The Poreč quayside with the Grand Hotel Palazzo in the distance.

      Plying us with his homemade schnapps and a tasty strong Merlot wine, the skipper entered the ten kilometre estuary lined on both sides by 150 metre high limestone cliffs, the fjord itself being home to dozens of fish farms where sea bream are the main residents.

      However it was the oysters, clams and mussels that we – well some of us! – had come to sample. There was certainly plenty of white wine to help wash them down and they couldn't have been fresher. But I have to admit that I would never chose a plate of salty oysters, liberally doused in lemon juice, over any other kind of seafood which we also had for lunch at the fjord's Restaurant Viking.

      Sadly for the second time that day, we had another starter of fish soup back at Hotel Palazzo that evening while it was also evident that vegetables were not high on the chef's offerings. And as my rump steak was really under cooked – I usual say please cremate it! – it was only accompanied by two tiny 'blobs' of potato.

      Our first proper walk started the following morning from the stunning hilltop village of Grožnjan which is more than 900 feet above sea level and overlooks the Mirna Valley. It is also a mere 30 kilometres from the Italian border town of Trieste and the local joke is that you can see as far as Venice from the top!

      Grožnjan really is a hidden gem, its cobbled streets are a real joy to the eye (and camera). We really enjoyed looking around the town which is reputed to have around 30 artists' shops and these seemed to fill every available corner. 

      Now ready for the walk, we set off to find our starting point on the Parenzana Trail, also known as 'The Route of Health and Friendship'. The trail is actually a former railway track which once linked Trieste to Poreč, the trail winding it's way downhill towards the village of Završje some 5.9 miles away.

      Interestingly the train tracks were ordered to be removed by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini when this part of Croatia was under Italian rule before the Second World War. He deemed the tracks should be taken to Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) and relaid – but en route, the ship carrying them strangely sank, never to be seen again!

     The walking trail (which is also shared by mountain bikers) is beautiful with stunning views back to Grožnjan across the valley. Then just as we reached the road to Završje, our driver Darko arrived with his Mercedes Benz coach waiting to whisk us on towards the beautiful Kabola Winery – www.kabola.hr – close to the town of Momjan.

      Famous for its delicious Momjan Muscat production (it's called Moscato Momiano) and extra virgin olive oil, the Kabola Winery stretches as far as the eye can see, its vines all perfectly trimmed while the property is lined with tall poplar trees reminiscent of a Tuscan landscape.

Poreč's 6th century basilica is Istria's only UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Travelling to Croatia on a gastonomic walking holiday, Alan and Jo Wooding sampled so many different dishes while they explored this wonderful unspoiled country 

      During the early afternoon we travelled by coach to visit Ograde Farm (the name means fence or wall), a traditional self-sufficient farmstead where we enjoyed homemade liqueurs plus a tasty pasta lunch after watching its owner work her magic in the kitchen.    

      In fact we all had a go at making a twirly kind of fusili on a stick which seemed to get the nod from our hostess Davorka who then disappeared to cook up our offerings – along with some of her own – while we wandered off to spend time visiting the farm's turkeys, goats, chickens, geese, deer and pigs beneath the shady trees.

      On the way back to Poreč, we called in at the village of Beram, thought to be one of the oldest settlements in Istria. There we visited the remote Church of St Mary of the Rocks to see its highly-decorated frescoes painted as far back as 1474 by a local artist featuring scenes from Adam and Eve, The Wheel of Fortune and The Dance of Death. The small Gothic building is actually a cemetery chapel known locally as Sveta Marija na Skrilinama.

      The following day we were back aboard the coach, our jovial driver Darko taking us to the attractive Venetian town of Rovinj further along Istria's west coast where the pastel coloured houses drop right down to the water's edge.

      With no planned walks on this our second full day, we climbed the steep cobbled streets which are lined with artists' shops and hillside restaurants before reaching the huge Baroque Church of Euphemia at the very summit of the town.

      After a brief look around this magnificent church, we descended for much-needed refreshment as the temperature soared in the high 20s. Once refreshed, we then climbed aboard MB Orseka, a traditional wooden Turkish-style gulet to meet Captain Drago who immediately set sail for the Lim Fjord.

Sampling super sticky ribs as served at the  Kumparička goat farm (below)

      Lunch at Kabola was taken in the shade of a huge oak and naturally consisted of local produce; cheeses, olives, smoked meats and bread plus some wonderful small donuts… and of course several excellent white and rose wines, each described in details by our pretty hostess Sandra.

      Each year there are around 10,000 visitors to the vineyard, many taking the road-going 'Parenzana Train' – www.parenzana.hr – on a special wine tour which runs between the town of Motovun and the village of Vižinada, the road-train naturally dropping in at Kabola for a tasting session. 

      Dinner that evening saw us visit the remote Konoba Milena, a restaurant some two kilometres from the village of Visnjan.

      The best way to describe the food is 'rustic' with huge platters of meat on the bone being washed down with locally produced wine. However our group reported some very strange pricing as we left the restaurant, a glass of red cost just 6 kunas while a bottle of the same could be as much as 150!

      Next morning we visited Veliki Brijuni, the largest island in the Brijuni Archipelago courtesy of the hourly ferry which sails from the small port of Fažana, know locally as the 'town of sardines'. 

