Piran ..aaa Fish

I was feeling a bit lazy (as you do on holiday, which is okay) and decided I wanted to go out for a jog with mum and dad this morning. It wasn't a long, long, long run but, it was enough - especially in the sunshine. I'm jolly glad I went too, because the scenery of Piran was beautiful.

enid blyton thoughtful three

We ran a few kilometres along the path towards Piran, which is the opposite direction of where we go to the our beach. It was a new part of Slovenia to explore, and I was up for a bit of exploring and discovering. The weather was perfect, as it has been for the past couple of days. In all fairness, we've been very lucky with good weather on this holiday. I'm hoping we'll be blessed with more when we return to the UK...is that likely? Probably not. Ah well, we're making the most of it here.

sun chaser

After a spot of breakfast in a little cafe on the seafront - a cheese toastie and some apple juice - we went for a walk into the town centre. It felt like on was on a set at Universal Studios. All the building were so gorgeously designed, mostly with white walls and orange-y roofs so from high ground they all matched. The view of the town also reminded me of the one of Mijas which we visited on our Spain holiday.

run/walk

let's head up

We saw this view from the top of an old wall, which had towers that you could pay to go up. The town is like a little island jutting out and then miles of sea stretching out into the distance. IT was all very pretty. It didn't take long to jog back to where we started, and all of a sudden we were back at the house - feeling very hot and suddenly out of breath from walking up the hill that leads to the street. 

I had to have a quick shower, even though I was going to be going in the sea, but we were soon out of the house again, ready to be back down the beach for a second day. It was early afternoon so we didn't hire any loungers, and instead milked sitting in the seats of a bar for an hour or two by having a few drinks. It was actually the same bar we came to yesterday morning - we like it because the deck chair seats face out to the sea and it's close to a nice stretch of water.

do I not like orange

Bryn and I wanted to go onto the inflatable course again - we had lots of fun yesterday and it was good today too. I brought my goggles to the beach today - hurrah! It was all I could think about when getting ready to leave because I knew I'd be gutted if I forget them again. It's just not the same when you can't swim as easily. ''Don't forget to pack your goggles'' was replaying in my head all morning, and I listened! I remembered them.

goggle eyed

They helped as well - my eyes were basically fine all day and I had lots more fun jumping into the water off the jetty. We went to sit on it after we left to bar, to get some sunbathing time in. I swam more than I tanned today. It was the goggles...they wanted me to stay in the water.

jump like van halen

At around 4 we put away our things and walked back to the house. That hill will be the death of me - it tires you out quite a bit, but a great source of exercise nonetheless. I couldn't resist picking up some more crisps on the way back as well. I did devour them, I'm not proud, but they tasted great - sour cream, a favourite - so I don't mind. 

Mum and Dad wanted to go check out the bars and casinos in some of the hotels down by the beach so they got changed and went out, whilst Bryn and I stayed at the house. I sorted some things out for the suitcase since we're leaving tomorrow - I need to get more organised with that suitcase. I also did most of the blog so I don't have to do it when I'm really tired later on. 

The sun had just started to set when we left the house, a picturesque view over the ocean. We'd planned to meet the parents at the bottom of the hill that leads to the house but Bryn and I decided to walk along the path towards where they were. 

Once we'd met up, we deliberated whether to walk in the direction of Pirin, to a hotel with restaurants and bars around it, or to see what other places there were on the seafront. In the end we settled on a restaurant called the Meduza which also happened to be connected to the place that was renting those 35 euro sun loungers.

They had some live music, which made the meal more enjoyable. I had a simple margherita pizza, but I really liked it. Pizza is one of my favourites, and it often features frequently on our holidays. I fancied a cheesecake for dessert - enough favourite, but unfortunately they were running low on desserts and had ran out of cheesecake. I had apple strudel instead, something else I'd wanted to have on this holiday. They couldn't put icecream on it, but it was fine without.

The moonlight made the water shimmer today - very pretty. We'll be leaving Portoroz tomorrow, and I have to say, I've really enjoyed our beach time. 

(Lloyd)

Earlier start than yesterday, but still seemed to take an age getting out, only three of us today, Kev the teenager needed some time on his own.  We jogged out towards Piran, the pre Portoroz resort in the area.  Predating quite considerably as it happened, Roman and Medieval feel to the place once we got past the Bernadin casino complex that seems to separate the old and the new.

https://www.relive.cc/view/r10007160884

I managed to eke out a 5k run before we settled down for a cappuccino in a bar alongside the sea.  Remember when having an exotic coffee on holiday added to the mystique of the experience?

We took a stroll around Piran, up to the old town walls, built I think when under Venetian control.  Slovenia has been under just about everybody's control (Austria, Italy, Venetia, Roman) down the years, and was never entirely comfortable with the slavic union under Yugoslavia.  Not sure what I was doing in the 1990s when they asserted their independence from Belgrade, but a young nation was born, and a pretty friendly, eurocentric one from what I can make out.  A nice combination.

salute the flag

Having taken photos of the old and the new, I jogged back to the appartment and we reverted to holiday mode, swimwear and a stroll back down to Portoroz.  Holed up again in a beach bar at first, and then joined the kids out on the jetty, jumping into the cool, refreshing adriatic with all the other teenage and pretend teenage dirtbags.

diving is fun

well jumping in anyway

Keeping on the move today, Chrissi and I decided to have a civilised start to the evening by visiting one of the Casinos down in Portoroz.  Vegas it was not, Bryn described it (on the basis of our description) as a slightly bigger space than what you get in those service station casinos back home, and he was very right.

bond and bond girl

shaken not stirred

We knocked that swiftly on the head, and visited the roof terrace to be like James Bond and have a pre dinner vodka martini.  Kept up the civilised front even when the kids joined us for a meal in a nearby restaurant, where I went for the monkfish - the Lonely Planet insisted that Slovenia is the place for fish, and whilst not a big fish eater, it felt right to enjoy the light and fluffy texture, with a bit of garlic sauce and sun dried tomatoes, washed down with a bit of butch rose.  Not sure if I have sold that or not, it felt right as I say, if not the usual taste sensation I enjoy.

Walked back to the appartment for what felt like the umpteenth time today, a little hot for the walk, and focusing the mind for what will be a bit of overland driving and exploration for the next few days.  Also updating old blogs as I have discovered half the pictures have been removed by lovely google as presumably I hadn't saved them to google photos at the time.  Very irritating, but original ones in first USA trip replaced, Australia still needing work.  Hop over and have a look at the first one if you have time, shows how far we have come literally and perhaps 'literaturerly?' (is that a word?)