Today we are planning to visit the ancient city of Pula
and in the afternoon we will take the long drive home.
Pula - Amphitheatre
Pula is located in the south of the Istrian peninsula in the Bay of Pula. The city was founded by the Illyrians probably in the 3rd century BC and is thus the oldest city on the eastern Adriatic coast. In the 1st century BC the Romans took over the town and built a number of monuments that are still used by tourists today.
We have to get up early in the morning. The reason is quite simple. In this part of Croatia, and perhaps everywhere else, public intercity transport is practically non-existent. If you want to get to Pula, you get one bus from here at 6am and another at 1pm. And when you consider that the bus to Rijeka leaves at 4 pm, you have a virtually unsolvable situation. In the end, my brother drove us there, saying that he had to go twice because the rest of the group was also planning to visit Pula today. Hence, we have to get up early in the morning, pack all our stuff and take it with us. The drive to Pula takes about 45 minutes from Rabac and we are dropped off on the outskirts of town at the Kaufland. We leave the unnecessary stuff in the car and go to kill some time until the rest arrives.
Rabac - Good morning
First we use the toilets in Kaufland and then we walk slowly to the Roman Amphitheatre, which is called Arena in Croatian. The amphitheatre was built under the Emperor Augustus between the turn of the century. The amphitheatre was partially expanded by Emperor Claudius and gained its final form and scale under the Flavians, especially under Emperor Vespasian in the 70s of the 1st century AD. Today the amphitheatre is one of the six largest surviving Roman arenas in the world (the Colosseum and the amphitheatres at Verona, Capua, Arles and Catania).
Well, if you've been to Rome, seeing the Amphitheatre in person is quite disappointing, because the Colosseum is just bigger and more monumental. For those who haven't seen the Colosseum, however, it will be a nice experience.
Pula - Amphitheatre
Let's take a look at the arena from the outside. We buy a snack in a bakery and then wander around the city centre, killing time trying to withdraw money from ATMs. As I mentioned last time, we were not successful. A big minus for Croatia in this regard. Luckily Pula is a tourist center and a lot of restaurants here take cards but not all of them. When it's getting close to the time of arrival of the others, we go to the local bus station where we wait for them to arrive.
Pula - Borci narodnooslobodilačke borbe a žrtve fašizma (memorials to the victims of World War II and the Nazi occupation in Yugoslavia)
Afterwards, we will go back to the arena to see it as well and then head to the Zerostrasse, which is an underground system of tunnels in Pula that was built during World War II between 1943 and 1944 during the occupation of Yugoslavia by Italian troops. The aim of the construction was to create a safe shelter for the civilian population of the city and Italian soldiers from the Allied air raids. The corridor system was named after the Italian word "Zero", meaning "zero", as the system was designed to allow for zeroing out the danger on the surface if necessary. The Zerostrasse consists of several kilometers of corridors that wind under the historic city center. The corridors are about 2 metres wide and high and are carved into the limestone rock. The system has been equipped with various facilities for people's needs, such as toilets, kitchens, pharmacies and more. After World War II, the Zerostrasse was abandoned and remained abandoned for many years. In 2015, the corridor system was restored and opened to the public as a tourist attraction.
Pula - St. Anton
In front of the Zerostrasse is the Double Gate, or Porta Gemina. It is a double arched gateway to the city, built in the 2nd century AD. It was built in the 2nd century by the Romans. Unfortunately, I discovered at home that we don't have a photo of either one.
The next item on the agenda is the Mletečka utvrda fortress, which was part of the town's defence system in the 17th century. Since it is located in the historical centre and on a hill, it offers a nice view of the whole Pula.
Pula - Mletečka utvrda
Pula from Mletečka utvrda
In the meantime, we get hungry and start looking for a place to sit. Most of the restaurants are in the historic centre of the city on Kandlerova and Segijevac streets, which stretch around the castle. You have to be careful where you sit though, as there are restaurants at different price levels and the difference in the same meal can be double. I recommend finding out the price of one regular meal and comparing that across restaurants and then making your choice. This rule has saved us a lot of money. Being in the Balkans, we couldn't have anything but Cevabcici and fries for lunch.
Pula - Segijevaca Street
After lunch, we'll walk the rest of the street. We come across Forum Square, where the Temple of Augustus and the Town Hall are located. The Temple of Augustus (Tempio di Augusto in Italian) is an ancient Roman monument, built in honour of the Emperor Augustus in the first century AD. It was originally built as a small Roman chapel and served as a centre of religious worship for Emperor Augustus. Over the centuries, the temple has been rebuilt and modified several times.
Pula - Town Hall
Pula - Temple of Augustus
At the end of Segijevac Street, we come across the Golden Gate. It was built in the first century AD as part of the city walls and served as the main entrance to the city. At least the arch was gilded in antiquity, hence its name.
Pula - Golden Gate
And that's the last we're gonna make it here. We reward ourselves with more ice cream in the candy shop where they took the cards and slowly make our way back to the bus station where my brother has parked his car with our stuff. There we say goodbye to the others, and go shopping in a nearby shop for something for the road. At four we are already tap dancing by our bus to Rijeka.
Pula - Farewell
Pula - Bus station
To our surprise, he leaves Pula with only us. Another surprise takes place in the next resort, where the driver obviously doesn't know where to pick up other people and wanders around a bit. For the most part, the bus fills up only in Rabac. We arrive in Rijeka on time. The girls are still somewhere trying to rush coffee onto the train, and meanwhile I'm reminiscing about our trip last year, which started here at Rijeka station.
Rijeka - Railway Station
We get on the yellow train and it leaves on time. For the first half hour the air conditioning is not working and it is so hot. We go to sleep after we drink all the wine we had for the journey. During the trip I only wake up in Oigulin, when connecting the delayed train from Split and then at the border during border control. Then in the morning I wake up about an hour before the Slovak border. The crew making this return journey with us seems rather confused. We only saw the steward at the beginning of the journey and the promised breakfast was also solidly delayed. Finally, before Bratislava, we learned that we were out of croissants. As a consolation prize we each got at least a Brumik after Bratislava. In Brno, my mom got separated and we rode alone two of us to Cologne in the reclining position, then just a few more transfers and we ended the long Croatian weekend by getting off the train in Mlada Boleslav.
Useful links:
Regiojet
Apartment with beautiful sea view
Other accommodation in Rabac
Accommodation in Pula
