Night lights in the peace gardens and thronging crowds at night.The swimming didn't eventuate because there was a huge swell running and it is overcast.
We go for a stroll and decide to have a drink at a restaurant overlooking the water. The waiter is a bit grumpy but Jan orders a glass of milk and I order a sage cordial. The cordial is a local specialty served in little plastic pouches ( like you can buy soups or icy poles at home) and is quite delicious.
They come in a range of flavours and I consider how commercial they would be for Australian restaurants.
When the bill comes we query the milk because it has been listed as two. No mistake, the waiter says because you got a 200 ml glass and that is twice the serve of 100 ml! We have heard everything now. We return to the Art hotel for its reliable internet and have a late lunch. I order a grappe as an appetiser. I haven't forgotten how delicious the grappe was in Hvar and how it was a great aperatif. I am a bit partial to it now.
Eventually we leave for the bus station and decide it is letting Zadar down. The toilets are the only dirty ones I have used in Croatia and there is no waiting room so you have to sit at a cafe and buy a drink. I start getting jumpy because last time we nearly missed the bus. We didn't understand the bus sign then. My bus is running late. I ask every driver who comes in to check which is the correct bus. There are a lot of people around thank goodness otherwise it would be dismal. Jan is desperate for a sleep but she doesn't leave till 1:00 am. The idea was to avoid an extra night in the more expensive Split. My bus takes 7 hours and it is so crowded I can't sleep till most people get off at Riejke. The ride would have been really scenic in the day because it is pretty by moonlight! At Riejke I get the two seats and can stretch out and get my short legs up. They have been dangling without foot support which is uncomfortable. The young girl across the aisle takes to the floor space and sleeps in her green sleeping bag, like a green caterpillar.
Pula is hardly awake when we pull in and I head for a strong coffee and then a local bus to town. The town whizzes past before I know it and I end up at the end of the route near a beach. I help an old lady get off the bus and then go for a walk to see what is there. A couple of nice un-open restaurants and a pretty beach. I head back to the bus and the old lady is there and I help her again. She gives me an apple. This time I do get off in town in the hope of finding the tourist information office and the hotel I booked then cancelled by mistake when Jan changed her plans. As it turns out that was a bonus. I thought they were going to charge me a cancellation booking fee but it appears they haven't and what is better I have got the room for a much better rate using my improved negotiating skills. It is half the rate I had booked. Thanks Jan. It also proves the point that many places are not full despite the warnings that it is peak time here.
I go to see the amazing Roman amphitheatre and other roman ruins here. I book a cruise tour for tomorrow to Brijuni National Park island which was the summer home of the Yugoslav dictator Tito and has an ancient olive tree (IV AD) a safari park, roman country residence etc. and my ferry to Venice on Sunday. By now it is lunchtime and I am feeling weary. I take a siesta and then go out for the light show on the docks tonight. Apparently they light up the cranes. This should be interesting.
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