Piran, Slovenia

 

Rooftop terrace view

 



After reading a little bit on this town I decided to head there. It is a small seaside town on a peninsula near the end of Slovenia. Some say it is the 'Dubrovnik' of Slovenia. When I left Ljubljana the weather was cloudy, the sky a bit gray and temperature quite a bit cooler than a few days previous. I arrived in Piran,the sky was very blue and it was so, so warm. Got myself settled in and went about exploring. There were so many oceanside restaurants, all with tempting menus of various kinds. The specialities of course being seafood.
I hadn't been in Piran for very long and as I walked down a narrow roadway I saw some familar faces. It was a couple from California, Mary & John, they had been on the walking tour in Ljubljana. I was to run into them two more times during my stay here.

The streets are winding, very narrow and all cobblestone, small and large. It was like a maize walking around, quite easy to get lost. The streets all start to look the same. You have to remember to keep an eye out for the landmarks.

After visiting the tourist office for a map, I went on the self guided Cultural walk in the morning, then Historical walk in the afternoon. These tours covered many of the towns churchs and cathedrals, Town Hall and monuments. Both of these tours took about 4.5 hours, a nice way to break up the day and sightsee. Such a pretty town. I was surprised at how busy it was for this time of year. I can just imagine how hectic it would be in the summer season. Sure glad I am here now.
This is a very old town and when you look up from various parts of the city you can see the Ramparts. I hiked up the hill to see the vista from there. Being the off season there was no admission and you take the various steps up to different vantage points and look out over the town and peninsula. Fantastic view!

One can walk from Piran along the promenade to the next town of Portroz, a distance of I believe, 4 kms.  So I set out just to do that, I had energy and the day was sunny!

 

　
　

I had hoped to catch a ferry from Piran to Venice, Italy but that was not to be the case. Apparently the ferries here stop at the end of September, a lot of changes happen then as I was to find out. My alternative plan was to head down the coast to Croatia, after all the border was not that far away! Further investigation showed the buses now only ran two times a week, Monday & Friday. It was now Tuesday and there was no way I wanted to wait til Friday. A young man, Patrick from South Africa was also wanting to head out to Pula, Croatia, he had a seven day sailboat excursion coming up shortly in Split. We came up with a plan to take a taxi to closest town over the border and then catch the bus down to Pula. The thought being more buses would be available in Croatia. We ended up taking the taxi a bit further to a bigger town, Umag in Croatia. From there it was an hour wait and then we were on the bus to Pula. It was a huge double decker bus, Patrick & I sat up top at the very front. Wow what a view! It was a little unnerving as the bus took some corners. From our point of view the lamp posts and vehicles looked a lot closer.
　
　
　
　
　
?

　 

　
　
　
　

The streets are winding, very narrow and all cobblestone, small and large. It was like a maize walking around, quite easy to get lost. The streets all start to look the same. You have to remember to keep an eye out for the landmarks.

After visiting the tourist office for a map, I went on the self guided Cultural walk in the morning, then Historical walk in the afternoon. These tours covered many of the towns churchs and cathedrals, Town Hall and monuments. Both of these tours took about 4.5 hours, a nice way to break up the day and sightsee. Such a pretty town. I was surprised at how busy it was for this time of year. I can just imagine how hectic it would be in the summer season. Sure glad I am here now.
This is a very old town and when you look up from various parts of the city you can see the Ramparts. I hiked up the hill to see the vista from there. Being the off season there was no admission and you take the various steps up to different vantage points and look out over the town and peninsula. Fantastic view!
One can walk from Piran along the promenade to the next town of Portroz, a distance of I believe, 4 kms
　
　
I had hoped to catch a ferry from Piran to Venice, Italy but that was not to be the case. Apparently the ferries here stop at the end of September, a lot of changes happen then as I was to find out. My alternative plan was to head down the coast to Croatia, after all the border was not that far away! Further investigation showed the buses now only ran two times a week, Monday & Friday. It was now Tuesday and there was no way I wanted to wait til Friday. A young man, Patrick from South Africa was also wanting to head out to Pula, Croatia, he had a seven day sailboat excursion coming up shortly in Split. We came up with a plan to take a taxi to closest town over the border and then catch the bus down to Pula. The thought being more buses would be available in Croatia. We ended up taking the taxi a bit further to a bigger town, Umag in Croatia. From there it was an hour wait and then we were on the bus to Pula. It was a huge double decker bus, Patrick & I sat up top at the very front. Wow what a view! It was a little unnerving as the bus took some corners. From our point of view the lamp posts and vehicles looked a lot closer.