My bus to Rovinj was NOT fun. First off, I wasn’t able to find the kind of thing I wanted for breakfast, so all I had was this strange pastry that was filled with “cheese.” I thought this meant “cream cheese,” but it was actually the same slightly sour cheese that was in the huge doughy cake thing I’d had the day before. Not a fan! I could only eat a few bites before deciding I’d save it only in case I got super hungry.

I also was trying to find a post office before leaving Slovenia, and I was unsuccessful, so that meant I’d have to buy some Croatian stamps and lose out on the dollars I’d already spent on the Slovenian stamps.

When I boarded the bus, there weren’t any obviously empty seats. Lots of empty seats with stuff on them. I tried sticking my stuff overhead so I could wait until the others re-boarded and I could figure out an empty seat, but then I had an awkward altercation with some girls who thought I was stealing their seat. Ugh.

Finally a nice lady offered me her window seat. Huzzah! She probably regretted it, though, since I was coughing something fierce the whole ride! Basically, if a cough drop wasn’t in my mouth, I had to cough. My solution was to eat basically half my box of cough drops, and I’m surprised I didn’t get a canker sore from all the sugar. I am so tired of that lemon flavor!

It was a 3.5 hour ride. A long bus ride. I’m not a huge fan of long bus rides. Luckily, I didn’t have to use the bus toilet the whole time, and my leftover chocolate cookie held me over hunger-wise.

I overheard a poor boy in front of me say he had been on the bus since Germany and was continuing on after I got off, almost 24 hours in total on the bus. No thanks!!! We did get a couple nice views of the ocean through the opposite side windows.

The worst part was right after I finished writing my Ljubljana blog. We were driving through winding roads, and it was so, so warm. I had tried to figure out how to open the air vent above me with no success, and suddenly it was too much. I felt myself overheating, and I tried to take deep breaths, but it truly felt like I was going to puke!!!

I was panicking a bit, trying to calm myself down and trying to decide whether I should go kneel in the bus toilet. Ugh. I’ve done that in an airplane and I am 100% sure it would be even worse in a jostling bus!!!

Well, I must not have been the only one struggling, because suddenly, the air came on for everybody all at once, and the German boy in front of me told everybody how to control the vents. I cooled down and calmed down and was able to get a hold of myself without ever having actually thrown up. Thank goodness!!!

I was so relieved to make it to my destination.

I felt a little silly with my planning because my bus passed right through Trieste, an Italian town I will reach later in my trip via plane. I did it that way because otherwise getting back to London was going to be super expensive, but it did feel like a waste to not just get off the bus when we stopped there.

Once we were in Rovinj, though, I decided that my itinerary was probably best for me given the circumstances. Trieste is a bigger city, and it seemed overwhelming even just at the bus area. Rovinj, on the other hand, is super tiny, and I think I needed that to be able to slow down and recover.

I was also so thankful I had booked my own studio apartment for my stay here so I could cough with abandon all night long! And sleep well! And relax!

My host, Petra, was so sweet and let me check in an hour early. She also gave me a whole list of suggestions and the run-down of the area.

After decompressing for an hour, her first suggestion I followed was to visit a place called Tunaholic for lunch!

This “burger” was so good!! And it wasn’t packed with shredded tuna – it was fresh slabs of grilled tuna, and the sauce and toppings made it all so delicious.

One thing I loved about this place right away was all the art. So many little shops with hand-painted and hand-made trinkets. The only bad thing is that I bought a bunch of them, hahaha.

I walked around the Old Town, built on a little peninsula, with buildings butting right up to the water. There were a bunch of little peek-a-boo views of the ocean down little paths between houses and shops.

The cobblestones on the streets were also super, super smooth and slippery. I slid a few times. I can’t imagine how slick it would be in the rain!

When I made my way to the cathedral, I was thrilled to find there was a bell tower I could climb!

Now, I have climbed lots of towers, and several of them have been very old and sketchy, but this one was SUPER sketchy. The steps were worn, crooked wooden slats. Sometimes I’d put my foot down and it would want to slide right off, so I had to position it super carefully. It didn’t help that I had my hands fun with my hat and water bottle!

