This morning we get up and look out the window. It seems to be missing something. Ah, rain. It’s not sunny but it’s not raining.
The man at the desk suggests that we park quite far away from the Roman arena as the downtown is too crowded. We drive down and find a parking space across from the Roman arena. I think crowded in Croatia and crowded in California mean two different things.
The arena is immense and I strike a pose quoting Marc Antony’s eulogy of Caesar. We are the only people in the arena.
There is an exhibit in the spaces under the arena where they used to keep the wild animals and gladiators. It is about trade during the Roman era in the Adriatic. They have a photograph of a map from the 4th century A.D.
Who doesn’t love a map! It shows Roman roads and cities. The top strip is includes the Istrian peninsula, then there’s the Adriatic Sea. Below that is Italy which has mountains running down the middle, then the Mediterranean Sea and at the bottom Africa. Aquileia which we visited is very prominent.
We continue with a walk around the harbor area. There is a touching memorial to the partisans of WWII. These anti-fascists died very young, some not even 20. A bust of Tito is among them.
We are headed toward a Roman temple when it begins to rain. We hurry back to the car getting there just ahead of a heavy downpour. We decide just to do a driveby.
It is well after lunchtime so we make our way back Uvala and look for somewhere to have a light lunch. I am still not 100% but would like a little something. It turns out that Uvala is something of an upscale ghost town. Most of the houses are just for the summer or for rent. All the restaurants are closed. In our wanderings we have come across a billboard for the Beer Club. Maybe we can find it. We do! It is really pouring now and by the time we walk from the car to the pub we are pretty soaked. John finds an old favorite from when we were in Montenegro on a cruise. “Make mine a Niksicko,” he says. Then he follows up with a Croatian brew. We share a ham and cheese panini.
We head back to the hotel. We are tired of being wet. We catch up on mail and blogging. I take a nap. Later we go down to hotel restaurant for dinner. We feel sorry for the family running it. It’s not summer and it’s not sunny and no one is visiting Uvala. Here’s our dinner –
We are really, really hoping for no rain tomorrow!