This morning, Tavis and I woke up at 7:00am. After I showered, we went for a walk to a local bakery and bought some fancy croissants and Tavi’s coffee for breakfast. It was only 6,00 for everything! We went back to the house and got the kids up for breakfast. While Tavis and I did some work, the kids packed up their bags. By 9:00am we were packed with Jeep fully loaded with luggage and we began our journey.
Our first stop was the Pighin winery. The person working in the office knew a bit of English and commented that a few Pighins have come over the past several years. We explained that it was probably my relatives. We bought a bottle of white and a bottle of red wine for only 13,00 total. It was neat to see the size of the vineyard and facilities in general.
Next, we made our way to Trieste. It was about an hour drive. We set up the car to avoid tolls so it wasn’t the most direct route but it was really fascinating driving through all the small villages. Every one of them had a steeple tower and the roads became very narrow. I understand why they have small vehicles here! We tried to find free wifi in a place 10 minutes away from our airbnb, but we had no lunch. We went down roads that had about an inch of clearance on each side. I am sure it was stressful for Tavis, but also a unique experience for sure!
We decided to go straight to our airbnb. When we arrives, I asked to use the wifi at the neighbouring store and the generous man set me up. I contacted our host and he met us at the door of the apartment to help us with our bags. We stored the suitcases in the apartment and took our bags with us in the car.
It was noon, so we went to the waterfront in Trieste and found parking. When we went upstairs, there was a market with a cafeteria so we decided to eat lunch there. We found directions to get into Koper, Slovenia without using tolls. It was only a 30 minute drive so after we were well nourished, we made our way across the border. We made sure we had our passports handy and we were prepared for long border waits. However, there really was no border crossing! One minute we were in Italy, the next we were in Slovenia. It was quite uneventful!
Our instructions had us zigzagging on small back roads, but eventually we found the car park in Koper and set off on foot to find the waterfront once again. We walked through the narrow alleys with cobble stone roads that we are quite familiar with now. Every place here is so similar but unique in their own way. We eventually came out at a beautiful park area with a playground, mobile library, and many stores. The water was the most amazing bluish green colour! To the right was a public beach with many people swimming. Just beyond that was a freight port. We took a short walk along the boardwalk before making our way back to the narrow streets of Koper and to our car.
On the way back to Trieste, we decided to take scenic route home along the ocean. It was a beautiful drive and there were miles of public beaches. The facilities were better than I expected, with showers, bathrooms, and benches. The only thing it didn’t have was available parking. Every spot was occupied!
When we got back to our apartment, the cleaning lady was still there. We used Google translate to communicate with her. We decided to walk to a grocery store and pick up some food to cook for dinner. We were amazed at how cheap the food was. We spent a whopping total of 16,90 and bought far too much pasta, sauce, meat, lasagna, tomatoes, grapes, bread, and 1.5 litres of an orange carbonated beverage. That was the cheapest dinner ever! When we got back, the apartment was clean and Addison and Tavis prepared a delicious dinner.
After dinner we walked around Trieste from our apartment and then settled down for an early night. Tomorrow we start our journey to Greece.