The view was worth the climb though, as usual.

It also showed me just how tiny Rovinj really is. Look out one window and you can basically see the whole town!

After my bell tower climb, I explored a little more of Old Town, bought some more trinkets, and then went back to my apartment for another rest. I was just so tired of coughing all the time. I even had to step away from a lady in the middle of buying something so I could have a cough attack before popping another life-saving cough drop in my mouth. Awkward.

I honestly might have stayed in bed the rest of the night if I hadn’t checked my email and found out that my all-day tour of Istria (the larger peninsula Rovinj is located on) was cancelled for the next day. I was so upset, so I decided to run outside and catch the sunset to try to lift my spirits.

Mission accomplished! I brought some hot chocolate, too, and got several compliments on my mug, haha.

I decided, once again, that it was probably for the best for me to take it slow for another day. It would also be nice to have more time to explore Rovinj since I’d been so lazy on Day One. Taking it in stride!

I slept in nice and good the next day, and my first goal was to get breakfast at a place Petra had recommended. It had a view of the water, and I was relieved to see a sign saying they served breakfast until noon. (It was after ten when I arrived.)

I sat at my own table right as a young man sat at his own table near me. We each ordered drinks, and I thought I heard an American accent, so I took the plunge and asked if he’d like to eat together.

Turns out he was Czech, haha. Not sure how I misheard that accent. His name was Ivo, and he was in Rovinj on a business trip for BMW, driving fancy clients around the beautiful countryside. Uh…. Not a bad gig!!!

The breakfast wasn’t bad either!

It was actually so much food, haha. And yes, that was all for me. Ivo ordered eggs Benedict, which he got with a small side basket of bread. I got yogurt with muesli, fresh fruit, a basket of bread and croissants, honey, jam, butter, and fresh orange juice. (It was a meal.) Go big or go home!

After I bid Ivo adieu, I hightailed it to a pharmacy to stock up on decongestant, cough “pastilles” and more tissue. Not sure why it took me so long to buy some drugs.

Okay, okay, don’t judge, but after that, I went back to my room to decompress again. Hahahah. The perils of having my own space! Hostels really force you to get out and about because there isn’t necessarily a nice place to be lazy all day. This Airbnb? It was a very nice place to be lazy.

I made a mistake for lunch and went back to Tunaholic. I’m not saying it wasn’t good the first time. It was great! That’s why I went back! But two was just too much. I got a shrimp sandwich this time.

Then I followed another Petra Suggestion and walked along the water toward the south end of the city, home of a large city park and green space. The heat was way too much for me, but I trudged along and was able to enjoy the views.

I felt MUCH better when the sun went down a bit and I could take my over shirt off without worrying about sunburn. So much less suffocating! Plus, there was shade by the time I reached the park.

I was planning to walk a lot of the park, but I’d passed some boat tours on my way and decided I wanted to do that instead. I wandered into the park a little bit, then I came back out to the water and dipped my feet in. It felt so good!

I was shocked when I was standing calf-deep in the water and realized two plate-sized jelly fish were just two feet from me!!! Once I saw them, I realized there were lots more just like them! I couldn’t believe people were full-on swimming with that many jelly fish in the water!

On my way back to the boat dock, I stopped for some mango ice cream. Not as good as mango gelato or sorbet, but pretty tasty.

Then I boarded my boat for the tour! It was supposed to be a sunset dolphin tour, but it ended half an hour before sunset, and we didn’t see any dolphins, hahaha. That’s okay, though. I was mostly in it to get a tour of the surrounding islands and to see Rovinj from the sea. Check and check!

It was golden hour when we returned to land. So pretty….

I walked through Old Town until I found some nice rocks to perch on in front of the cathedral, and then I enjoyed the real sunset!

The rocks were very cool, too.

I wandered back to my place in the twilight and thanked myself again for picking such a perfect place to recover from my cold, even though it was unintentional. Here’s to continued recovery!

Najbolje želje,

-Lizzy-wa