Wednesday 9th October 2024

Around Lovran and Onto Rijeka

Today was an opportunity to have a look around the northern part of Lovran before a whistle stop visit in Rijeka as a launching pad for the trip to Split on Thursday.

Started with a great breakfast and headed out into a much nicer day, with the lack of breeze creating millpond conditions on the sea.

Still nobody braving the elements and having a swim, but plenty out and about walking.

We retraced steps from Tuesday afternoon to where we started our walk along the coastal path , stopping to enjoy the ingenuity of installing ladders and staircases ,plus concrete pads, to create tens of swimming opportunities in pristine water.

We reached the little protected marina with a collection of small boats, all competing for a spot in a very limited mooring. If only they went to the unprotected side of harbour where 50 untaken spots were on offer.

Popped around the headland and sat on the finger wharf looking up into the hills we had walked, before taking off the shoes and socks to feel the surprisingly warm water. There were still the same beautiful waterside villas at this end.

We wandeted up into old town which is getting prepared for the chestnut festival. It was a maze of narrow laneways with connecting stairways which weaved their way past some amazing old buildings.

We had intended to have lunch by the sea, but found a rustic restaurant doing a roaring trade. Enjoyed a typical bean stew and a pork chop, washed down with different beer number 10 – cold and tasty. They had an interesting outdoor wine rack.

Did our final seaside walk in the area before a taxi ride into Rijeka and finding our apartment accessed by an Agatha Christie period lift.

Given the early morning bus trip tomorrow we took a practice run to the bus depot .

Being the former major port a walk along the waterfront was a must. All of the marinas we had seen previously fell into insignificance. Gone were the trawlers,yachts and cabin cruisers we were in the land of the giants. There was at least 4 supe yachts over 165 feet long – several out of Malta and one 300 footer , so big it was moored where the liners would pull in. It was very Packeresque.

There was even a floating hotel cafe in the harbour with the uninspiring moniker of Boatel.

We had a spectacular distant view of the coast around Lovran and an even better appreciation of the mountain heights. The more you observe the geography here the more it invokes memories of Turkey with its high forested mountains finishing close to the coast.

The city of just over 110k is quite busy. with lots of bars, restaurants, mini – casino’s and a main plaza with all of the high end stores. Most of the modern commercial facades sit outside original and somewhat aging buildings. Most of the residences are apartments. In town very old style and on the outskirts new high rises, probably built post the 90’s war.

The locals are very friendly and lots of the cafes were full of under 25’s who may well have been part of the university community. The bars were pretty active with the ‘older generations’, drinking anything and everything and engaging in lively / animated conversations. Smoking ordinary cigarettes is still very prevalent across the population- not many capers or E-cigarette users. It was interesting in bars that many people ate sweet cakes as a snack / no chips or nuts etc.

Maybe it’s being back in the big smoke, but there seemed to be lots of foreigners – not necessarily tourists or students.

After our big lunch it was a couple of quite drinks and a shared pizza for dinner in the plaza. Again it was common for Fido to be sitting under the table at meal time.
We opted for a different route home which fortuitously gave us a chance to find a downhill route for tomorrow’s bag toting exercise to the bus.

Got home to receive a message that bus was delayed an hour, but be there by 745, just in case they picked up time on route down from Frankfurt. That message meant an uneasy sleep, especially with two dings of the phone extending the delay out to 2.25 hours. We hoped they wouldn’t cancel the 7.5 hour trip altogether, as there were not many alternatives, like trains or ferries on offer. Worst case was bus to Zagreb and fly.