Rovinj, Croatia
Woke early after a very sleepless night (thanks cappuccinos!). Walking through the streets of Rovinj is a trip because the streets, which are regularly packed with tourists, are empty and so quiet.
Walked down to the hotel our hotel has a deal with for breakfast (Adriatic Hotel). Had way too much food. Fruits plates, bread plates, cold cut plate, eggs Benedicts….
Short walk back to the hotel and then started our journey north to the truffle place.
Truffle hunt. The dogs are ridiculously cute and excitable. Met Amy from San Diego and Millie from Toronto, both, like us, spending all our time focused on the dogs.
After spending a bunch of time with the dogs, we eventually became aware that the view from the sightseeing balcony was stunning and spent some time taking pictures for our new friends and them of us.
The tour began with a guy presenting the history of this family truffle company, from discovering a “stinking potato” in the 60’s to the present day empire. He told us about the different truffles and their seasons, and passed around a large black truffle for us to examine. He also gave us all morning shots of a truffle infused honey mead, and gave us a preview of the products they have for sale in the gift shop that we could purchase before we left.
They they had us get into our cars and follow a van that included our two truffle hunting dogs (explaining that a hunter can only manage two dogs at a time. We also learned that all the dogs were females because the males get too distracted by the females. Typical.) Low and behold, not long along the walk, one of the dogs started scratching at the base of a tree and our hunter ran off, revealing that she had found a medium sized black truffle. We’re pretty sure that was a planted truffle as this was at the very start of the tour, the first set of trees that every tour passes through, so the idea that we were the lucky ones seemed implausible. Still, it was fun to see the dog digging after catching a scent. The hunter explained that black truffles will lose ~40% of their value if the dog scratches it. A white truffle will lose ~80%.
We’re pretty sure the truffles found on the hunt were planted (found near the start)
The drive home Waze took us on some narrow twisty turnie roads.
Crashed out hard after getting back to the hotel.
Went for a walk around the island.
Stopped at Puntulina after passing by and seeing all the Michelin guide notifications. Sylvia’s bass dish with truffle was excellent. My noodle dish with shrimp was… ok.
Walked around and shopped a little bit.
Went back to the hotel and changed into swimsuits, grabbed towels, and jumping into the sea as the sun started to go down.
Went back to the hotel to change again, went back to Mediterraneo for a couple cocktails and then a gelato at Omara.
Back to the hotel to pack and sleep.
(14,831 steps)
Vix’s Day
Placeholder – Field Trip to Salzburg
