Rejika is the third largest city in Croatia and its principle sea port. The picture is from our ship. You can see some of the hundreds of shipping containers on the pier.
The metro area has about 250,000 residents while the city proper has 130,000. Because of its strategic location and its deep water port, it has been highly contested over the centuries. In WWII it was held by the Italians, and after their defeat the Germans. During that time there was fierce resistance from the Croats. Because of an oil refinery it was bombed by the allies causing much damage.
We were going to take a taxi to the city center but opted for a taxi tour of the city and the surrounding area. Our first stop was the Trsat Castle. It is built on the location of an ancient Roman fortress and is strategically able to control traffic on the river.
The gate to the castle. The view from the castle wall.
A lady lolling on the roof. A scary flying monster.
The Croatian flag flying by the castle walls. Croatia is an ancient country dating back to the 6th century. In more recent times it was part of Yugoslavia after WWII. During the fall of the Communist rule, Croatia declared independence on June 25, 1991 and fought a successful war for independence over the following 4 years. The country is then just 27 years old. In that time it has become prosperous and is a part of the EU. If you are a soccer fan, you watched them an improbable run to the final of the recent world cup losing to France in the finals. We were rooting for them to win it all. A country of 4.3 million people nearly winning the world cup would be a modern David vs Goliath story.
There was church near the castle which we stopped in. Our taxi driver was proud of the fact that Pope (or papa as he called him) John Paul had slept there.
The interior of the church. The arm with cross extending from pulpit caught our eye.
Our driver then took us to a resort town a few miles away. It reminded us of Venice, Florida with the high end shops, hotels, and cafes, and beautiful beaches. The picture on the right was a typical building on the main road.
We found a nice place to eat lunch. I (Chuck) ordered something that was called mixed meat platter. I was expecting a variety of meats with some sides. What I got was a piece of chicken breast, a ground meat patty (don’t think it was beef), A long skinny sausage, two shorter bigger sausages, a skewer of what I think was lamb. A thick piece of bacon, and a thin portion of pork (maybe). I think that was it. Plus, there was a dollop of something like ketchup and a piece of an onion. I ate maybe half of it. The waiter asked if I didn’t like it. I did like it, but it was way too much. Caroline played it safe, she ordered a caprese salad.
All in all, a nice day in a beautiful country.