Sunny day in Piran

Today the sun came out. And we greeted it at the perfect setting.

Part of my plan with making Ljubljana my base is to take a few day trips to nearby cities worth checking out. On a beautiful day, Lake Bled is one of the most renowned lakes in the region, with a picturesque church on a tiny island in the middle of the lake, overlooked by a taunting Castle on top of a cliff. In the background, on a clear day, sits the Julian Alps. Of course, it wasn't a clear day when I went. So no Alps. But a gentle stroll up to the castle (didn't pay the 10E to go in...) and along the lake was quite worth the effort of the 1.5 hour bus ride to get there...

But my day trip to Piran was quite different. After days of overcast skies, the sun came out with a vengeance. I spent the day roaming around and getting lost in back alleys with an exchange law student from France, (Anais, her name was, which I had trouble pronouncing all day). Part of the joy of travelling yourself is that you meet fellow travellers and make new connections in strange places. Usually these connections are short lived. Occasionally they become lifelong Facebook background buddies. But all the time their presence became lifelong stories in my mind and fond memories of the brief encounters. Quite often, within minutes you hang like old friends, chat about all kinds of stuff and goof around like colleague buddies. And then, when your day ends, you bid each other farewell, and walk away with a warmth in your heart that is hard to ignore.

Piran was beautiful indeed. Small but beautiful, just perfect for a day long excursion. In fact, it took us a little no more than half an hour to cover the old town. A small climb to the nearby city wall grant us a postcard view of the coastal city, with red tiles and all, including the classic Venetian clock tower (a smaller version of that standing in St. Mark's square in Venice two hours across the Adriatic Sea). In fact, it seems most old towns of this coast are lined with vintage Venetian architecture, owning to over half a millennium of their ruling. Piran is wonderfully well preserved, and the rich blue sea coast gives it a very laid back easy feel. Sunbather and causal swimmers dip themselves in the somewhat cool water to soak up the last bit of pseudo-summer. Anais was smart enough to wear a bathing suit with her. I told her I thought about it, but was too lazy to pack it. I made do with sun-tanning on the edge of the sea wall dangling my feel over and diving into a small up of Italian hazelnut gelato.

It was a prefect sunny day, on a beautiful coast lined by charming old streets. It's quite worth the three hour bus ride each way to get here.