An adventurous life does not necessarily mean  climbing mountains, swimming with sharks or jumping off cliffs.  It means risking yourself by leaving a little piece of you behind in all those you meet along the way.    -Shawna Grapentin

Croatia, a new country for us. We wanted to rent a car in Venice and drive to Croatia, but the fees charged to enter a different country and to drop off at a different location were astronomical. So we hired a ride from Venice to Pula. We picked up our car at the airport and hit the road to first explore the Istria Peninsula. Our home base for the next week would be Bale (Bah Lay). We found the most amazing villa, right on the beach with our own pool. It would have been perfect for two couples as on either side of the living room/kitchen was a large bedroom and bathroom. It was so comfortable we often thought we might just lounge around the pool the entire week. The villa was located in the Mon Perin Recreation Site…..a huge resort with sections set aside for campers and tenters, another section with small trailer like accommodations, and then our luxury villa location. On site was a spa, several restaurants, a water park, bakery, grocery store, beach craft rentals, and so much more, but it was so spread out you rarely saw other people, and there were miles of walking paths. We even had our own golf cart to motor about in. We really felt spoiled.

Before we checked into our villa, we toured about the nearby town of Bale. Bale is an ancient Istrian town,, that has its origins stretching to the Bronze Age (1800 – 1000BC) with early fortifications, but became a significant Roman settlement in the 1st century AD, and came under Venetian rule in the 15th century. We walked about the town and grabbed a most delicious lunch.

Istria is a unique spot in Croatia. It is the triangular peninsula in the northwest corner of Croatia that juts into the Adriatic Sea. It is famous for wine, olice oil, truffles, Roman and Venetian history, stunning beaches and mountain top villages.

We wanted to visit a few wineries and try their unique wines. Istria has a long history with wine making and was once filled with wineries making world class wines until the 19th century when the vineyards were wiped out by devastating phylloxera, and then in the 20th century under communist rule only bulk wine production was allowed. But now the wine industry is thriving with world class wineries with talented wine makers popping up all over the place.

We chose to first visit the hilltop town of Motovun. It is probably the most photographed of all the hilltop towns. It is so well preserved and is perched dramatically on a cone-shaped hill high above the Mirna River Valley below. There are preserved defensive walls, churches and a maze of cobbled lanes.

And nearby, is the Fakin Winery…their motto, WE MAKE FAKIN GOOD WINE. Marco Fakin is an award-winning winemaker in Croatia and we had to come and try his Teran. Teran is a rich, earthy red wine that is unique to Croatia. And it is DELICIOUS. We bought several bottles to take back to the villa for later. The winery itself was set in the middle of the vineyards and we sat in a quiet courtyard and learned so much from our server Luka, what a great guy.

Next we drove to another hilltop town, Groznjan, known for it’s music and art scene. Similar to Motovun, there is a maze of lanes of cobblestone, churches, cafes, and cuteness everywhere. And just down from Groznjan was the second winery we wanted to visit, CLAI WINERY. Here we wanted to try the famous Istrian Malvasia. And we were so lucky to share some time with Tim, the winemaker. We learned soooo much. And the wine here was outstanding…so of course we had to get a few bottles.

Another day we took a drive to the Venetian town of Rovinj (Row Vin ya). Rovinj was a key port during Venetian rule ((1283-1797) You see the influences everywhere. The old town is situated on a peninsula that juts into the sea. At the top is the Church of St. Euphemia. Cats seem to rule this little town as we saw them everywhere!!! After figuring out the parking situation, we entered the old town and just kept following lanes around and up, up to the church. We arrived very early and the town was just waking up, it seemed like the town belonged to us with no one else around. The views from the top is so worth the climb.

The week here was so relaxing and we loved the hilltop towns. We tried truffles, olive oil and amazing wine. We braved driving the very windy, curvy, up-and-down roads, met so many friendly people, and enjoyed watching the sun set over the Adriatic Sea.

Tomorrow we drive to Split!!!