6/14 Friday
We walk to the bus station and grab
a bus to Pula. It’s a 45 minute drive through the countryside, past olive
orchards and vineyards, stopping at a few nice little towns. Pula is big and
more industrial. It seems to be a ship repair port, lots of cranes and dry dock
areas right in the middle of the city. The streets and promenades are being
repaired, so there’s a lot of construction going on. It’s funny to see the big
cranes looming just behind a small Roman temple, right next to the Hapsburg
style municipal offices.
We’re
a bit lost & a little put off to start, but then we just come up to the
Roman Coliseum, that we had no idea existed. It’s one of 6 intact structures,
and one of the two outside of Italy. We get the audio tour and spend a few
hours touring it. It’s quite interesting to sit in the same seats as the 1st
Century crowds. The tour is informative, and the place is not crowded at all,
so we have a nice time there.
We stop in the main plaza for a
liter of mineral water, where there are locals dressed in togas and soldier
tunics walking around. There’s an “Ancient Days” celebration of some sort going
on, but maybe they do this all the time as well.
We tour through the streets to find
the other notable sites, which are just strewn around the city with very little
ceremony. It’s hard to even dig a garden without dredging up a Roman ruin here.
There’s a large, gorgeous floor mosaic in a protected enclosure, just behind
the parking lot next to the dentist office. Another small arena is tucked
behind an apartment renovation project. The high ground holds a moated
fortress, which we clamber around, protected from falling down the rock walls
by a stick fence tied with string.
We have an interesting visit, even
with the heat, and catch an afternoon bus back to Rovinj. We grab a small roosted
chicken at the local Konsum for an easy dinner on our terrace.
1 Video Included
Pula Roman Gladiator Collisium
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