Pula was only 10 or 15 km past Vodnjan, so it didn't take us long to get there. Our first stop in Pula was this Roman amphi-theater. It is the 6th largest, still standing Roman arena left in the world.
You can see the gutters used to collect rain along the top edge of the wall here...
They were setting up for an Elton John concert in the arena that night. Here's a shot with his piano!
Below is the old Roman wall which was the original edge of the city. The top of the wall is adorned with Roman figures.
The shot below is of a Roma triumphal arch, which are also pretty rare, which was built to honor the Sergius family in Pula.
Apparently James Joyce liked Pula... here's a little monument commemorating him...
Pula is the biggest town in Istria with about 60,000 inhabitants. As a result it is a bit dirtier than most cities and has been more developed. Here we are walking towards the old Roman Forum.
This is an old Byzantine chapel, which was very exciting to see, although it was closed to the public. I have always loved Byzantine art and architecture, but it is a lot harder to find than Roman ruins, so this was quite fun to see. We also saw some of the mosaics which were adorning the walls of this chapel later in the archaeological museum - but of course I couldn't take pictures. We did get some good ones at a different basilica a few days later, so stay tuned!
Below is the old Roman temple on the old Roman forum, which is now the town square.
This is a Roman floor mosaic, which sat about 3 meters below street level, behind some shops on the main street. We had a devil of a time finding it, because there were no signs indicating it's whereabouts, and was literally tucked behind a clothing shop, via a little alley on the main shopping strip. But it was worth finding!
These two speak for themselves... she often refuses to ride in her stroller these days...
Sitting near the fortress are hundreds of pieces of Roman ruins, just kind of laying around everywhere...
After sight-seeing we went to a restaurant in the resort area near Pula - here's a shot of the marina there... some pretty serious yachts were everywhere, all the time.
Apparently James Joyce liked Pula... here's a little monument commemorating him...
Pula is the biggest town in Istria with about 60,000 inhabitants. As a result it is a bit dirtier than most cities and has been more developed. Here we are walking towards the old Roman Forum.
This is an old Byzantine chapel, which was very exciting to see, although it was closed to the public. I have always loved Byzantine art and architecture, but it is a lot harder to find than Roman ruins, so this was quite fun to see. We also saw some of the mosaics which were adorning the walls of this chapel later in the archaeological museum - but of course I couldn't take pictures. We did get some good ones at a different basilica a few days later, so stay tuned!
Below is the old Roman temple on the old Roman forum, which is now the town square.
Luna now says "Coming?" and pulls on you when she wants you to go somewhere... I'm sure that's what she was doing here~
And in the shot below she's putting her hand over her mouth, and saying "Oh no!"...
This is a Roman floor mosaic, which sat about 3 meters below street level, behind some shops on the main street. We had a devil of a time finding it, because there were no signs indicating it's whereabouts, and was literally tucked behind a clothing shop, via a little alley on the main shopping strip. But it was worth finding!
These two speak for themselves... she often refuses to ride in her stroller these days...
A shot of the arena from the hill-top fortress.
Sitting near the fortress are hundreds of pieces of Roman ruins, just kind of laying around everywhere...
After sight-seeing we went to a restaurant in the resort area near Pula - here's a shot of the marina there... some pretty serious yachts were everywhere, all the time.
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