In preparing for our journey into Croatia we had found that there was to be a truffle festival to be held in an Istrian hilltop town called Motovun just inside the Croatian border with Slovenia.

Our glorious satnav directed us there down a single lane road that was no more than a semi dirt track through a very rural farming area past occasional dwellings and an abandoned castle. All before warning us that our route took us under an aqua duct giving us only six inches clearance with the roof of the van.

The day after our arrival we took the bus up into the town expecting to enjoy the festival only to find that we were a day early. Walking around the town perimeter and main square we realised that the festival was not going to be a large occasion and the town did not offer enough to keep us occupied so decided to move on.

Surrounding our original destination was a vast area of ancient woodland making it the perfect location for the growth and hunting of truffles. The hunting traditionally took place with pigs but today they have been replaced by specially trained dogs. So whilst the hill town of Motovan were organising their festival, across the valley the town of Livade (self proclaimed world truffle centre) were organising theirs and we felt we could not leave the area without visiting.

Parking to visit the truffle shop we came across an information board describing the historic narrow gauge railway line that ran a distance of 123km linking Trieste in Italy through Slovenia to the Istrian coastal town of Porec in Croatia, our next destination.