Although Croatia's Adriatic coast is much more famous, Slovenia has a small slice of coastline as well, and it was here I came yesterday by bus from Ljubljana. I am staying in Piran, which by all accounts is the jewel of the Slovenian coast.
It is a very small and very compact town--cars are not allowed in, for the most part because the alleyways are too narrow to allow them!
I am staying a guesthouse which in many ways puts the "budget" into budget travel, but it does have a rooftop terrace which is a nice feature.
I had to take a coffee on the main square, the Tartini Plaza, to wait to check in for half an hour or so once I arrived.
Once checked in I went off to explore and get some lunch. Sardines by the sea? Don't mind if I do . . .
After lunch I decided to take a dip before doing my laundry, so I changed in my room and flip-flopped back down to the shore. The water was lovely.
Once my laundry was done, I went up to St. George's church, which is on a small hill above the rest of the peninsula. For two euros you can climb the bell tower which gives a nice view, plus, with the bells ringing every 15 minutes, chances are you get to see (and hear!) that too!
But from the tower I also realized that an even better view would be from the old city walls up the hill, further inland. You can see the walls in this picture on the treed hill.
So I climbed up there next. It is two euros to access the walls as well. I suppose the photos would be better in the morning with the sun behind the walls, but actually I do not think it would make much difference in person.
It was now time for an aperitif. I was looking for a Slovenian plum brandy called Šljivovica, but the bar in the square that I chose did not have it. Instead I tried Pelinkovac, which is made from wormwood. It is very pretty and has a nice smell, but is very bitter. It did grow on me, but it probably won't be showing up on my bar at home!
I did enjoy Šljivovica this evening at a different bar, but it is clear and less exciting looking so I did not bother photographing it. It was much more enjoyable though. But, back to yesterday evening, this was my view as I drank the pelinkovac:
Around 19:00 I walked a few steps out of the square to watch the sunset: wow!
Piran is famous for sunsets, and I can see why. That being said, a little bit of cloud really obscured it tonight, so I feel lucky to have seen this last night.
After sunset it was time for more seafood. This time I enjoyed fried squids.
Today I went for a bike ride, which I will blog in a separate post, and really all I did in Piran was drink and eat and walk around in all the same spots as yesterday! I feel very lucky to have spent a couple of days here because it is really a lovely place. But I am also excited to leave tomorrow because I am heading north so that I am in Vienna on Saturday to meet Diana!
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