OUR ROOM OVERLOOKED THE SEA; ELYSEE WATCHING THE SUN SET
ELYSEE IS BECKONING YOU TO JOIN HER; IN THE BACKGROUND IS THE ENTRANCE TO PIRAN'S HARBOR
Excerpted from my book OUR SUMMER IN SLOVENIA. Click the cover to purchase.
Piran is a miniature Venice, has a population of only about 5,000, and is situated at the end of a peninsula protruding into the Adriatic and the Gulf of Trieste. Ruled by Venice for more 500 years, and a source of salt for the Venetian appetite, it became less important under Hapsburg-Austrian rule and even later Italian control. Piran was in every sense bypassed, and as a result is now a well-preserved mini-Venice having to manage with its status of the entire town being a protected monument. Because it is situated at the end of a peninsula, there are no through roads, and because of its medieval character it is impossible to navigate a car. Only Piranians are allowed to have a car in the city. Tourists who drive into the city must take a time-stamped ticket at the control booth, with the first hour being free. That’s so you can check into your accommodations and unload your luggage. If you stay beyond that the rate per hour climbs steeply, and if you don’t get your car out of the city by the end of the day it is booted. There is parking just outside the control booth and a free bus takes you to the city center. A necessary inconvenience as there is little reason to have a car in tiny Piran.
We dutifully did the car drill, drove to our hotel (what else but the Piran Hotel) and unloaded the luggage. I then drove out of the city within the allotted hour, parked in the free municipal lot, took the bus back to the center, Tartini Square, and walked the very short distance to the hotel. Meanwhile Elysee had unpacked and dressed into her swimsuit. She loves swimming and we were situated right on the sea wall, with ladders to get down into the water, and all the trimmings of Mediterranean life. Amazing little Slovenia has this small thirty-five mile strip on the Adriatic and all one has to do is dip in for delightful experience without all the hub-bub, crowds and exorbitant prices of Venice just on the opposite shore.
