ISTRIAN IDYLL
he light is exceptional in Rovinj. The golden midday sun has ripened to a mellow glow that bounces off the shimmering sea, casting a spotlight on the tumble of red-tiled rooftops in the Old Town. After a day spent paddling in the clear emerald waters that gently lap against the rocky shore of Monte Beach, my skin is a salty, happy blush as I meander back to my hotel through the steep tangle of cobbled alleys, beneath colorful lines of drying laundry. Set just beyond a timber-beamed archway, in a sturdy stone building brightened with blue-painted shutters, The Melegran is a bijou 12-room property that is a delightful base from which to explore this charming fishing port— the star attraction on Croatia’s Istrian coast—and, beyond that, the vast sweep
