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The cyclists have left before we are up but the road opposite the site is busy with a flea-market/boot-sale.
From bad first impressions this site has been a good stopover after all. We check out and squeeze through the randomly parked market cars with Nick W whistling the Steptoe theme over the radio.
The route climbs away from Opatija and the coast and soon we are entering the dense woodland of the mountains. After days of blue sea and grey rocks the greenery is fresh and exciting. Swallows swoop in front of the van and bright butterflies flutter about the verges. We climb to over 700 metres where there is an alpine feel to the occasional village we pass. As we progress along the winding road, first the centre white line disappears, then for about 15 miles we are on almost single-track road [5014] as we climb and fall and climb again to the town of Hum.
Hum is listed as the world's smallest town with a population of 24 and it appears to be in both Croatia and Slovenia. The carpark is 10 Kuna or £1.00 and the ticket is a postcard of the town. We have lunch in the carpark then Ali and Grete go to explore. As expected the streets are narrow, with big uneven flagstones and contain many steps. There is a church which has bright frescoes inside, but the shopkeeper who holds the key is not available. A large wooden table dates back to Venetian times and is still used during mayoral elections.
Leaving Hum requires us to retrace part of the single track route. A couple of times, snakes sidewind across our path and bright green lizards, basking on the tarmac, scurry to the verge.
We reach the main road; smooth, wide, white line, and travel through lovely woods which spread out to a wide, flat valley with a small river. We see the old town of Buzet high on a mound above us as we approach the newer, urban town below. Buzet is famous for collecting, grading and distributing truffles.
From here the soil is a rich red colour which contrasts with the uniform rows of silvery olive trees. Barley has already been cut and other crops are flourishing. Twenty minutes later we arrive at our agri-tourism destination, Restaurant Jadruhi. Although it is 17:00 the carpark is still occupied by lunchtime diners and we have to wait to park in the camper area where electric and water are laid on for €7/night. As we are parking another British couple return from their day out and strongly recommend the restaurant, which we'd intended to try anyway.
The restaurant is open sided but under cover so we choose a table with the remaining sun on it. We are attended by a super waitress who explains all of the dishes; various home made pastas, sausages, meats grilled or cooked in sealed pots buried in coals. We choose a cold meat platter starter to share; proscutio, parma, salami, sausage and olives and paksi sir cheese. For mains we have pasta with cheese sauce and local black truffles. Nick and Grete have pasta starters and meat mains. It is all so flavoursome, washed down with the restaurant's own 'home-made' wines. We finish with a plate of petit-fours and glasses of grappa on the house. It is all so good , and less than £15/head, we will do a day trip tomorrow and stay here again to sample more of the menu.
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