Friday, June 20, 2014

We powered all of 7.8 miles from Ulva Soline to Pula on the SW tip of Istria. It is about 2 miles from the coast and the north shore has many disintegrating buildings covered with graffiti. On the shore to the south are huge cranes in the commercial section of the port. Coming into port, ones first impression might be that this is not a pretty city, but in fact it is lovely.

The old part of the city is charming and not so overrun with tourists and tee shirt shops as some other places. We berthed at the ACI Marina which is right in the heart of the old city. The streets are laid out in Roman style-circular-and you can’t get very lost. The Temple of Emperor Augustus was built between 2 BC and 14 AD. It became a church and later a rain warehouse. It was bombed in 1944 and has been rebuilt & houses a museum. We walked in the underground system of tunnels, Zerostrasse, which was built before & during WWI. It is huge and runs underneath the star shaped Venetian Citadel. There are some war photos and also an exhibit on the history of the 60-year-old Pula Film Festival. The Roman Amphitheater is most impressive and is lit at night. Also lit at night are the dockside cranes. They are a kaleidoscope of colors, flashing and changing from florescent green, blue, pink, purple, red, yellow!

Photo: The Roman Amphitheater in Pula. It sat 20,000 spectators watching gladiators die. Today it is the site of the film festival.