“I am longing to be with you, and by the sea, where we can talk together freely and build our castles in the air.”
Bram Stoker
Saturday
We head to the coast for a drive.
Maybe it is the vastness of Australia, here is Croatia there is a sense of closeness.
You can be high in the mountains, in complete remoteness, and in 15 minutes be on the coast.
The Istrian coast drive is every bit as stunning, and even more enjoyable due to the lack of traffic, as the Amalfi Coast.
“My soul is full of longing
for the secret of the sea,
and the heart of the great ocean
sends a thrilling pulse through me.”Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Shell finds a well-recommended restaurant in a small village, Roč.
We sit outside in the blue skies and drink their house-wine. The food is incredible.
Our waitress tells us that tomorrow is their last day before they close for three months.
We book a table for tomorrow. Ročka Konoba is worth a second visit.
We are in a new apartment.
If the apartment in Grožnjan is an example of everything done right, this place is the opposite.
The Grožnjan apartment was booked out for the next few weeks otherwise we would have stayed. This place is attached to a restaurant with a young chef gaining a regional reputation.
The restaurant is stunning, fireplace, and ambiance. The service is very on point.
The food is good, and you could say it is served in a modern style. However, I argue that these traditional meals of the region don’t need ‘modernising’. Istrian food seems to be made of generosity and local ingredients. Large share plates and generous servings.
There is a birthday in the private room. As I pay the bill, a handful of revelers start a conversation. Suddenly, we find ourselves in a round of shots, and the night starts to look a little dangerous. Calm heads prevail, and the men are rounded up and escorted back to the party.
“Quite collected at cocktail parties,
meanwhile in my head
I’m undergoing open-heart surgery.”Anne Sexton
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