ISTRIA - Croatia and Slovenia - page 268

the neighboring Kvarner Gulf—Hum feels incredibly remote, rugged, and (if you don't run
into any tour buses) forgotten by modern times.
You'll enter Hum through its main gate, formed by part of its 11th-century castle. Once
inside the characteristic Old Town, you'll find cobbled lanes connecting the stone houses
and 19th-century town church (with five altars). It's more rustic-feeling than many other
villages, with rougher paving stones, more overgrowth, and an even more pronounced yes-
teryear quality. And yet, you'll still spot several sobe signs and souvenir shops. Popular
mementos—sold at the restaurant and the shops—are little ceramic tiles with your initials
using the Glagolitic alphabet (see below).
Getting There: Coming from Motovun on the road following the Mirna River, you'll
pass through Buzet, following signs for Lupoglav and Rijeka . The turn-off for Hum (and
the Glagolitic Lane, described next) is on the right, near the village of Ro č . (If you're com-
ing from the highway, get off at the Lupoglav exit, turn toward Ro č ko Polje, then contin-
ue through that village—ignoring the turn-off for Hum—until you reach Ro č , with a better
route to Hum.) When you're finished in Hum, you're not far from the A8 highway back to
the south (the coast) or onward to the east (Rijeka or Opatija via the U č ka Tunnel).
Nearby: The road between Hum and the Mirna Valley is dubbed the Glagolitic Lane
(AlejaGlagoljaša),andcommemoratesaninth-centuryalphabetonceusedforwrittenCroa-
tian. While the alphabet hasn't been widely used for centuries, Croatians recognize it as
an integral and unique part of their cultural heritage. And in the area around Hum, they've
clung to the dinosaur alphabet even more than in other parts of the country—claiming
it was commonly used here into the 20th century. Today, the alphabet is even taught in
some schools, and children have poetry contests and spelling bees in Glagolitic. Along the
Glagolitic Lane to Hum, you'll see various monuments to this alphabet, including giant
Glagolitic characters standing in a field, as well as a sort of “Rosetta Stone” on top of a hill
comparing the Glagolitic, Cyrillic, and (our) Roman alphabet.
• From Hum, you're very close to the northeast branch of the ipsilon highway (A-8). You
can take this either west to Rovinj (via Pazin), or east to the U č ka Tunnel, Opatija, and
Rijeka.
Near Istria
The towering Mount U č ka separates Istria from the rest of Croatia. And just on the other
side of that mountain are a pair of former Habsburg towns that offer a dose of variety (and a
convenient pit stop on the way to other Croatian towns): Shot through with the faded eleg-
anceofanupper-crusthistory, Opatija isawelcomechangeofpacefromthesaltyVenetian-
flavored towns along the rest of the Croatian coast. Its elegant Viennese-style cafés delight