The little village of Bale in Croatia was definitely one of my favourites out of all we visited in Istria. It’s not a hilltop town in the Tuscan sense but it was built on slightly higher ground than the land surrounding it. Small pretty cobbled streets seem to wind in all directions and the walls of the buildings have that beautiful disheveled look that you find in the Mediterranean. There are a few little cafés, restaurants and konoba (tavernas). The central part of the town is much older and centres around a big old church.
We visited for lunch one day when passing through and then returned for dinner a couple of days later. We had a lovely three course meal in the pretty little courtyard of the Hotel La Grisa. We didn’t stay but the hotel has some simple but nice rooms and apartments.