Thu 4 Sep- to Croatia: Rijeka and Kastav

Thu 4 Sep- we got up at 4 am to catch the 6 am train to Rijeka. It is a 10+ hour trip, with a 45-minute stopover in Zagreb to change trains. About two hours from Rijeka, the conductor said everyone had to get off at the next stop, apparently something is wrong with the train or the tracks. We were loaded onto a very crowded bus, but fortunately got to Rijeka a little before the scheduled arrival.
Our apartment is owned by Mr. Drazen Srdoc; he arranged with his friend Iva to meet us at the station and take us to the apartment in Kastav. That was a real relief to us, to have a friendly face greet us and take us to the apartment door.
After we got settled and rested a bit, we met with Mr. Ivan Salamon, who had arranged our apartment, and Rajka, who had introduced us to Ivan when we were trying to arrange our stay. We had dinner of a selection of Croatian cuisine at Gostiona (Restaurant) Vidikovac, part-owned by Drazen. it is an upscale place with a fabulous view of the Adriatic, the islands, and Opatija (the Croatian Rivera). We asked Ivan to order an introduction to Croatian cuisine, the typical foods common in this area. The food included among other items, 'vino stolno' (a nice white wine), 'rafioli Vidikovac' (a kind of ravioli), 'fuzi s tartufima', 'morska palenta' (a kind of polenta), 'domaci kruh', tople maline sladul', palacinke cokolada', 'strudla', and 'medica' (an after-dinner cognac), all for about $64 for the four of us. While we ate, Ivan and Rajka gave us a brief history of Croatia and Kastav. Ivan had a large stack of information about Kastav, Rijeka, Opatija, the Kvarner region where we are, and about interesting places in Croatia, like Split, Zagreb, the various islands, the natural parks, and Dubrovnik.