Pula and Bale

Today we headed South for a short road trip to Pula; home of one of the better preserved Roman Amphitheaters.  While not quite the Coliseum in Rome it is an impressive structure and still used today for many events (Leonard Cohen will be here in August). We then strolled through the many narrow street corridors nearby, impressed yet again by the fact that people still live and work in these very old buildings.  There are a few Roman relics in the form of gate structures, triumph arch, and what looks to be a temple building of sorts.  The many restaurants about the town specialize in local seafood dishes of all variety with the catch coming from trawlers docked right beside the old town we were walking about.  As with many other areas of our trip so far, there is construction and civic revitalization going on; in this case they appear to be finishing up on a street car project which will run around the harbour perimeter.  Lunch was a variety of snacks from the local bakeries and then off again north toward Rovinj where we pulled off in the Medieval town of Bale.  Having been rebuilt a number of times over hundreds of years, the church, like most towns in the region, is the centerpiece with roads and alleys jutting out in all directions; very quaint, picturesque, and quiet. Back on the road again to our bungalow through a storm which whipped up the sea about Rovinj, dropped some rain, and broke the heat.  After dinner we passed by a very fragrant, damp pine forest during a short walk to deliver left over deli meat to local kittens we discovered yesterday.