Day 6 -- Piran

After a nice breakfast in the A Hotel, we packed our belongings again and decided to drive to the Slovenian (very short) Adriatic coast. We were a little concerned that it may be difficult to find accommodation for Saturday night, but we decided to go anyway. In spite of pretty heavy traffic on the highway, we got there in less than 2 hours. Unfortunately, we couldn’t drive into the town of Piran because only people who live there and have a special permit can drive inside the city. We had to park the car in a huge parking structure and then walk into town (about 10 minutes). On the way we stopped in a tourist office and rented a room in a private house right in the center for one night. We met the owner by the Venetian house in the main square and followed her into the house. We left some belongings there and then needed to go back to the parking garage to get some stuff for the night, but on the way we decided to fortify ourselves with some food and beverage. We stopped in a little restaurant on the way and had a plate of fresh grilled sardines with potatoes (delicious) and a carafe of local white wine. Then we walked along the harbor to the garage, took some things from our suitcases and took a free shuttle bus back to the center.
In the afternoon, Reni wanted to go and sit by the sea, and Lucy and I went to explore the town. Piran is a such a picturesque town. It’s a just as beautiful as Rhodos or Sorrento, but without the hype or crowds. It is located on the tip the Piran peninsula and it dates back to Greek times, but today’s town is based on its medieval structure with winding narrow streets and with visible Venetian influences. Lucy and I started out explorations from the church of St. George with an amazing crucified Jesus from the 14th century. It’s a remarkably beautiful sculpture. After the church, we decided to explore the ruins of the castle, the highest point in town. When we climbed the hill, then three flights of stairs, then a ladder, we had a fantastic sight of the whole tip of the peninsula with red roofs of houses, steeples of churches and the setting sun. It was breathtaking. In the evening, we walked around the tip and found another fish restaurant where I had mussels and Reni and Lucy had a fish platter for 2 -- squid, calamari, scampi, sea bass, etc. Huge. After that, we went to another place for dessert and Reni and Lucy had a dessert called “a sea wave” (morski val)-- ice cream, nuts, whipped cream and Baileys =. Enormous, I had to help them.