A Corona gamble to Croatia

So, this summer a #French #roadtrip had been on the agenda and everything had been planned for pretty much a year. #Covid soon put an end to that! We held off as long as we could until the moment France was removed from the 'safe list' and quickly started considering our contingency. The options were becoming narrower by the minute.... Corfu? Italy? Hungary? Lithuania? Croatia?....... or do we take a #gamble and opt for Portugal? (ironically would have been the #safest choice as it was added to 'the list' whilst we were away). It seemed the entire population of French road trippers had the same thought and flooded Skyscanner! Prices soared and options became few. At the time #Croatian figures were sitting at 7.9 in every 100,000.....way below the Government's threshold.... so that is where we headed. #Croatia.... one of my absolute favourites.... especially for a family holiday. I'll report on the Italy- Slovenia - Croatia train journey with August as a 6 month old another time.

The trip did start off accompanied by my partner and his son, but nature intervened, and within two days of being there, Croatia's removal from 'the list' was announced. Unable to face #quarantine on account of the impending new school year, they hastily departed on the last two seats available. Accepting of the quarantine and cognisant that it would, without doubt, be well worth every minute of the isolation that would follow, we embraced every moment. Croatia is such a superb #family choice.

With such a wide variety of #high-quality, #small-scale accommodation, it is easy to travel both #cheaply and #comfortably whilst getting to know the hosts and the destination. Food is varied, reasonably priced and delicious, with #fresh #seafood a speciality in #coastal areas; more than enough to cater for the #fickle #palates of little ones (although I'm lucky, August will eat almost anything, particularly if it starts off on my plate!).

This time we flew into #Pula, a conscious choice based on only having driven through the #Istrian #peninsula previously. If staying in a coastal area, I would normally opt for somewhere close by to a major #historical centre or town so that, in the event of adverse #weather, there would always be plenty to do. Our location of choice this time was #Stinjan, a small and peaceful village 7km from #Pula and 1km from the coast.

The Anita Apartments, hosted by Ivo and his wife, Anita, were like a home away from home. They were #exceptional #hosts and embraced us like we were family! I will always hold this holiday close to my heart because it was in their swimming pool that August first learned to #swim unaided; we had the place pretty much to ourselves so had plenty of opportunity to practice! Hiring a car was the right move. In addition to lots of pool time we filled our days to the brim. My favourite travel pastime is what I would describe as 'mooching'.... not necessarily having a set agenda but walking, looking, stopping, reflecting to absorb the atmosphere and my new surroundings..... taking it all in. So we did a lot of that.... with plenty of food and ice-cream stops!

We didn't just 'mooch' though.....I had the opportunity to tell August all about #Gladiatorial contests at the #Pula #Arena (a throwback to GCSE Latin!), we learned about the importance of looking after our #oceans and #lifebelowwater aided by the exhibits at the superb #PulaAquarium.

We visited the beautiful city of #Rovinj and pretended to be #Pirates as we sailed along #LimskiGorge to the #PirateCave. From the nearby #Fazana we took a boat trip around #Brijuni National Park as the #Dolphins jumped on the crest of the boat's wake at #sunset. Absolutely spectacular! We spent a lot of time in the coastal towns of #Fazana and #Medelin, which, as with most Croatian seaside towns were just perfect and very well equipped for the holidaying #family. #Clean, #safe, gently #shelving beaches with places to get changed, toilets, ice-cream on tap and fringed by #aromatic pine trees for shade (one of my favourite smells in the world!). Fazana also had the most superb selection of #restaurants, we enjoyed many a delicious meal there.

I can't express enough what a superb choice #Croatia is for a #family holiday. As well as all the new experiences we encountered, we walked, we ate, we rode the 'family bike' and enjoyed to its fullest the precious #qualitytime that travelling and the opportunity to 'slow down' affords. Although I wouldn't have it any other way, the fact that I only have August with me 50% of the time now makes me want to make every second count. The two week #quarantine was more than worth it for the #memories the trip gave us, and we certainly felt much #safer in Croatia than we do at home and acted responsibly accordingly. As Ivo was telling us, with only two operational months of the #tourist #season this year, the secondary effects of the #crisis look set to be just as #damaging.... Let's hope that 2021 brings better times......