Italy with Ellie 2016- Day 5 Motovun

Day 5. Motovun
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We made it back to the hotel for a nice dinner and waited for Dianna to join us.

Up to write a few postcards then off to the post office to buy stamps and mail them.

The symbol on the right is of Motovun with its five towers; the symbol of Venice (lion of San Marco) in the middle and the Polizini family coat of arms is on the left.

Mario Andretti was born here in 1940 and used to run his car around these narrow winding streets. There isn't much room to do this!

We walked the streets of the town to get the flare of the area. The streets are very uneven made out of cobblestones and dirt.

A few sayings we have learned in our travels: Umbrellas are called "sun shields" and "A little bit down" was the saying of the day; when in fact it was a long way. As we traveled along we were told we were on Roman roads. The Romans came in 1 BC to collect the clay and limestone that was prevalent in the area. Water can't be contained in limestone.

It is 88 degrees out. The river we passed was 30 miles long. The forest is an ancient forest. The tall, broad and straight trees resulted in a thriving boat-building industry.
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                                        A peek through a window as we walked along.

                                                                           Town of GROZNJAN

This area is famous for Truffles. They found a 3 lb white truffle here and was put in the Guinness Book of World Records.  An average black truffle sells for $400 to $500. There are 3 or 4 kinds of them. The white one is the rare one and costs about $20 more. They train dogs to hunt the truffles.


The city was abandoned in 1200-1500 . It has a history of being abandoned then found again. In 1902 -1935 the railroad came and left and now the population has declined to 150.  A great wall with two gates and a moat around it were built in the Middle Ages to protect the city.

The town is precious with its little artisan shops that started to pop up in the 1960s. We weren't allowed to shop but some of our more crafty members slipped off and got some great buys. I wasn't fast enough!

                             Here you can see the outside of the city gate with the moat showing.

  I asked if it got cold here. Our guide told us that they can have frost, and once in a great while some snow.

 The picture on the right is a hocks-berry tree with a great hollow in it.

              We are off to hike a "short walk with a short cut" to where we are going to eat.

In this map you can see Motovun where we started . Stopped at Groznjan. Then our hike to who knows where..It was hot and long..

                                   A look back on the town. It was such and cute and quaint village.
                  Then onto, as Ellie wrote," a walk in the beautiful surrounding hills and dales"

We "tripped" on through the hill up up into the forest where Diana fell and hurt herself.  I was very nervous for her especially since she landed on a rock to her chest. Her breathing was fine. I made her laugh to test it.  I bandaged her arm from my little first aid kit I always carry; removed her rings and an ambulance was called. This is not a small feat since we are in the middle of nowhere.  The closest hospital is in Slovenia and we were in Croatia! It was determined that she needed an X-ray. I didn't think she had broken anything but the ambulance did. So off she would go after lunch.

The rest joined us for lunch at the Seljacko Domacinstvo Agriturismo restaurant. (I think) in Groznjan.

                                                          What a trooper!

                                              Notice how red the soil is in this picture.

.We traveled back to the hotel after we sent Dianna off to the hospital with one of the hotel's gentlemen!  She was in good "hands". with such a handsome young man.  OK Dianna will we see you again??? or are you off to another venture?!
ciao :-)