We travelled in this region a bit in a hurry, because Luis was notified to be in Paris in less than a week to solve some bureaucratic issues, so we decided to compromise some cities and go only to Pula and Umag.
Map to Pula and Umag
Pula
Besides the fact that Pula is the largest city in Istria County and hosts one of the best preserved Roman amphitheatres, we choose it also because the name of the city is funny for me and my Romanian friends (I will not translate it here, but google it).
The only decent parking place we found it near the city's cemetery, so since it was close to the centre and we could just walk through the city, we didn't though twice. Pula it's a tiny but quite charming city situated at the tip of the Istria Peninsula, with a rich history from pre-history until nowadays. First thing in the morning was to visit the famous Roman amphitheatre, Arena, which was once the site of gladiator fights and today hosts various dance performances, concerts, Pula Film Festival and sports competitions.
After we gave a walk through the city, we stopped for Luis' favourite snack in Croatia – burek, a baked pastries filled with meat, spinach or cheese having it's origins in Turkey and found mostly in Balkans countries.
Umag
We visited Umag mostly because Ivana recommended us a good restaurant nearby, so we followed the principle that when a local recommends you something, you don't question it, just go! (details about the restaurant you can find on FOOD section)
Umag it's a coastal city close to the frontier with Slovenia and with a medieval rustic appearance. For the passionate, the city hosts a yearly ATP tennis tournament with a large number of tennis courts.
