Land of Powerful Contrasts and Folklore - Urkiola - Basque Country

 …and the language all around me struck me

not so much as language but as dance.

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Mosaic mural in St Anthony of Padua
Made with over 850,000 pieces over, inaugurated in 1996
The result of two years of quiet artisanal work by a secular missionary

The Urkiola Natural Park is a protected area where myth and nature come together for a bit of a haunting experience. As you climb your way up, the dark leafy forest of oddly shaped trees gives way to unusual limestone rocks, creating a landscape of powerful contrasts.

Salt is the Sea that Couldn't Return to the Sky, Sečovlje Saltpans - Istria

 Art should comfort the disturbed 

and disturb the comfortable.

Banksy

The, seasonally, somewhat dormant, Sečovlje Saltpans viewed from above. 
Our final destination for this Istrian tour is across that bay

My final morning of biking in Istria.  Fortunate to be on such a beautiful day.  We simply have to ride around these centuries-old saltpans to get back to Piran. From there, I will be headed to Venice to take a flight to Bilbao, in the Basque Country, where my next hiking, not biking, adventure begins.  

Olives, Sheepdogs, Umbrellas - Lovrečica, Novigrad, Umag - Istria

Idealism increases in direct proportion 

to one’s distance from the problem.

John Galsworthy

View of Umag from its Lovrečica suburb

The majority of the Istrian Coastal Area is populated with Croats – anywhere from 55-65% of them depending on which town you are in.  Their populace is interspersed with 15-18% Italians, 3-4% Serbs, 2-3% Slovenes, 1-2% Bosnians, and 1% Albanians.  Interestingly however, nearly 100% of the inhabitants speak Italian, a wink to the long history of the Venetian Empire's hold on this region for over 450 years.

An Elegant & Complex Past, Finest Byzantine Art - Poreč - Istria

There is a kind of beauty in imperfection.

Conrad Hall

Remains of the old Medieval City Wall

First, a Bit of History

Istria was under the rule of the Roman Empire for centuries, followed by a series of Italian and German kingdoms before the Venetian Republic took hold from 1331 to 1797. The peninsula then fell under the reign of the Austrian Habsburgs (1797–1805) and Napoleon for a short time (1805–1814), before going back to Austro-Hungarian rule for 105 years. Between the two World Wars, borders were redrawn and Istria became part of Italy before finally falling under Yugoslavia in 1947. Since the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, Istria is one of Croatia’s 20 counties.

Town of Artists and The Master of Flavor - Buje, Grožnjan, Motovun - Istria

Do not become small for people who refuse to grow.

Unknown

Even stones become works of art in Grožnjan

Heading inland where the trails and towns are not as busy as the coastal area we just came from and where it gets a little warmer without the sea breeze, we are headed to Buje, Grožnjan, and Motovun.  Hillier, it is a tad more challenging for biking but the fantastic views, you see along the way, make you forget the work you put into getting around.