We arrived in Opatija on Feb 29. The bus from Trieste took about 2 hours and went through some pleasant upland rural areas in Slovenia before crossing the border and descending to the coast. As we have learned, Opatija is an old resort town from the middle of the 1800s, near the somewhat larger rail and sea hub of Rijeka. Our hotel is spacious and the third floor room faces the water with a balcony. On our first evening we had an unwise not great meal and I at least have felt the effects, but now that we are settled, things are better. The weather continues to be great, sunny days, cool nights. This is predicted to continue into next week with possibly some rain this coming Sunday.

There are 2 main roads in Opatija: Marshal Tito Street, which seems to extend along the coast, and a walking road, Emperor Franz Joseph road, which hugs the coast for about 10 kilometers, extending on either side of the town. In addition there are side roads going into the hills and even what looks like some fine walking trails extending even to the top of the local mountain. We seem to be sticking to Franz Joseph walking road. This is very pleasant and wanders around coves, through some gardens, by various restaurants, coffee bars, a roast chestnut vendor, etc. We spend some time relaxing and reading and some time walking around. The internet is excellent here. 

Today we walked for 30 minutes to the nearby fishing village of Volosko  for lunch. The meal was of high quality and started out with an "amuse bouche" consisting of a hake fish ball. Then some bread with 3 choices of pepper, 3 choices of salt, and 2 choices of olive oil. Then Mary Jo had a puree of pea soup with thyme, while I had a fish soup. The fish soup had a somewhat thin broth with a chunk of sea bass and several pieces of squid rings. Then Mary Jo had a fish dish consisting of several large chunks of monkfish, while I had a seafood risotto. We finished by sharing some small dishes of sorbet. 

There are 2 scientists who were born in what is present Croatia: Leo Henryk Sternbach, who lived in Opatija as a child (in fact, near our hotel) and invented valium, and Andrija Mohorovicic, who was born in Volosko and discovered the inner layers in the earth using seismic evidence. Some of my pictures relate to these people. In particular, there is a nice artistic representation of the earth's layers that I may put into Wikipedia when we get back.

We have now made a decision about the "gap" in our travel plans. On Sunday we will leave Croatia and take the bus, train, and vaporetto to the Lido, in Venice. We will stay there until Thursday when we will occupy our hotel in Venice proper for the rest of the trip.

Plaque commemorating the inventor of valium.

Mary Jo near an outside coffee bar in Opatija.

Three types of pepper, three types of salt, at a restaurant in Volvosko.

Fish nets in Volvosko.

The house where Mohorovicic was born.

Bust of Mohorovicic

This sculpture represents the layers in the earth which were first found by Mohorovicic.