Rovinj - Croatia

16/09/2008
Rovinj is a very pretty seaside resort town - a little like Venice on a hill. The houses are delightfully ancient and crumbly. The marble cobblestones worn smooth over time are precariously slippery and with the added obstacle of dodging the unexpected moped and motor bike make the going tough for the intrepid pedestrian.
There are a variety of shops and market stalls where the vendors will happily part you from your money. The fruit is sensational so we bought some to munch on while doing our self guided walking tour and took lots of photos.
We joined the many pilgrims and made our way up the steep slippery, winding streets to the basilica of St Euphemia to view the relics (just a wax dummy if you ask me.)
Euphemia was a Christian girl of 15 who refused to convert to pagan worship. So she was tortured on a wheel and then thrown to the lions which refused to eat her. The Romans killed her anyway and her remains were later rescued by Christians. To cut a long story short somehow the relics floated in a large marble sarcophagus all the way to Rovinj and a young boy with 2 calves succeeded in dragging it all the way up the hill to where it is today. Interesting story... if you believe it or not is another thing!
Entertainment is on again in the town tonight. The locals really enjoy a local band with lots of yahooing and whooping along.
We had dinner overlooking the waterfront at an Italian/Bavarian restaurant. There are 3 very similar restaurants all in a row looking for business. Watching the behind the scenes action and our waiters popping up in the restaurant next door was a surprise and obvious they were all the one business.