Tuesday in Rovinj was a quiet day for us, Paul had to get back to work after his 4 day weekend and the boys needed to recover from several days worth of activities, so we didn't do much at all. I did drag them out at some point in the evening to take a quick dip in the Adriatic, but it didn't last long, they got bored within a few minutes. Oh well! Then I struggled to come up with a dinner idea at the small grocery store that's walking distance from here. Cooking dinner on this trip is definitely my biggest struggle! Ended up doing a sheet pan dinner with chicken, potatoes, veggies and white beans. (Still can’t find black beans anywhere, except for the ones Alyssa gave us in Prague.

Wednesday we rented mopeds. The lady who we rented them from called them e-bikes, but to me they were mopeds. The boys enjoyed them a lot, except for the time Braydon fell and scraped up his hand, ankle and back. Thank goodness they were just scrapes. We rode south to a nature preserve/park, it was beautiful, but the pathway we were on was gravel and then turned into sheer rock, which made the ride a bit scary. These things were heavy and not so easy to maneuver especially for the boys and I who have never driven anything like that before. Paul didn't have a problem with it, since he used to ride motorcycles back in his day.

Paul and I decided to take a quick walk after dinner to catch sunset, of course, neither boy wanted to join us. We walked down to the water watched the beautiful sunset hit the clouds over the water, then decided to mosey a bit around old town. We walked up and down narrow little alleyways finding cute little bars and restaurants and art galleries all over. We turned a corner and saw a crowd had formed and were looking at something on some steps, we got closer and saw two cats stretched out on the steps. They were blocking half the alleyway and tons of people were going up and down this alley having to go around or step over these cats. Apparently this is their turf! We had to stop and watch these cats for a few minutes and witness some humans walking down with their big dog who was very interested in the cats. He barked at them and both cats got up and started toward him hissing at him, the dog owners were getting a bit scared now and trying to keep the dog away and quickly descend the stairs. These brave cats chased that dog away and then went right back to their steps to stretch out again! It was quite a sight! 

Thursday we decided to head outside of Rovinj to a small town called Pazin. This town is known for the Pazin Abbys. A well-preserved medieval castle sits on one side of this deep chasm, far below is a river ending at a cave. We zip-lined across this abyss to the castle and then back again. It's the only way to see down into this chasm, so that was pretty cool! The boys and I had fun doing this zip line. In our group zip-lining we had a family of Germans with us, it was funny to hear the English expressions coming out of these German only-speaking kids, such as "Oh my goodness" or "Oh my gosh" when they ended the zip line. English really is the universal language. The Germans, Italians, French, etc. have to communicate with the Slovenians and Croatians with English, because neither speaks the other's language. Everyone seems to speak English! Aren't we lucky! 

Friday we went to a local beach, where there isn't any sand. We ventured back over to the big park that we rode the mopeds through the other day. There are lots of trees here, so plenty of spaces to find shade. The water's edge is made up of big and little rocks that you need to maneuver about. Water shoes are a must here! Too bad I'm the only one in my family who has water shoes. Don't worry, I shared my Tevas, water shoes and flip flops with the boys! None of us actually went swimming, but we sat on rocks with our feet in the water and enjoyed the view and breezes. Braydon ventured the furthest into the water looking for crabs, snails and jellyfish. It was a laid back morning of reading by the Adriatic Sea. 

Saturday, our last full day in Croatia. We drove down to the city of Pula, which is bigger and more industrial than Rovinj, it's a port city with a very well preserved colosseum or as they call it, Pula Arena. The arena at one point held 22,000 people. They've restored it and kept it in good shape so they can use it still today. They hold all sorts of concerts and events in the arena, including gladiator fight shows. We were lucky they were holding one of these gladiator shows while we were in Croatia, it was the perfect thing to do on our last day. It was really cool being inside the arena at sunset watching this gladiator show. They explained to us what would have happened in the glory days of gladiator fights and we got to vote on each gladiator as to whether we wanted the emperor to spare his life or put him to death. Needless to say, it was interactive and we all got into it! When we arrived we walked half way around the arena and then raced to the front row to get seats, so we had a clear view. At one point Braydon pointed out a little creature that was scurrying along the ground on the side of the arena, we think it was a baby hedgehog! Luckily, one of the gladiators who was waiting his turn on the sidelines scooped up the hedgehog and put him out of harms way. We, and everyone immediately around us, found this scene to be very captivating! All in all, it was a great night out.