On Wednesday morning I woke up at dawn to take a little adventure run through Rovinj. I was expecting a gorgeous sunrise and beautiful scenery, which I had in spades. I wasn’t expecting all the cheering and honking and clapping that I received from the locals. Either the locals had never seen a runner as graceful and sprite as myself (unlikely), OR they are just REALLY EXCITED about running! Hey, I’ll take it!
Rovinj
A little bit closer
Seaside dining
Slippery old cobblestone walkways
Here is a church, here is a steeple…
…open the door, and see, NO PEOPLE?
More teeny walkways and old buildings
From the other side
The streets. This isn’t even a panoramic shot, that building is just skinnyminnie
After my morning yog, we all set off to climb in Cepic, an area we had selected from the book based on it’s description. Newly created, the area was on private farmland in a canyon with walls on both sides. it alleged to be home to a number of good climbs in our ideal range.
In keeping with Croatian tradition, we got lost en route. I’ve included a photo of our “map” for you below. The rocks are market in dark grey, “cities” are noted, and there are in fact distance markers, which should be considered more like guidelines.
“Map”
At one point, we get stuck near at a church at the top of a hill (go figure). When I backed up on some grass on a slight grade the wheels started spinning and we couldn’t move forward. But…the “ballast” in the back seat simply climbed out to push and we were back on our way in no time at all! After a good laugh of course.
We also discovered an underground drug trafficking area. Yes, you read that correctly. Men with drugs and cars – but don’t worry, we didn’t see any guns. Cepic is close to the Slovenian boarder, and after days of not really seeing anyone else at all, pairs of men in fancy Audis and Mercedes kept driving past us on dirt roads at breakneck speeds. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together.
Eventually we found said climbing area and parked in an abandoned field. The girls waited and snacked while Ed went to scope out the scene to return triumpantly – we made it!
Lunch time
Rocks
WE MADE IT!
Unfortunately, after wandering for a few minutes we learned the rock was wet. Not damp, but seeping…oozing black terribleness in some places. I was sad. Not even my tutu could cheer me up.
Sarah was undeterred and put up some impressive routes with Linnea. Ed and I found something dry and fun until we got to the top to discover missing anchors, the third Ed had found on this trip actually. A few more routes were tried, but then we all admitted defeat and headed back home for a relaxing evening. You know it’s a bad day climbing when the highlight of your afternoon is a farmer driving by with his tractor – which I must admit – was quite a novelty!
Blerg. Everything is wet.
Correction – everything is wet AND it leaves gross black stuff on your fingers
