EARLY MORNING IN ROVINJ

In my opinion, Rovinj is the most attractive, most good-looking seaside city in Istra, this peninsula on which I live. Its old, compact urban layout with the elegant church tower sprouting from the center is very iconic. I had to drive about 45 - 50 kilometers to get there.

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Today I woke up very early because a friend of mine has problems with the car, so I drove him to work, to one of the supermarkets on the outskirts of Pula, the nearest city. It was still dark outside when I left him by the big store, and when I decided to continue northwards instead of driving back south, to our hometown.

The street lamps were still on when I parked my car near the end of the street that leads to the old town.

The Church of Our Lady of Mercy was just about 20 - 30 meters further, so this elegant old building ended up in the first photographs taken today in Rovinj. Two years are engraved in the facade. The 1584 and 1750. On those occasions, the building was renovated and embellished. The exact year of its construction is unknown. Probably a century or two before 1584.

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Across the street, surrounded by tall trees and plenty of decorative shrubs, there was this modern building - the city's medical center.

Here I caught a glimpse of human presence in the warm interior behind the glass. It was freezing cold outside.

Here I'm walking towards the core of Rovinj ...

... while the street sweepers dressed in bright orange jackets are maintaining the neat look of the old town.

At one point the early bus entered the frame ...

... and passed through the scene, directed to the nearby terminal. In the low light of the dawn, I had to use a pretty low shutter speed, at the edge of what can be done with the hand-held camera, so the bus is motion-blurred while the rest of the scenery is frozen. I mean frozen in a photographic sense. Frozen like still, motionless. But since it was pretty cold, a bit of literal meaning was also there.

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This photograph was taken an hour later, on the way back to the car. Here you can see the colorful street that leads to the center of the old Rovinj and its beautiful labyrinth of narrow streets and passages. I didn't go that way. There wasn't enough time to explore such a vast, intricate area, because I had things to do at home. So I took the other route ...

... the one that leads to the seaside promenade.

A friend who was there with me had to buy some stuff on the tobacco & newspaper stand.

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Meanwhile, I was photographing the small square and the early risers on it.

Here, we are walking by the sea.

I shot some boats along the way ...

... boats and hotels across the bay. The street lamps are still on in these photographs ...

... but when we reached the main, central part of the port with many small fishing boats ...

... it looked like the daytime has officially started. Well, partially, at least. I mean, the lamps were off, but the sun wasn't properly on. The day was so gloomy and gray, the sky so uniformly clouded, that I felt trapped in some kind of twilight zone in between day and night.

The old Rovinj looked great even in that dull winter light.

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Old architecture and good urban planning look great in any light.

The time was passing, but the day wasn't getting any brighter. It looked like it already reached its maximum. And that maximum looked like a bare minimum.

A small garbage truck was collecting the stuff from the small garbage cans along the promenade. After taking this shot ...

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... I continued shooting until I got this photograph, where you can see the elusive flashing lights on the top of the mini-truck.

Here, the focus is on the sea again. This traditional wooden fishing boat with many colorful textures and details on it ...

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... looked great surrounded by more modern plastic boats. The contrast was pretty cool.

This is another view of the oldest part of the city. In this photograph taken further along the promenade, the cars are in the foreground instead of boats.

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Here you can see more seaside scenery. The old, now closed, tobacco factory ...

... and the surrounding buildings.

Here you can take a more up-close look at (and a bit even through) the windows.

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This photograph was taken while passing by the long dock with a lovely red signal pole at its end.

Here I passed the promenade, and I'm continuing uphill ...

... towards the street in which my car was parked.

I met two seagulls in this neighborhood.

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They were exploring the garbage cans.

One of them has found a nice, fried piece of potato.

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Larus michahellis is the name of this seagull species. They are commonly known as the Yellow-legged gulls.

This is the last photograph that I took today in Rovinj before entering the car ...

... and driving away.

The inland area around Rovinj has plenty of olive trees. Big old trees in small orchards and relatively young, much smaller trees in large plantations. While passing by one of those plantations ...

... I stopped at the entrance. The gate was open ...

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... so I was able to photograph the lovely lane that leads deep into the vast property. This plantation is equipped with an oil mill, so everything is done behind that gate. After taking this photograph ...

... I continued towards Medulin, my hometown.

The distant landscape looked pretty good in the mist.

This photograph was taken near the roundabout at the entrance of the town called Vodnjan. About 20 kilometers from home.

There is a summer info point for tourists not far from the roundabout. The small prefabricated building is closed now in winter. But the stairway that leads to the rooftop is free to use. So I had a nice, elevated place from which I could take a couple of shots.

This is the Parish Church of St. Blaise. The biggest church in Vodnjan.

These are some new replicas of ancient rural buildings typical for this area. They look like oversized souvenirs. But that's ok, they don't look bad at all.

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Some work was in progress near the narrow street in front of me.

After this shooting, it was time to drive directly home.

AS ALWAYS IN THESE POSTS ON HIVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE MY WORK - THE END.