      The Brijuni group comprises 14 individual islands with Veliki having been the favoured residence of former Yugoslavia's president Marshal Josip Broz Tito who would spend up to six months a year there where he enjoyed entertaining famous visitors – from film stars, foreign dignitaries and politicians to various heads of state, Indira Ghandi even brought him two Indian elephants to add to his growing menagerie!

      We walked some four miles around the beautiful parkland which is still home to zebras and herds of deer while there is also an 18-hole golf course, a couple of quayside hotels plus several interesting archaeological sites denoting the island's former Roman occupation.

      The next day we headed to Hum (pronounced 'Whom' and officially the world's smallest town) which is full of medieval urban architecture. In Hum there are either 19 or 21 residents depending on who you believe – but as we spotted a mother with a small baby, maybe it's now 20 or 22!

      It was then off to Livare for the truffle hunt with Joseph and his two eager dogs. Lunch followed at Zigante Restaurant whose owner Giancarlo Zigante is credited in the Guinness World Record archives as having unearthed a prized giant 1.3kg white truffle back in 1999. 

      As white truffles can fetch more than £2,000 per kilo, it's no surprise that so many Istrian menfolk start digging and searching the verdant oak woodlands for the prized tubers in a season which runs between October and January. It's also said that the best truffles are shipped abroad, yet every restaurant and shop seemed to have them, so clearly there's plenty to go round! 

      Lunch comprised of beef carpaccio to which our white-gloved waiter added shavings of black truffle. This was followed by a pasta dish with added white truffle flakes... and even our ice cream sweet dish had a truffle topping!

      The truffle smell is akin to a strong mushroom and it seemed to hang in the air everywhere we went and especially in the hilltop town of Motovun some 1,000 feet above sea level which boasts incredible scenic vistas.

      Catching a local shuttle bus, we then climbed the slippery cobbled limestone streets and walked around Motovun's outer wall, the smell of truffles seemingly coming from every restaurant. We might have climbed the lofty tower of St Steven's Church but I chose instead to visit the birthplace of the town's most famous son. 

      Mario Gabriele Andretti, the 1978 World Formula One motor racing champion, was born in Motovun in 1940 when Istria was still part of Italy. His house is frequently visited by motor sport fans even though he emigrated to the USA back in the late-1950s.   

       As an impressionable youngster, Andretti's sights were always firmly set on a future in the fast lane after he visited Monza with his father and saw Juan Manuel Fangio win the 1955 Italian Grand Prix.

      Our final day in Croatia was spent visiting Pula, Istria's largest city, where we met up with tour guide Branka.

      First we visited the impressive 1st century Roman amphitheatre – the world's sixth largest after Rome's mighty Coliseum. Home to Pula's annual International Film Festival, the amphitheatre has also hosted numerous classical and pop concerts featuring the likes of late opera star Luciano Pavarotti and Elton John.

      Orginally there were 23,000 seats from which the Romans watched all manner of unsavoury contests while Branka went on to explain that while Pula's acoustics are not as good as some other amphitheatres, she explained that the organisers have learned how to place the speakers to get the very best results.

      Branka's own family was of particularly interest as she explained: "My grandfather was born in Austria, my father in Italy while I was born in Yugoslavia and my daughter in Croatia… yet we were all delivered in the same Pula hospital. It just shows to how the country's borders have changed over the past 100 years!"

      Our last outing on this Adagio gastronomic holiday was to Kumparička, the home of a former Croatian lawyer who walked away from his profession at the age of 40 to become a goat cheese producer, having first purchased a 14th century farmhouse seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

      Aleš admits that he had no background in farming yet today he has 250 goats, most of whom need milking twice daily. "I'd never really seen a goat until I bought my first one," he said. "But I was really determined to make it work and with plenty of help from family and friends, I think we've made it."

      Today his farm produces several types of specialist cheese and yoghurts – which we naturally sampled! – while our lunch also comprised a thick vegetable soup containing goat and pig meat sausages along with a tasty homemade bread.

      However that was topped by a huge dish of tasty spare ribs. "First we boil the ribs in a bag, then smoke them before putting them on the grill and topping them with a special sticky barbecue sauce to which we add goat's milk," explained Aleš. More details at www.kumparička.com

      So summing up, on the last day we had the best and the worst of meals, the final one at Konoba Ćakula back in Poreč comprising two thin slices of pork mounted atop two squares of yellow polenta, most of which was actually sent back barely touched by the majority of our group.

      After that disaster, we strolled from the restaurant to watch the start of the Croatia Rally, the event being part of the 2016 FIA European Rally Trophy Championship which has been staged in Istria for the past four years with Poreč as its base. This year's 473 kilometre event received an entry of 53 rally cars all geared up to cover 12 special off-road plus the Croatian television cameras on hand to cheer the rally crews on their way.

      With Pula Airport just 45 minutes away from Poreč and being served by several budget airlines, it seemed rather strange that Adagio used a British Airways flight into Zagreb which constituted a three hour coach transfer. As one wag suggested: "It's a bit like visiting Edinburgh but then flying into Cardiff." 

Above: Pula's historic amphitheatre. Right: It was truffles with everything in this Motovun restaurant.

The hilltop fortress town of Motovun that smelled of truffles  in every street