Istria

On Thursday, September 1st, we headed west, on a daytrip to Istria. Istria is a peninsula, shaped like a triangle standing on its point. Between the First and Second World Wars it was part of Italy, and still has a substantial Italian-speaking minority. Istria is known for its hill-towns, and we visited the best-known, Motovun, whose most famous son was the race-car driver, Mario Andretti. We stopped in at a shop selling truffles and various truffle concoctions.

In the nearby countryside, we stopped for a demonstration of truffle hunting, with a woman and her black Labrador retriever. Then we went on to a an agriturismo farm in a nearby village, where we had lunch—very good. Next, we went to Buzet (pronounced, appropriately, BOOZE-et), where we visited a distillery.

When we got back to Opatija, Mary Joy and I took a walk along the Lungomare, the seaside path, to its eastern end at the cute village of Volosko, and back. Finally, we walked a few blocks from our hotel to the Restaurant Istranka, where we had a very nice meal out on the terrace.