Umag is a seaside town on the north coast of Croatia. There were plenty of private rooms that we drove past when we first arrived in town, and we stopped at a couple of them but were put off by a lack of enthusiasm by the owners maybe because we were we staying for one night only (unless we just looked really bad after driving for a few hours).
We decided to head to the tourist office, where we met a lovely Czech lady who fixed us up with a cheap, private room, walking distance from the centre of town. Travellers Tip: If you are trying to stick to a reasonable budget, use tourist offices to book accommodation, it will save you time and money.
After wondering around the town at sunset and admiring the piazza and the views of the ocean, we stopped in for a drink at a outside bar overlooking the port and David pointed out the amorous couple sitting next to us, the lady was quite distinctive looking with jet black long hair and a tattoo on her arm. See my comments about Ljubjana for more on the Amorous Lady.
Dinner that night was a sentimental treat. David's Zia (Aunt) Maria makes her own cheese and she had given us a big wheel of this cheese as a present before we left Italy the previous evening. We stuffed ourselves with the delicious, creamy cheese and crackers and just about finished off half the wheel in one sitting! That night we had an interesting experience, while drink a beer at a local outside bar, a couple sitting next to us were look at us and pointing occasionally at us, thinking we could not see them. The lady had unforgettable long black hair. We thought nothing more of it, until many hundred kilometer away, the next day, we spotted her again in another country, Slovenia, Ljubljana!
The next morning we went on our search for unique products and after quite a bit of hunting around we spotted some beautiful ceramic pieces inspired by olive trees in the local tourist office. After a confusing conversation with the lady in the tourist office, we figured out that the products were not for sale, but she did give us the artist's phone number and address but warned us that it was hard to find. We decided to take our chances and went in search of the studio but Tom Tom let us down that day and couldn't find the street. We stopped and asked a local man on side of the street and he looked confused and then said "yeah, it's up on the left", so we went up on the left, but couldn't find it! I tried calling the phone number from my mobile several times, but no luck, so we drove away, but heading out of time we saw a phone booth, so stopped and tried the number from there but the number still didn't work! In desperation I tried a different combination of numbers from my mobile, and Mira (the lovely artist) answered! David spoke to her in Italian and she gave us directions to her place. She welcomed us into her studio and we were in handmade heaven! Following this little find we drove to the other side of Umag and found an old man selling handmade linen and chess boards.
Travellers Tip: When travelling (and in life in general!), don't give up when you hit an obstacle, keep persisting and you will find a hidden treasure.
