The Lone Tourist

I made it to Pula, Croatia. What's so special about Pula? Well, when it isn't freezing it's actually quite the popular tourist destination with it's beautiful beaches and Roman influence. When it is the middle winter however, there are no tourists here. Except, of course, for me.In fact, it is so empty I am writing this blog from what normally is an eight person dorm room, complete with free wifi and kitchen. And I have it all to myself. How lucky is that?

Today is Sunday and as my very friendly, artist/hostel owner explained to me on Sundays Pula is a ghost town. So true. I decided to take a walk through this historic city anyway, get in some sight-seeing that kind of thing and wow, the market was closing at noon and I saw maybe a handful of people on the streets. This is vastly different than anything I've experienced since October. I was the lone tourist and it was incredible. No one was shoving me to take pictures, I wasn't over crowded, I wasn't pressured into seeing anything, buying anything or doing anything I didn't want to do. I wasn't distracted by people or cars. Occasionally the church bells rang out in the streets but other than that I was completely alone. And this city is truly beautiful. As I walked through the streets I could hear families talking, everyone at once of course, and smell the delicious scent that only comes from a hearty Sunday dinner.

Even the streets are gorgeous. Also, it's truly roman in that the city center is a wagon wheel. So it's Brittany-proof, meaning it's extremely difficult to get completely lost. Anyway, in the center is a fortress. Since it was Sunday there was no there to let me in but I did get a chance to walk to the very top.

Fortress

View from the top

Lovely

Amphitheater (more on this later)

After a few hours of walking around I thought I was ready for the amphitheater but since everything closes so early I decided to call it a day and tomorrow will be my day devoted to the Amphitheater. (Just a quick preview: the Romans created the Amphitheater so that they could have a place to battle ships. How awesome is that?)