This was our first rainy day with strong wind. Good timing since it was mainly a driving day. We took the most winding and narrow road driving up to our airbandb in Oprtalj from the coast. We arrive to an almost abandoned town with one taverna that is closed and one restaurant only opened till 7PM and a small market opened till 3PM. Thankfully we are there at 2:45 and can purchase a few items to make dinner.

The house itself is the best example of an old house renovation I have seen but is lacking in a lot of small amenities and fairly dark as all the windows open to a wall nearby. The house was found on airbandb and is called Case Sterna. It is recommended NOT to book.

We take a nice lunch at the restaurant overlooking a beautiful valley of olive groves and vines of grapes as well as the nearby famous Panzerana biking and hiking trail.

The next day, we had a truffle hunting experience booked and we very much looking forward to it.

We arrived at Prodan Tartufi and are impressed right away by the installation, the pretty gardens and the warm welcome by Vishna our host.

This was an absolutely awesome experience in all respect. The wonderful 4 cuddly and energetic dogs made me miss my pups and added to the experience. They love to be handled and pet and were running around like crazy.

We walked in the wood while our host described their lives, how truffles grow, are traded and her family’s 3 generations tradition. We (the dogs) find 2 white truffles and 1 black! We are treated to an exquisite lunch including truffle salami, butter, cheese, pate and eggs. It is all so flavourful and fragrant…I am now addicted to the smell of white truffle!!!

We learned that black truffles can be cultivated by infecting the roots of some trees but white ones are still a mistery. White truffles can only be found in Croatia and Italy whereas black ones are not found in many places around the world including Oregon and New Zealand. Truffles grow from animal eating some and pooing near the roots of trees who lend themselves to growth such as beech, ashes and walnut trees. The selling fee of white truffles can range from 2500 to 4000 euros a kilo!

In the afternoon we drive to 2 nearby medieval towns, the town of Motovun and Grosjnam. The latter has been taken over by artists and we stroll the cobble street while shopping. Both towns are built on a hilltop and are surrounded by a medieval walls and are mostly pedestrians. I buy a neat ring and we decide to have a meal there since our town will not be offering much in terms of food.

Both town are on the same favours biking and hiking trail and we meet several people going on it. We see the trail outside the walls of Grosnam and the view is breathtaking and can understand the attraction.

We decide to leave a day early from there as our airband is very disappointing and we keep getting power outage. Upon the recommandation of a couple from India we met at the truffle hunt who had been travelling from Austria and then Slovenia and now Croatia, we decide to go spend a day in Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital.