Opatija
29-31 October 2026
We left Zagreb in the morning and headed towards Opatija. Along the way, we stopped at a roadside restaurant for kremšnita, a dessert about the size of half a brick that tastes something like a cream pie. Apparently, the Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media has officially added the recipe and traditional preparation techniques to the country’s Register of Protected Cultural Goods. I have no idea exactly what that means, but perhaps Canada should do the same for poutine, bannock, beaver tails and maple syrup. We need to highlight our culinary excellence!
We continued to Rijeka, Croatia’s major port, where we had a pasta-making lesson. The secret, according to Ada the teacher, is 00 flour. We learned how to make fresh pasta, and the taste took me right back to my younger days in Italy. There’s really no comparison. Fresh pasta is just better than the dried stuff you buy in a store. It’s amazing what a little flour, an egg, a fork and a rolling pin can produce.
Opatija is often called the Croatian Riviera, and tourists have been coming here for some 180 years. In the 19th century, Austrian royalty and wealthy Europeans came for the clean sea air, mild climate and relaxation. It became such a popular destination that a direct railway line was built connecting it with Austria. Clearly, Opatija was the place to be long before package tours came along.
Most of our OAT group took the optional excursion into Istria. One of the highlights was a demonstration of truffle-hunting dogs. They use dogs rather than pigs because pigs try to eat the truffles whereas a dog can be trained not to. It has not a particularly good year for truffles. It’s been too hot and there hasn’t been enough rain. Normally, this would be the peak season for white truffles, which are considerably more valuable than the black variety. The woods around Motovun are particularly well known for them.
Our guide explained that when truffles are ready to be harvested, they release a scent undergound that dogs can detect. To demonstrate, the we hid two small black truffles in separate locations under some earth. He then took his dog out to find them. The dog was an overly exuberant ten-month-old cross between a Labrador and a Lagotto Romagnolo, a breed traditionally used for truffle hunting. The dog very quickly led his handler to both hiding places and was clearly delighted with his success.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see the fully trained dog in action. He was in the car while the youngster did the whole demonstration.
Hilltop villages are common throughout Istria. Their elevated locations offered defensive advantages, helped avoid the malaria that historically plagued the lowlands, and left the more valuable flat land available for agriculture. We visited two of them: Motovun and Hum (pronounced “Whom”, not “Hum”).
Motovun is popular with cyclists. It’s a challenging climb up a series of switchbacks, and I saw quite a few determined cyclists making their way uphill. It looked like a lot of work.
Hum, meanwhile, is famous for being one of the smallest towns in the world. It’s a charming little place with a population of 29, and a reminder that in Istria, some of the most interesting destinations are tucked away in the hills rather than along the coast.
