Piran, Piran, Slovenia
After breakfast, we settled the bill, loaded up the car, and set off on our way to Piran, located on the coast. My impression of Slovenia is that most of the landscape consists of rolling hills and high mountains — it is very lush and green. As our trip took us along many winding roads, I sat in the front passenger’s seat to avoid getting car sick. Inevitably, the warmth of the car lulled me off to sleep, although I managed to alert myself countless times before falling on to Hermann and sending the car careering off the road!
At about 12:30pm, we arrived in the tiny township of Hrastovlje where stands the small Holy Trinity Church that is renowned for its 15th century murals. These were discovered under thick layers of plaster in 1949. It took 10 years to painstakingly remove the plaster to expose the murals which cover the walls and ceiling. Each panel depicts a story from the Bible (old and new testaments) or represents information that was important to teach the local inhabitants, such as the months of the year. (I had to wait for the German audio description to finish before the English version was played. It was difficult to understand, as some of the words were not pronounced correctly. However, I managed to get the gist of what it was all about!) The most famous section is the Dance of Death mural.
There were just a few houses in this tiny village, and so it was a good thing that we had again prepared our lunch using our left-overs from breakfast!
It was only about another 45kms to the town of Piran, our home for the next two nights.
TomTom had great trouble locating our accommodation, and so Hermann had to ring the landlady who ascertained that we weren’t far away, and so walked up the road to meet us and guide us to the end of the one-way street near her property. Once we had unloaded our luggage and hauled it down the 82 steps with the help of her husband, Gitti and Hermann drove the car to a nearby multi-story car park. In the hour that they were gone, Michael and I ‘worked’ on our iPads. When they returned, the landlady served us glasses of wine in the glass-enclosed area attached to the house.
It was then time to explore Piran. The B&B is located in the old town — we followed the narrow roads down to the esplanade, then walked past the marina into the town square. The cooler seaside air was very refreshing. However, the sun was now hiding behind the clouds. We walked along the seafront where people were swimming directly off the rocks. After booking a table for dinner at the restaurant recommended by our host, we continued exploring the narrow streets of the town and then headed back towards our accommodation.
Michael stopped to take a dip in the ocean, preferring to enter the deeper water via a ladder, rather than hobbling over the stones on the small beach, although he did exit from the beach area.
We dressed for dinner and then set off for the restaurant. Michael advised me to leave my cardigan behind, as the forecast indicated that it would still be about 27C at 9pm, but I didn’t want to risk feeling cold, and so took it with me anyway.
I can highly recommend the grilled squid, as did Gitti, whilst Michael opted for a Wiener Schnitzel, which was made with turkey and was much more succulent than the leathery schnitzel he had had in Vienna last week, and Hermann had prawns. Back in the town square, where people were milling about enjoying the balmy summer night and waiting for a concert to begin, Michael and Hermann enjoyed some gelati for dessert. We then parted company with Gitti and Hermann, as they wanted to spend about 10 minutes listening to the live band that was about to start, Michael and I continued towards ‘home’, with me stopping to take photos of the boats, and then a narrow street with the moon and Venus shining in the sky above.
We were almost back at our villa when I discovered that my cardigan (a dark gold coloured jacket that doesn’t wrinkle, and so travels well) was no longer tied to the strap of my shoulder bag! In shock, I cried out to Michael that we had to go back and look for it. I ran like a crazy woman down the streets we had walked along, sending Michael in the opposite direction to ensure that we covered all the places we had been (or thought we had walked along)!
We made our way all the way back to the town centre where the band was now playing.
There were people everywhere. I checked at the gelati shop, but with no luck. I was sure that the cardigan had been attached to my bag right up until I took my last photos, just past the turn-off to our accommodation (that we had over-shot!). I remember running off again, telling Michael to continue down the street running parallel to the esplanade where I was, intending to meet him at one of the intersecting roads. When I got there, I hadn’t found my cardigan, and I couldn’t find Michael either! I waited for a while, and then concluded that he must have headed home, a short walk up a few narrow alleys. When he wasn’t waiting at the door (I had the key, so knew he hadn’t gone inside the grounds!), I raced back to the turn-off and waited. He eventually caught up with me — without the cardigan.
I was devastate as we walked back home. This was my favourite ‘best’ cardigan (although Michael commented that he’d never really liked it!). I remember buying it on sale when Gretl was a photographer for the Magic Cave at David Jones — at least 10 years ago, maybe more. I’ve never seen anything like it since, and so replacing it was going to be impossible. Finding something to wear for ‘best’ whilst on this trip was also going to be a problem. In my slightly intoxicated state, it all seemed like an awful tragedy. Michael had been so good in trying to help me find it, but his unempathic comments, such as, ‘You can buy another one’, did not help! I confess to shedding some tears as I drifted off to sleep that night.
Rae
2018-07-23
Such gorgeous photos. I eagerly await the next installment. Thanks for including me. Rae
Debbie
2018-07-23
I can sympathise with you Merrilly re your lost cardigan. A few years ago when we were traveling to Hawaii, I left my favourite black cardigan in the Qantas Business lounge, didn’t realise until I was on the plane! Despite ‘Lost and found’ advising me it would be held until my return journey, I was never reunited with it! Have bought a couple of others since then but not the same! Thank goodness I didn’t need it in Hawaii! On a high note though - still enjoying your wonderful photos, keep them coming. Xx
melandmic
2018-07-24
Thank you, Rae! There’s a happy ending to my story, Debbie — I didn’t expect there to be, but there was. I definitely know how you felt losing your favourite black cardigan! xxx
Ian
2018-07-29
I have been able to gain a very detailed look at the many murals in the Holy Trinity Church at Hrastovlje. The church from the outside does not seem very impressive, but the inside murals are amazing. I am glad to be on the bus, but I gawked at the number of steps leading to the apartment in the next major stop at Piran. Looking forward to the next report on the precious cardigan.