Red scooter

Istria has a very mixed history, having been part of the Roman Empire, then under the Byzantines. For just under 400years, from 1420, it was under Venetian rule. Wandering round the narrow, steep streets with tall buildings, it is easy to believe you are in northern Italy. Indeed, many fo the towns still have two names, one Croatian and the other Italian. This is the case with Rovinj, also called Rovigno.

The locals seem to share the Italian love of the motor scooter and we had quite a few too-close-for-comfort encounters with crazy scooter riders on those narrow thoroughfares.

However, even more scary were the amazing number of pedal cyclists, riding through crowds of people, the wrong way on one-way streets; these included many cycles ridden by tourists who had clearly just rented their first bike and were riding for the first time in half a century!