Croatia is beautiful! There are two official languages here, both croatian and italian, and all street signs are written in both languages. This area is known for its olive oil, wine, truffles, and tobacco factory. Rovinj is a romantic, venetian-style coastal town with an atmospheric town and true fisherman. Rovinj was part of the Republic of Venice from the 13th-18th centuries so its architecture, culture and language are strongly Venetian. It is a real town with narrow streets with skinny houses with laundry hanging outside of windows. There are no fancy yachts here, it is a fisherman's village. Rovinj was once an island surrounded by a double was, a protective inner wall, and an outer seawall. Because it was so well defended against pirates, and carefully quarantined against the plague, it was a desirable place to live. In 1763 the need for access became more important than the canals protective purpose so it was filled in, and Rovinj became a peninsula instead of an island. Later, as people moved to larger areas, the walls were converted into houses with warehouses for fisherman at the bottom level of the houses. There is a local market in the heart of the town and the Church of St. Euphemia tops the village with breathtaking views of the Adriatic Sea. We were lucky to be able to eat some delicious seafood and to visit a winery for wine tasting. We were only a few miles from Slovenia and wished we could go just to get another stamp on our passport! I recommend a trip to Croatia but it is not easy to get to. From our town in Loches we took a bus, a train, 3 airplanes, and a van to the hotel. It took over 12 hours total but it was well worth it!