This is the Life

Istria, Croatia

“Her entire life led to the moment when she said, This is the life I want & she never again wasted time on anything that wasn't that.” Unknown

After spending several relaxing days on the island of Cres, Maja and I took another ferry to the region of Istria.

Istria is a beautiful area of Croatia. I've heard people rave about all the major stops on cruise ships like Dubrovnik and Split and I'm sure the are lovely but Istria captured my heart. It’s an amazing place full of beautiful countryside views, wineries, and coastlines. It borders Slovenia and is not far from the Italian coastline. It has a charming blend of cultures, languages and food. It’s a little slice of paradise.

Istria has so many Italian language speaking residents that their road signs are in both Croatian and Italian.

My friend Bob knew I would be traveling in Europe and specifically Croatia so he sent me an article about The Most Unusual Cities in Europe. Included on the list is Hum, Croatia - the smallest town (because of population size) in the world as recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Well, of course, now I have to visit there. I can't miss this excitement.

Our first stop before going to our Airbnb was to Hum to have lunch. It’s a tiny but picturesque town where the locals embrace the large number of tourists and every street is worthy of a photo.

The online census from 2021 lists the population size as 52 but one of the locals told us it is closer to 25-26. Sadly, they have one less resident. Two days prior to our visit one of the locals, Nadija passed away. We saw her death notification posted on the local community board. RIP Nadija.

Hum is full of artwork and crafts made by the locals for purchase. This is the entrance to one of the shops. I was waiting for Hansel and Gretel to pop through the door.

Istria is also known for truffles. You can buy almost anything made with truffles from cheese to cooking oils to beer and liquor.

After lunch we headed to our Airbnb located in Šterna (pop: 70). If you decide to visit, I highly recommend this place. Loris and her family are wonderful hosts. They had a chilled bottle of wine waiting for us on arrival and they sent us home with gifts made from the lavender they grow on their property. The place was spotless, peaceful, and had a pool. Heaven.

That evening we went to another historic and gorgeous town, Grožnjan. Every corner we turned opened up to an even more beautiful street.

The townspeople have done a wonderful job of documenting the history of the city. As we strolled around town, there was signage describing the history of several buildings. The dates on some of these structures is mind-blowing.

Below is the Town Gate and entrance through the city walls from the 15th century is decorated with the coats of arms of the Venetian rectors from the 15th and 16th century.

This building with the blue shutters was as a Hosteria (an inn) to house solderies in 1360. My brain can't even comprehend what living in 1360 would be like but I'm sure this house has some stories to tell.

The below building was The Stationery Office - the former seat of the municipal notaries built in 1492. The same year Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue for the Americas.

On our second day in Istria, we went to the tiny village of Oprtalj for coffee and homemade chocolate croissants at Mila Cafe owned by Bernadette, a lovely woman from New Zealand with Croatian heritage but a Kiwi accent. Oprtalj is built on a hill overlooking a beautiful valley. No matter where you look, the views are breathtaking.

Maja previously worked in television production and has stayed in Opetalj at the hotel in the photo below for different TV shoots. Talk about a good gig.