Back in Croatia. Pula to Brsec. What a scorcher.

After arriving late in camp and eating later, we got to bed at midnight.  This campsite is amazing, it's like a rich mans' refugee camp.  People are packed in so close to each other, when I rolled over in my tent I had to be careful not to cuddle the person next door.  Although she was attractive.

 The photo above and below are of the Amphitheatre in the centre of Pula, Croatia.

After packing up the tent we headed down into town to check out an old church and to see the 1 BC amphitheatre in the centre of Pula.  Now the Romans do get around Europe and their footprint has been firmly placed in this seaside town.  I took a couple of photos and then headed out of Pula along the 66 highway to Rijeka.  We had no intentions of reaching Rijeka as we wanted to stop shortly after lunch and swim the afternoon away.

The first 30kms of the ride was all uphill at a gradient of around 4-5 %.  By 10am the garmin showed 40 degrees.  It was hot and humid and all uphill.  We were just tapping along at a good pace and trying to reach the coast of the Adriatic to have a swim.  The distance was not on our minds today, it was just time to go for a swim.

The 2nd climb of the day was a cracker of 8kms at 9%-12%.  We had little shade from the trees and no matter how much water we were drinking it wasn't enough.  At the top of the 2nd climb it was time to roar down into the valley below.  The wind had picked up and now we were doing it real tough.  With a couple of small villages to entertain us, and a few more drink stops, it was time for lunch in the small Croatian village of Labin. Once again we were treated to tuna and tomato sandwiches. 

After lunch we pushed on and came to another climb.  This was about 7kms with a better gradient.  By the time we reached 1/2 way up the mountain we got our first glimpses of the mighty Adriatic Sea.

 We finally got to the top of the climb around 3pm and now all we had to do was find some accommodation.  The photo below was a photo of one of the many villages we rode through today.  It's riding through villages that makes this tour worth every cent. 

We came to the town of Brsec and asked a couple of people for a room, all to no avail.  Finally I asked a group of old men drinking coffee for a room.  After a couple of phone calls we were taken to a small home where momma invited us in.  After she fleeced us for one room with a double bed for 30 Euro, I had to consider sleeping with Peter on the double bed or pulling out the roll out mat and sleeping on the floor.

After a nice shower we went for dinner and ate like Trojans.  From where I'm sitting typing out the story I can look out and see the Adriatic Sea.  This place is just spectacular to sit and relax on a summer's evening with not a worry in the world. 

Tomorrow we have no idea how far we'll ride or where we'll end up.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.