Skipping Through the Balkans: #4 Croatia – Motovun

Yikes!

It’s been more than a year since my carefree days of bouncing around the Balkans and Turkey (October ’16).  And while I *have* managed to peck no fewer than seven posts about my 6 week solo backpack, alas I’ve only (yet) shared the details of but the first 3 (of 7) countries that I skipped through.

Of course much of that dally is arguably due to a couple of of other adventures that I enjoyed in the meanwhile (i.e. those butterflies dripping from the trees in Mexico, along with a $200 lunch in Lima plus gawking at Machu Picchu in Peru).

And furthermore, there’s the (insanely obsessive, it must be said) prep for my next adventure (Japan) that’s preoccupied me in recent weeks.

But still.  With Japan looming in less than 6 weeks, I am deee-termined to polish off the remaining 4 countries (Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and my many adventures in Turkey).

Thus we begin.

Or rather, we return to my Balkans saga from whence we left off:  leaving Slovenia (my new bff country that I could move to in a heartbeat) and dropping down into Croatia – specifically to the fairy tale hamlet of Motovun on the Istrian Peninsula in northern Croatia.

It’s honestly surprising that I’ve put off detailing this particular chapter in my solo Balkan backpack saga, because my short stay in Motovun was – not only one of the highlights of my 6 week odyssey – but arguably among THE most memorable travel experiences of my entire LIFE!

I’ll not lie.  The ensuing months (more than a year!) since I skipped amid the cobbled streets of Motovun have somewhat taken their toll.  The details of precisely how, how much, etc. of getting to Motovun (which I dimly recall was a good bit convoluted) have grown somewhat dim.  But trust that the fairy tale magic of the place, along with my amazing adventures there, remain eternally vivid in my memory.

Drizzly Journey.

So let’s get started.  First up, a collage of the clickity-clack ride from Ljubljana, Slovenia to Motovun that proved a mix of sunshine and drizzle:

Note the pic of my all-time favorite “Toes-in-Situ”.  I mean, those scuffed and dirty shoes resting upon my inseparable (going on 7 years now) purple rucksack (filled with my utmost travel “valuables”) – to me this particular “Toes” pic epitomizes my every life-long travel adventure.

The Coziest Sleeps.

And upon arrival in Motovun (which entailed a rather tangled, train-bus-train-bus-climb up cobbled streets:

To THIS sweet apartment (that I wisely, booked for 4 nights).  Seriously, it couldn’t have been more convenient (just a short stroll to the heart of the village) and oh so cozy.  A bit of a splurge for this frugal backpacker, but at $45/night – it was a STEAL!

The Charm! The Views!

The medieval village of Motovun truly is a most enchanting place.  I spent my days wandering endlessly amid the narrow cobbled lanes…

…sipping espressos and soaking in the magnificent views at every turn:

And then of course there were the TRUFFLES…

Situated amid the Istrian Peninsula (in the upper northwest corner of Croatia), Motovun lies at the heart of “Truffle Land”.  Indeed, (as you shall soon see) it was the lure of truffles that led me to make this corner of Croatia a major stop on my marathon Balkans itinerary.

Furthermore, one of the perks of having a kitchen in my sweet Motovun apartment is that I could save money by buying groceries for simple breakfasts and picnic lunches – and then splurge on the amazing (albeit a tad pricey) truffle dishes on offer for my dinners.

Fresh asparagus soup dusted with grated truffles, plus an appetizer of truffles and anchovies (another of my favorite eats) on toast points.
And for my final night in this truly magical (seriously: Go.There.Now) place, I splurged on a truffle dinner at one of the best restaurants in town.

An appetizer of black truffle pâté, plus delectable “Tagliatelle in White Truffle Sauce”. Seriously. This dinner ranks among my personal BEST.EVER!

I even managed to shoot a quick video of the precious truffle shavings falling delicately on my plate:

The Most Amazing Adventure!

But even that divine dinner doesn’t come close to explaining why I journeyed 8,000+ miles to the tiny hamlet of Motovun in Croatia.  For it was precisely here that you can go TRUFFLE HUNTING (with DOGS!!!)

Mighty pretty – but seriously POISONOUS!

You see, in an earlier life (mainly the 6 blissful years I lived on the Oregon coast) I (along with my big Sis) was an avid wild mushroom hunter (don’t worry, I wisely took a most studious course in fungi identification and well know my chanterelles from the deadly amanita).  The former – eminently edible and delicious – chanterelles are abundant in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, and I fondly remember romping through the woods each fall collecting them and cooking them up into delectable wild mushroom dishes.

Bright pumpkin on top; velvety yellow underneath. Sautéed, Chicken-of-the-woods makes its own cheese sauce!

Heck, I even once stumbled across a golden “Chicken of the Woods” shelf mushroom whilst hanging out in Berne, Switzerland years ago with my two young daughters (then, age 8 and 11).  When sautéed, that glorious fungi creates a delish “cheese” sauce.  Suffice we cooked it up in our cheapo tin camp pot and had ourselves a most tasty wild mushroom treat.

But truffles are rare in the Pacific Northwest, and for me, they’ve always loomed a mysterious treasure.  So it’s no surprise that when I researched Croatia’s Istrian Peninsula and learned you could hunt for these amazing fungi (that grow completely underground) with DOGS that sniff them out of their underground hideys – I was all “Count me IN!!!”.

And so it was – easy-peasy to set up a truffle hunt with a local and his three (highly trained) pups.  Just 2 other tourists plus me, at a most economical price (I forget exactly, but I dimly recall around $40 for a full morning).  In short, OMG – soooo interesting and SOOOO fun! Among the top highlights of my Balkan marathon. Indeed, the pics tell the story:

And here’s a short clip of the truffle hunt:

Now I ask ya:  Does this look like a happy TravelnLass or what???

Oh, and one last thing…

Just to show how creatively resourceful (crazed?) I can be when it comes to scouting out souvenirs in my travels – one morning as I was strolling the cobbled back streets of Motovun, I chanced upon a neglected wooden bulletin board. It was empty save for a handful of bitty rusted vintage thumbtacks. Old. Dunno how old, but suffice the kind that the pin is but a thin triangular punch-out from the steel head. Indeed, I couldn’t even unearth a Wikipedia on this type of thumbtack, so who knows how old they might be on a discarded medieval village bulletin board.

In any case, trust that it took me exactly 25 seconds to grab two of those sweet hummers – to be later made into a most precious pair of earrings – a bitty souvenir of one of my favorite corners of the globe.

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