole pizza!A glass of Syrah wine.Chocolate and pistachio cake enjoyed when I joined my fellow travelers to hear about their truffle – tasting and lunch in the town of Hum, population 11 people. Good thing I walked many miles today as my dinner was huge!
Off to Slovenia tomorrow and I’m looking forward to our cave visit. Back in a few days…
