At Home in Terra Magica:Istria Part II Poreč

“We wanderers, ever seeking the lonelier way, begin no day where we have ended another day; and no sunrise finds us where sunset left us. Even while the earth sleeps we travel. We are the seeds of the tenacious plant, and it is in our ripeness and our fullness of heart that we are given to the wind and are scattered.”
― Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

Having wandered so long and feeling weary from the so long on the road it was a delight to rest with our family in Poreč . We dropped back our hire car and we settled in for a week of relaxing in Poreč. Luckily for us we have kind cousin who, in their few spare moments from their busy lives during tourist season, would take us to terrific places.

We had some rainy days, which bothered us less than they bothered our hosts, as they know what the weather is usually like this time of year. But a few drops of rain couldn't spoil our days.

Strolling the streets of Poreč, from the Roman streets such as Dekumanska ulica to the beautiful waterfront promenade is such a delight. Many of the buildings reminded us of Venice, which is hardly surprising seeing a ferry from here to Venice takes only a few hours.

A real highlight for us was the  World Heritage listed Euphrasian Basilica which we visited with our cousin Sandra who is justifiably proud of living in such a beautiful town. The Basilica is an awe inspiring early Byzantine church complex with simply beautiful mosaics. It was hard to believe that the current church, the third built on this site, was built in the 6th century.

When I asked Emma the usual question I ask when entering a church, "what style is this church", she was stumped, though we did find some gothic windows which were put in after an earthquake in fourteen hundreds destroyed the originals. And so we have spent some time now looking at images of  Byzantine architecture and somewhat strangely the kids are demanding that we visit Sofia in Bulgaria to see the Hagia Sofia, but we might need to put that off until another time.

Outside, strangely exposed to the elements, we found the archaeological remains of the earlier churches including a floor mosaic from the 4th century. I particularly enjoyed walking through a part of  the complex where they house the fragments of ancient mosaics, they inspired me to try my hand and mosaics again, something I really enjoyed some years ago.

Julian whooped with delight when he discovered the wooden stairs leading to the  17th century bell tower .

We dragged ourselves up and enjoyed an amazing view of the town and waited with fingers in ears for the bells to strike two o'clock which apparently the don't do so I guess we must have looked a little foolish. However the view was definitely worth the effort.

One afternoon after a huge late lunch our cousin Neven with his lovely girlfriend Ivana drove us over to Novigrad which  a lovely  place for strolling along the foreshore and eating sladoled(ice cream) in cafes.

 On our last day the sun came out and Sandra, Ivana and Neven, in different shifts drove us to visit the beautiful beaches at Plava Laguna (Blue Lagoon) and Zelena Laguna (Green Lagoon).

Apart from the lovely waterfront walks and the opportunity for the kids to practice their table tennis skills it was simply amazing to walk on the grass above the beach and trace the remains of roman buildings.

 Poreč was the perfect base for our visit to Istria, and not just as a base to head to other places from, and I still have to tell you about a couple more, but Poreč is a brilliant destination in its own right with something for everyone. There was so much to keep the kids happy and a rich cultural heritage that was fascinating for all of us.

Visit to Poreč: 1st week of Sept 2014