To - Trieste.
Distance - 50km (should have been 42km)
Time - 4.5 hours
Total - 3803km
The answer to the photo question from yesterday was - it is a ski jump, you know the event that Eddie the Eagle did. It doesn't look quite right without the snow.
Wow, 60 days done and travelling from Slovenia into Italy, my last country! It's a momentous occasion. I will have to celebrate tonight.
I didn't actually go out last night. I stayed at the hotel and tried some of the Slovenian spirit, it was pronounced 'slivovitz' but spelt a little differently. It was actually quite smooth. Whilst doing that a man called Hilary came and befriended me. I know what you are thinking, bef rending me and having Hilary as a first name can only mean one thing but it wasn't like that. He was an oldish chap with a white beard, he was born in Italy but lived in Slovenia and said he was Slovenian not Italian because his parents were Slovenian. His English was pretty good and he reminded me that Scotland were playing Croatia and it was on TV. We watched the second half and despite the run of play Scotland were victorious 1-0. Those Scots I saw in Ljubljana will certainly be celebrating a very good win (Scotalnd haven't had many of those in recent years).
It was a beautiful start to the day and I quickly realised that Postojna area was like the Kirkby Lonsdale of Slovenia. The motorcycles were out in force. I knew there were a few about because there were a couple of motorcycle groups booked into the hotel. They whiz zed past me at a rate of knots with engines roaring. They weren't a problem and the road was fairly quiet otherwise. The sun was shining.
I remembered a Skype conversation with my brother, David, last night in which he had told me that he had a bike ride yesterday and his derailier (that's the thing that moves on the rear cog to change your gears) got twisted into his rear wheel. Well I bet you can't guess what happened to me. Yes, exactly the same thing after about 8km of cycling. The derailier twisted into the wheel and there was a grinding noise and I jumped off the bike as quick as I could. It had damages at least a couple of spokes as well. The only place in sight was a guesthouse, so I carried my bike and bags to the guesthouse and asked for some assistance to locate a bike shop that could repair it and also find a method of getting there. The owner Bojan didn't speak much English but he was a star. We found a cycle shop back at Postojna, one of his staff relayed the problem I had into Slovenian so the bike shop man knew what the problem was and then Bojan drove me and the bike to the shop. He waited with me until we had sorted out the repair and the price. I offered to pay him but he declined.
The cycle shop did a good job by replacing the derailier and the chain. He tightened some of the spokes but he wasn't a proper mechanic and couldn't do a proper wheel straightening job. The wheel was a bit wonky but it has got me to Trieste. The rest of the ride was thankfully in eventful. Bojan had told me to stop at his guesthouse again for a coffee but when I did he wasn't back from Postojna but the girl who worked there gave me an ice cream on the house! They were fantastic.
I still managed to get to Trieste by early afternoon. I got to the top of the hill overlooking Trieste and the view was breathtaking. My first view of the Adriatic and the port of Trieste with a couple of cruise liners in dock. I had seen a small road on the map that looked like a direct route towards my hotel so I took it. It turned put to be exceptionally long and steep and cobbled! I ended up walking down it because the bike would have either run away with me or the wobbly back wheel would have totally buckled. I should be pleased I wasn't going up it.
The hotel is very central and near a small canal, close to the sea. It doesn't look much from the outside but perfectly nice room on the inside. It would have been a grand house at one time. I dumped the bags and went out to search for two bike shops that I had been told about. I still wanted my wheel straightened properly. I had already got the feeling that bike mechanics didn't work at weekends and I could out that Nike shops also have a long lunch break! Whilst I was waiting for them to come back to work I had a little ride around the city. I had a 5 euro birra and then a proper Italian ice cream. There are Italian ice cam shops all over Europe but they always seem to taste better in Italy, its the same with the pasta and pizza, I don't know why! The bike shops were revisited and one could not do it till Tuesday morning because they are not open on a Monday. The other couldn't do it but recommended someone who could but he only worked from a Monday afternoon.
Back to the hotel for the obligatory shower and change. I had also gleaned that there was some kind of late night shopping going on tonight and a special fish food event taking place in the square near my hotel. I went along and had the sardines and frites. I must say the sardines were superb. They were cooked in a massive shallow pan, probably about 12 feet in diameter. They were hot and crispy and very tasty. There were various other options of prawns, crab and calamari as well. There was live music going on as well.
The night was buzzing. It think it was a special Saturday night because most of the shops were open and thing were going on around the city centre. The police had closed man of the stets to cars. It was a really good atmosphere for all ages. I listened to a bluesy rock band for quite a while. I think they did Eric Claptons back catalogue.
I will have a tourist day tomorrow and see what develops. I have decided to try and get the bike fixed on Monday afternoon and then ride about 50km to a place called Grado. It seems to be a small beach resort between here and Venice.
Photo 1, Damaged bike it the back of Bojan's car.
Photo 2, Me and Bojan.
Photo 3, Into Italy, no passport required.
Photo 4, View overlooking Trieste and the Adriatic.
Photo 5, Changed from big bikes to Italian scooters.
Photo 6, Catholic Church in Trieste.
Photo 7, Another grand building!!
Photo 8, Seafront.
Photo 9, I think it's like the town hall in Piazza dell Unita D'Italia.
Photo 10, My first Italian ice cream in Italy. I said to the girl who took it, 'handsome?' And she shook her head!
Photo 11, The big sardine pan.
Photo 12, That Town Hall again but by night.
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