Rijeka & Pula - June 14

Today we got up and went to the bakery for ham & cheese croissants before heading to the airport to pick up our rental car. When we arrived in Croatia Natalie met us at the airport, and because of our luggage we ordered 2 Ubers. However, when the first arrived it easily fit our luggage, then we got dropped off at different locations near our apartment (because of the pedestrian-only streets) and took awhile finding each other.... so today we decided one Uber would be fine. Well, ... today’s was REALLY small- getting our luggage in was like a complicated puzzle - but our driver was friendly and just laughed.

We then drove to Rijeka (ree-ay-kah), about a 2 hour drive. What I saw of the drive was gorgeous- mountains, hills, and communities built into the hills ... but despite my best intentions, I slept for about an hour or so, so missed big tunnels and other cool stuff, according to Tim.

When we got to Rijeka, we parked near the marina and walked through the square, i was expecting a small village so was surprised at how large/busy it was - Natalie says it is the 3rd largest city in Croatia.

We then took the less direct way up to Krsatski Kassel - winding back and forth at an incline, sometimes doing steps, but bot the straight-up staircase that is the other option (and the way we cane down). Wow - talk about hard work! But breathtaking sites - here are some pics of our walk:

And some pics of the castle and views. If we look sweaty and gross, it’s because it was 87 degrees! In the first pic, we have walked a ways from where we parked and are looks up at the castle - you can just barely see it in the top center of the photo:

In the last picture, you can see two roads - the lower one is the one we came into town on.

After lunch we left Rijeka and headed for Pula, where we will stay until Sunday morning. We intended to take the scenic route along the coast that Amir suggested, but missed the turn off, so we will do that on our return trip on Sunday. We did go through a 5K tunnel through the mountain!
Our apartment is right across the street from the sea, though this area is not where the swimmig beaches are. Here are some pics in and around our apartment. As seems to be typical, we are on the 3rd floor (they call it 2nd) with no eleveator.... so more steps!

After taking our car to a place we can park (about a 10-15 minute walk or so), we walked around town some (this town is know for its Roman heritage) and saw the Arch of the Sergians as well as the Temple of Augustus, where they were re-enacting a wedding and some other typical daily activities. More to see here on tomorrow’s to-do list, but tired for today.