As our guide rattles through his geology lesson (a dizzying cocktail of English, Russian, bad jokes and subtle-as-a-breeze-block chat-up lines) I realise I’ve found it... the perfect place for a sunburnt, slightly hungover holidaymaker to escape the relentless heat.
With our hire car’s thermometer creeping closer and closer to 40C, we’d clambered down countless iron steps deep into the spectacular Baredine Caves near Porec innorth-west Croatia.





