I was often asked about my country, my city and its customs. It is not an easy task to shortly explain why I have a "Italian accent but look Slavic". Or to casualy mention that I grew up on Mediterranean cuisine that is closer to Italy then to continental parts of Croatia. "We have a colosseum, like the one in Rome" it's the line I often use to describe our long and rich history. This is what the story of Pula is - history. Ongoing story of rise and fall of empires, states and politics. Time flies but Pula stands on the most beautiful bay in yhe Adriatic Sea.

Istria is the name of the region and Pula is its main economic center. Situated on its south-western shore, Istria is known for its beautiful scenery, pleasant climate, good wines, coastal tourist resorts and beautiful beaches. Speaking of - Istria just got voted as the best olive region in the world! Big deal, for such a region that has aprox.  1100 square miles and 200,000 people! (Pula has aprox. 60,000). 

I wil try not to bore you with historical timeline but I guess I can not help it. Pula is best known for its many surviving ancient Roman buildings, the most famous  is the 1st-century amphitheatre, which is among the six largest surviving Roman arenas in the world. This is one of the best preserved amphitheatres from antiquity and is still in use today during summer film and music festivals.  It was taken over by Venetians in year 1331 (when Italy wasn't Italy as we know it today but was a bunch of city - states that weren't in the best relations with each other). In the 19th century the Austro-Hungarian Empire realized the importance of Pula's harbor and started an intensive development of a huge naval port and shipyard. This resulted in the gradual settlement of Pula and within 50 years the population increased from a bit more than 1000 people to about 40,000.

Under the protectorate of Vienna the official language in Pula was German, but Italian remained the everyday language in use among numerous social classes, while the use of Croatian language wasn't often in use. Such was the situation during World War II under the fascist rule, when Pula, as an antifascist town, organized its battle for the future under bomb raids and devastation. After the War and German occupation Pula came under the Anglo-American administration. In 1947 Pula  turned to its hinterland - Croatia (according to the 1943 Resolution that defined Istria as a part of Croatia, which means part of Yugoslavia). Then another war happened in the 90's. The country I was born in (Yugoslavia) doesn't exist any more but the city does.

Every event left its trace: words people adopted in their every day conversations, buildings, parks, fortresses and walls. Even the tall pines in the parks have their story -when they were planted and by whom. 

 

During my high school years I heard every language there is on this planet as I was serving on a terrace of a small caffe bar where I used to work. This is how I got to know the world before I started to travel. The world came to me, because the city I was born in is so amazing.

My friends and I used to joke about Pula having two faces: Summer face and Winter face. Summer blooms, lures you with street dancers, fresh fish, planktons shining under the moonlight and music floating between the sky and the streets Winter is like the end of the magic show when all the props are taken away from the stage. But you can always take a stroll by the sea and stare at that line that connects sea with the sky and always makes you feel better,