things to do in pula, croatia

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Croatia is beautiful.  That being said, Pula - which is in the northern part of the country in a region called Istria and very close to Italy - is not as pretty as other Croatian towns.  But, it is still worth a visit. I promise.

Arena in Pula.

View of Rovinj from the marina.

Due to its past as a part of the Venetian and Roman Empires, many of those influences remain in the architecture and the food (and you know, I'm going to talk about the food).  These are my top five things to do in Pula:

1.  See the sights.

Arena

          Arena.  Apparently, this is the sixth largest surviving Roman amphitheater in the world. Like the Colosseum in Rome, the Arena also has a subterranean area that houses a small exhibit.  We actually rented an apartment thisclose to the Arena and it was such a pretty sight whenever I looked out my window and saw the colors of the setting sun reflected on those old stones.

The triumphal arch.

          Triumphal Arch - Roman Gates - Gate of Hercules.  If you walk along the walls of the old town, you'll see these gates. For me the one that stood out the most was the Triumphal Arch, which led into the old town, because not only did it still have a lot of the details from when it was built but also because someone erected a sculpture of a sitting James Joyce, the author, looking at the entrance. Either way, walk along the walls and let us know what you discover. 

The Temple of Augustus and

the Townhall, both in front 
of the Forum.

         Forum - Town Hall - Temple of Augustus.  The big meeting square/meeting place from ancient times is still there and it is flanked by the Temple of Augustus and the Town Hall. It is also flanked by lots of restaurants so lots of people watching to be had in this area.

          Tower of Pula Fortress - Roman Theater.  Above the hill in the middle of the old town of Pula lies a fortress. There is a small fee to enter but if you walk the grounds, you can see a Roman Theater on the hillside. You'll also have a nice view of the Arena and the rest of the city. 

Columns in Park Grada Graza

          Park Grada Graza.  An otherwise nondescript park but for a lot of Roman columns strewn all over the place. That means, you can get up close and personal with them. There's also a preserved Roman mosaic nearby.

          The Market.  I love visiting markets when visiting new places and Pula's market was on my list. The market has two sections - the covered wet market and the outdoor dry market. Check both of them out. Don't worry, both sections are very clean. On the second floor of the covered wet market, have a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and people watch below.

2.  Eat.

Pljukanci with truffles
and cream sauce.

Although I enjoyed eating many things in Pula, there were three things I particularly loved during my visit.  The first was their Istrian pasta called, Pljukanci. It's a flour-based dough that's kneaded and formed into tubes. In terms of texture, it reminded me a bit of gnocchi but not as soft.  It was delicious when mixed with cream or meat sauce.

Another item I enjoyed in Pula was eating truffles... and lots of them.  Istria is known for their truffles, which are found underground and could be considered a cousin of mushrooms. You can have truffles on anything -- including ice cream.  The earthy flavors of the truffles definitely did not take a back seat to any dish I sampled. Try it and let us know if you love it.

Pljukanci with Boskarin
meat sauce.

Finally, I enjoyed eating Boskarin, an Istrian work ox. But, modernization meant they were no longer needed to plow the fields. Luckily, Croatians found them tasty (thanks, Croatians!) so they are now a specialty in Istrian restaurants. If you visit, try a Boskarin carpaccio or as a ragu served with Pljukaci. We had our taste at Konoba Kazun. Although I thought the meat was just a tiny bit tough -- not a surprise given that it is a work animal -- it was deep in flavor.

Boskarin carpaccio

3. Drink wine.  

While Dalmatia (in southern Croatia) have bold and beautiful wines from the Dingac area, Istria has the Teran. Teran wines are full bodied and pair really well with the Boskarin.  For whites, try the Malvasia with your Pljukanci with cream sauce or all types of seafood.

4. Take a day trip to Rovinj (or stay there).

Somewhere in old

town Rovinj.

It takes about half an hour bus ride to get to Rovinj from Pula.  It is well worth the trip.  The town is gorgeous! It used to be an island so the old town is pretty much concentrated in a small area. The best thing to do is to just get lost in it. Don't worry, if you look up, you'll likely see a tall tower that may remind you of St. Mark's tower in Venice - that's St. Euphemia church, a Venetian style building built on the hill. Use that as your compass.  Then, walk the cobblestone streets, savor the scents and sights, and don't feel bad if you want to take lots of pictures. I know I did, much to my husband's dismay.

Other than the old town -- and the gates, churches and alleys within -- there is also a pretty fun food market just outside of town.  Check it out for the food and people watching.

Trivia time: if you saw Red Tails (the movie about African American fighters in World War II called the Tuskegee Airmen), you'll recognize Rovinj, which is being passed off as an Italian town.

5. Go truffle hunting in the Motovun Forest.  

The white truffle "we" found.

I like to travel in the off season because it's cheaper and not as crowded (see the photos of the Pula sights above). But, another reason to travel in the off season is that October and November are the perfect months to eat, smell and hunt for white truffles. Yep, white truffles. Not the regular black truffles found in the summer. White truffles. The ones that cost a lot of money.  The ones that have that pungent, earthy smell that taste really good on pastas and scrambled eggs.

Italy is known to have the best white truffles but I've heard here and here that Istrian white truffles may have been passed off as Italian white truffles. I don't know if that is true or not but if it is... scandalous!

Whatever the case may be, it is quite an experience to go white truffle hunting. And, the area around Motovun and Buzet, where a lot of white truffles can be found, is only about an hour or so away from Pula. So, if you're in Pula and you love food, you need to at least look into white truffle hunting.

Let me say now that it won't be cheap to go white truffle hunting. You have to hire a guide, who will get you in touch with a hunter, who, in turn, trained dogs to sniff them out.

Radmila's scramled eggs with
LOTS of shaved black truffles.

We hired Istriana Travel, who got us in touch with a truffle hunter named Radmila, who trained dogs to sniff them out. Radmila drove us and two dogs to her spot in the forest where we walked around following the dogs' nose. After a while, Donna, one of the truffle sniffers, got excited and began digging. It was a long process to dig up gold because Radmila wanted to make sure that Donna did not eat the truffle and that she did not damage it while extracting it from the ground. We waited excitedly until Radmila finally extracted a 64 gram beauty.  We (and when I say "we," I mean the dogs) found smaller white truffles but the finds were eclipsed by the big one.  Once we couldn't find any more white truffles, everyone headed back to Radmila's home where she made us a wonderful black and white truffle feast -- truffles on bread, hams, cheeses, and scrambled eggs. It was awesome!

But, it was even more awesome when she gave us one of the smaller white truffles "we" found to take home. Did I say I love Croatia?

Have you been to Pula (or Istria, in general)? What did you enjoy about your visit?