Istria

22th April: From Ljubljana to Meloni

The bus were late to Divače, but the rail-bus (a real one this time) was waiting for us. A maintenance were ongoing and it was a little hard to come to the rail-bus, but I made it and also I got help to lift the luggage upon the train because I had to do with me to make the stairs – it was like entering an upright ladder. My Belgian couchsurfing-friend will meet me at Buzet and I was sure all will be ok. Going from Divače to Buzet you are going between two countries. They are both in the EU, but still they check the passengers passport – twice! The first check they made at the rail-bus close to the Slovenian-Croatian border. The second time they checked when I arrived at Buzet. It looked like we still were in the time of the “cold war”.

Next Station: Buzet, Istria, Croatia

I was waiting for my friend for a while, because he drove to the wrong railway station, but we have had good contact before and he knew, I will come to Buzet. Here I made my first experience with this kind of toilets, which I only have heard talking about and have seen on pictures:

The Croatian Toilet – It was not only strange, but also dirty and rusty, without a working light bulb.

Around one and a half hour after I arrived my Belgian friend came and took me to his home in Meloni (near Motovun). It was still a trip for more than an hour. The village Meloni is situated on the top of a hill, Motovun is also on a top of a hill, but of another one. He lives with his wife and three children in a part of a house he bought some years ago. Originally he was working with homepages. That was a good income in his home country, but – also the Internet is international and everyone can work from there home – his customers dropped of after a while and in Croatia you have not a big chance to get new ones, because Croatian people prefer Croatian people and also you have to make presents for customers in advance, so you will get them. For this reason he and his wife try to open a shop in Motovun and sell homemade, and in that part of the country, unusual souvenirs. They were still working on the shop when I visited them.

They are refurbishing the old house and giving it a new touch, e.g. making it more comfortable. They are a happy family with nice and happy children. The view from the house is amazing. It was also the reason why the parents decided to live there. Sometimes, when the clouds are low, you have a wonderful fairytale sight of the surroundings.

23th April: From Meloni to Venice

After a restless night because I felt cold and had for that reason to go to the toilet several times, there was a wonderful morning. First I only saw the clouds, but when my Belgian friend called me out and I was looking to the other side, that means to the next mountain including Motovun I was happily surprised. I never have seen such an amazing view! The castle of Motovun was just over the clouds. I took an unforgettable picture.

Motovun with the Lower Mountains in Clouds.

After breakfast my friends wife was taking me and her youngest child to Motovun. We were walking around and she had to greet all the local people because the place is so small that everyone knows everybody. In one of the very small places called shops she and her husband will open their own shop, selling nice handmade plates, designed by her. The were still working on the place, finishing the interior. A short stay for lunch in Meloni means the end of this meeting. It is the first time I understood I was looking for making to much of my trip. It would have been wonderful to stay for one more day with them.

A Typical Street in Motovun, Istria, Croatia

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