Around Town

Today we explored more of Novigrad...the lapidarium and one of two resorts.

The Lapidarium, if you've never been to one, is a museum of antiquity, lots of old stonework. In this case, going back as far as the first century through 18th c, including church altar pilasters, decorative wall objects, parts of tablets, and window lattice work.

There is also work of current local artists, one in particular that Mom liked..."a gorgeous hunk" named Mujo Androvic. His artwork is unusual, but he's a "work of art" himself. The Lapidarium was built in 2006 and the people of Novigrad are very proud of it.

In the afternoon, we walked to the Maestral (warm southern wind) Hotel **** just outside of the old town. (The other hotel, Laguna (clear blue waters), is ***.) They have 25 clay tennis courts, all in great condition. Only a few were in use for a round-robin tournament, as it's late in the season. Obviously, tennis is a big draw along with the beautiful Adriatic steps away.

They also have 6 outdoor ping pong tables. Yes, we played, and Mom won 6 out of 7 games...some weren't even close. There's a large outdoor swimming pool, biking, paddle boating, volleyball, soccer, miniature golf, and a trampoline, all pretty much for summer use.

The hotel itself is quite new, but austere, with a health club and spa, restaurant and bars. If we read it correctly, the spa offers Botox treatments. The typical hotel/resort stuff, but I'm impressed because it's in a country that was in civil war only 20 years ago in 1991. Of course, tourism is a major industry here now and most things have been cleaned up and repaired.

Novigrad faces west across the Adriatic and enjoys beautiful sunsets, and so do we!

Dinner at Tabasco was a great pasta dish with truffles. We didn't have any fish due to a language misunderstanding with the owner/chef, and we were completely full anyway.