Wednesday 21 August 2024. Today the NCL Pearl has docked in Rijeka, the first of three Croatian ports that we will visit on this cruise and the only one that we have not visited before on previous cruises.
We have breakfast in the Rose Garden buffet - "Washee washee, hungry hungry, yummy yummy!" as a squirt of sanitiser hits your hand from what appears to be a highly pressurised squirt gun - and return to the cabin to get our going ashore essentials. Passports and money mainly. You will seldom be asked to show passports, but if you are for some reason arrested or injured during the day or simply miss getting back onboard before the ship sails then you will need both it and money! Whilst ships may be able to make some small allowances, they cannot wait where a falling tide might leave them unable to leave the dock and so you will be able to wave goodbye to the ship, your fellow passengers who will be lining the rail shaking their heads at you and all your belongings other than what you have on you...
Pushing all this to the backs of our minds we get off the ship and walk down the pier we are moored at and into Rijeka. A couple of weeks ago I took a step short coming downstairs at home and scraped the back of my leg on the step, leaving a carpet burn that blistered. I'd been putting antiseptic cream on but Miss Franny had only packed the small tube we were halfway through so needed to buy some more. I know it sounds trivial but at age 70 and with diabetes, these things do not heal quickly and can be very painful.
The Botel (boat-hotel) Marina has been refurbished inside to function as a hotel and has 35 guest bedrooms and is rated 4-star on TripAdvisor.
We made our way into the shopping streets in search of a pharmacy. These are fairly easy to spot just about anywhere as they usually have a bright green cross on a sign at the front of the shop. There will usually be someone able to speak English too, though I do like to be able to speak a few words if only to say please, thank you, coffee, white wine, red wine, beer and to be able to count up to at least five. Most of which I can do easily in western Europe but in Croatia on this trip I learned my first Croatian word: "vala" means "thank you". The locals will appreciate the effort.
There were quite a few street works going on in the centre, we had several roads to cross and whilst the familiar lines denoting a pedestrian crossing can be found easily, the reaction of drivers will not be exactly as you might expect. Keep eyes open for approaching cars and don't assume they will automatically stop for you even if you are already three-quarters of the way across!
We came through a small street market with some yummy-looking fruits and then to this small park and plaza where we found a bit of shade to sit under for a while. Temps were pushing 40C and drinking plenty was on our minds. A local two-year-old girl was riding a tiny bicycle / scooter with no stabilisers up and down like she was born in the saddle. Her Mum was nearby and gave a warning shout if the little girl looked like straying too far away.
Then, just in time before we totally melted away, we were back at the portside and walking back along the pier to the NCL Pearl.
Looking back towards the city from ground level just before we got back on the ship. The yellow building just right of centre is the headquarters of the Jadrolinija state-owned ferry and shipping group. Croatia has over 1000 islands along its coast and therefore requires a large fleet of ferries both for goods, cars and pedestrian traffic. They also service other ports of call on the east coast of Italy.
We made our way up to the side of the Pool Deck on Deck 12 where we settled at a table and I got out the sketchpad for a pencil drawing of the port and city. The only pencil sketch of the week, as for the remaining days when I did sketches they were all in colour using pastel pencils which I carry in a roll-up canvas holder which has a loop to hold each pencil, a sharpener, an eraser (long since lost) and a small case containing extra leads for my propelling pencil.
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