Pam and Brian arrived tired but on time in Pula. Lori was very excited to see Pam again and they chat away nineteen to the dozen. (I suspect that might be a Scottish term but I think you can work it out.)
Back at the boat we crack open a bottle of champagne to celebrate their arrival and have a light dinner with the Colosseum as backdrop.
Pam and Brian’s first day is planned as a rest and jet-lag recovery day (and it appears champagne-headache recovery day also - I, for one, shouldn’t drink even a glass or two of the stuff). So we take a leisurely walk around Pula and visit the Temple of Augustus.
We also go inside the Colosseum. It is both smaller and larger than you perceive from the outside. The arena itself is fairly modest in size but the building around is is quite remarkable in its size and completeness.
The next day we were supposed to leave mid-morning to travel the short distance back north to Rovinj. But it is blowing 15 - 20 knots across our beam another is a boat just downwind of us with no fenders out - high mishap potential! So we decide to wait it out but it takes a while.
Fortunately the boat next to us leaves first (which I hoped they would do) in a fairly inelegant fashion but they get away safely. This clears a nice comfortable space for us and, despite the wind, we make a smooth exit would never have been anywhere near the other boat anyway.
The good news is that the wind means that we can sail and we have a very pleasant reach up to Rovinj. I had been worried that our late departure would cause problems of buoy availability in the little bay we like but it is late in the season and the Italians have mostly gone home so two of the three buoys are open. Lori introduces Brian and Pam to our buoy-lassoing technique and we are tightly moored in no time.
We take the little ferry into Rovinj and are pleased that Pam and Brian enjoy the charming little town as much as we do. We find a nice little trattoria in an alleyway close to the harbor and have a pleasant dinner before heading back to the boat.
Our final Croatian leg is back up to Umag because this will set us up for the shortest possible leg across to Venice, Again, the wind is blowing but it is easy to slip off our mooring and we have a fun sail tacking our way north. The wind is so enjoyable that we take some wide zigs and zags and let Pam and Brian get the feel of helming True Colors again.
Istria (where Umag is) is famous for truffles and we had introduced Pam and Brian to these in Pula. However Brian insists that there are truffles in chocolate truffles. We are skeptical but he insists he is correct. There is a little specialty store in the marina that sells all things truffle. There to his intense pleasure he finds chocolate with truffles in it. We are crestfallen. Then we taste it. It is possibly the most disgusting thing I have tasted in a long time. We are vindicated (somewhat); Brian is downcast. How to win the battle but lose the war!!
[Editor's Note: There are no truffles in the typical chocolate truffle that you buy in the US. Just as there are no girl scouts in girl scout cookies. But in the truffle case, it now appears that it may be wise to check!]