Roman History
Colosseum (Pula, Croatia). The most well preserved Colosseum outside of Italy.
The Temple of Augustus (Pula, Croatia). Built between 2BC and 14AD for the Emperor Augustus Caesar. The Latin plaque beside be reads “To Roma and Augustus Caesar, son of the deity, father of the fatherland”.
At one point. This entire area was part of the Roman Empire – which means that Roman ruins are dotted throughout the region.
Cafes/coffee
Cafes near old town (Split, Croatia)
As a local put it “coffee in Croatia is like a second religion”. As we found out, it’s not only Croatia. Coffee is a second religion in much of the Balkans. People will spend hours sitting at a cafe socializing over a cup of coffee. Of course, the coffee’s are strong and tiny (as they are in all of Europe). Meg and I are dying for a large Tim Hortons coffee when we get home.
Smoking
“I don’t smoke – it’s a disgusting habit”
Well….. this isn’t one we will miss but we couldn’t leave it out! Meg and I were shocked at how many people smoke in the Balkans. In Bosnia, it’s nearly 50%! In many places it’s still legal to smoke in restaurants and bars so their was a plume of smoke in many of the places we visited. In fact, every country we visited ranks highly on the list of countries that consume the most cigarettes.
B&B hosts
Davor from Rooms and Apartments Villa Dama (Pula, Croatia)
This trip has been exceptional as far as our Bed and Breakfast hosts. They have went above and beyond for us time and time again. Most times they would greet us with a welcome drink when we arrived, and they would do absolutely anything they could to make our stay more enjoyable. I can’t say enough about them.
Sauerkraut/Sausages
No Balkan market would be complete without sausage and sauerkraut. It seemed to me that most local markets we encountered had someone soaking shredded cabbage in a barrel to make sauerkraut.
Making sauerkraut
Likewise, it seemed to me that sausages or thinly sliced meat were a much more popular meat than say steak or pork chops.
Markets (Local grocery shopping)
As a general rule, I would say that most people in the Balkans shop at small, local, fresh markets instead of big box stores. I would also venture a guess that most items in their diet are produced within a 200km range of them. This is partly due to the climate in this region (which allows them to grow nearly everything).
Tunnels
I’ve never driven through more tunnels in my life. Dozens of them. The longest one we drove through was 6km long.
Our ride: a hybrid Peugeot 308
After 1500km on the old rental car (which is a lot for Europe), it was time to say goodbye to it this morning.
We are now spending our last 3 nights in London before jumping across the pond to get back to reality.
Thanks for following along once again,
Jason and Meg
Kamikaze Canuck 