A Bicycle Tour of Slovenia | EPISODE 9: PIRAN

Our bicycle tour of Slovenia comes to a dramatic end in this episode, as we follow the coast south along the Istrian Peninsula. Under beautiful skies we leave Muggia, and re-enter Slovenia, through vineyards and groves of olive trees. We find the Paranzana Rail Trail, and ride a beautiful section of it which alternates between following the blue waters of the Adriatic and into the green and lush landscapes inland, through excellent tunnels and finally to Piran, a magnificent medieval village perched above the sea. here we spend a couple days, swimming in the waters, exploring the town, and saying goodbye to this wonderful, lovely country. Slovenia will be with us for a very long time.

Music:

Meghmalai – Maree Docia
Epidemic Sound

Saint Valentine – Vendla
Epidemic Sound

Tracing Memories – Biddy Sullivan
Epidemic Sound

Forward – Dovetail
Epidemic Sound

Just Don’t Talk – Giants’ Nest

Synesthesia (Scaled Down Version) – Peter Sandberg

Paradigm Shift – Gavin Luke

And a Certain Street Musician in Piran

And we’re off looks like another windy day but not as bad as yesterday sun is beautiful we got one more day of writing Left [Applause] Stayed in this wonderful hotel hotel San Roco we got one more day of riding left partly on our rail trail should be very Nice we left our hotel in muja with a warming Sun and under deep blue skies go back up to the street I think Yeah little bit of navigating and soon we were leaving the busyness of this Italian seaside village Behind we found ourselves riding on a coastal road with stunning views of the sea beside us that’s awesome the road led us onto a bicycle trail smooth and well-maintained and on such a scenic route got ourselves a nice little Coastal Trail going on here could use a little more of this

Huh hopefully Slovenia is building a better infrastructure as we speak I think this is part of the new Trail they’re adding some trails and it’s good to see the infrastructure improving here it’s a beautiful Country morning KS morning it’s a beautiful day it is a beautiful day hot but gorgeous hot the trail did not last long however and soon we were back on a quiet Road really lovely little spot here the upper Adriatic got a nice breezy day going on hopefully not anywhere near as breezy as

Yesterday whole lot of sun if you look off in that direction that’s the direction of Venice straight up here at triesta that’s where we were last night unfortunately only one more day this is our last day on the bikes we’ll have another day to hang out in the town of

Per on so we’re going back to Slovenia today happy trails hello again sloania it been too long oh look there’s our flag I guess why do all the countries have red white and blue as their colors I never see Purple back in a place where I speak more of the language yeah exactly okay that’s you things as thank you restroom and welcome to my ice cream Castle cave good morning Bailey good tomorrow bonjourno bonjourno and what’s good morning in sloania uh I don’t know how

To say good morning but I can’t say the BR Yad which means of course welcome to my ice cream Cave Castle there you go so basically the same thing yes for you could say Goan is good day Goan Doan toan Doan toan everybody toon toon everybody vineries once we cross back into

Slovenia our route begin to turn slightly Inland and soon we were riding through Lush and sunny Vineyards and Groves of olives yay that’s right this is shaping out to be a beautiful day it was a beautiful late September morning and this being our last day on the bikes we relished in the perfect

Riding conditions overzealous water station s does a nice job of uh having these bike repair and water stations first a love it for all the lack of uh trails and infrastructure at least they’ve done that really nicely really well although it does look like somebody probably took all the

Tools we are now riding on the Northern reaches of the istrian peninsula a small piece of land that reaches out into the Adriatic Sea mostly belonging to Croatia just to the South Here the Adriatic carves a fine Edge a circuitous boundary of Deep Blue against the fertile green and our route did its best to follow the coastal line well we got ourselves a bike path but uh kind of industrial Zone I guess Lin needs to use its coastal areas as efficiently as they can

Can all be beautiful but at least we get the bike path that’s nice it’s fascinating we’re on this bike trail full of trucks running alongside and when the bike trail crosses all the trucks stop wait for us to pass I think that’s unusual and much appreciated thank you

Appr nice little rest bit from the highway right next to us city of coper a very industrial Town hoping that pretty soon we run into our rail trail and get some nice Coastal Riding looking forward to that maybe this is it I don’t know looking for the train

Station we want to ask a few questions about getting back to Luana in the airport for our flight in a couple of days coper is a tourist town hosting Mediterranean cruise lines as well as containers in its deep port for us the city was in turn’s industrial blight and

Urban art and with an impressive bicycle infrastructure we managed to weave our way through the sprawl now one kind of a more uh Beach Resort kind of area before too long we reached the outskirts where our path led us onto a section of the parenzana rail trail and suddenly the sea filled our

View and we are riding along one of the finest Trails I’ve ever been on following these beautiful Waters and the most smooth and pristine path it’s hard to imagine a better way to explore these lovely Mediterranean Landscapes just had lunch here at this wonderful little bench along this wonderful little rail trail along this wonderful little seat life is good great things about being in the Mediterranean is all these plants that I just never get a chance to see in Colorado you know what this plant is

Bailey figs figs wild figs or maybe one time there was a fig Orchard I don’t know up there there’s a fig there we are this is our bike path following the coast as you can see beautiful views it’s exceptional really nice really nice this nice wide Lane got a nice walking path

Very clearly marked and Views views forever unlike in the Us scooters and sometimes small motorcycles you’ll see them all the time on the bike pass nobody bats an eye it’s all Good That shade feels great and the sun feels hot got grapes to one side Olive Groves to the other side in a Mediterranean paradise and we’re back on a bike pass that’s a very nice the parenzana was an nrow gauge rail line that connected triesta to the north

To pet in Croatia to the South its entire length is 123 km or about 76 Mi and it passes through three Countries how cool is this huh this is the coolest that go all day yeah out here oh God here maybe we can find this an ice cream C Castle yeah that’s all I want the rail line itself was shortlived as the steel of the Rails was pilfered by musolini to

Be melted into guns for War and the route was abandoned until 2006 when work began to convert the ride of way into a Scenic path what a great path this say gorgeous while this section is incredibly smooth most of the route while boasting gentle grades along the

Entire way is still only suitable for mountain biking it’s gone a mile without pedaling I like that take all the free miles you can Get Criet as we neared pan we found more and more people using the trail its easy climbs tunnels and gorgeous scenery attracting tourists and recreational cyclists alike we found the writing to be as good as it gets and we savored The Last Ride of our Slovenian Adventure a perfect and fitting end to our

[Applause] Trip [Applause] Bridge more tunnel it’s a long one oh it feels so nice boy I’ve been through a lot of these tunnels in the US yeah but they never light them well they never smooth PVE the bottom they’re always really rough and wet and muddy full of bats so awesome what an awesome Trail

This is I think it’s straight down I think so too Co yeah it’s nice little modern architecture for you suddenly the path dropped us off in the tourist town of Porto Rose which means not surprisingly Port of roses it’s one of slovan I’s major tourist areas but we were eager to reach our

Destination and so we carved our way through the town enjoying the architecture and the elegant Gardens the resort town of Porto Ro we’re down to our last mile or so of our tour finishing in style in a nice Euro Resort love It as we neared our destination the tourism Vibe begin to feel well a bit overwhelming but soon we could see what the fck us was all about pan is an absolutely gorgeous town in an incredible Setting we had given ourselves an extra day here before we headed home to rest and to enjoy and as we entered the old Square we knew we had made the right Decision we found our hotel An Elegant Affair set right on the coast and just like that and just like that we parked our bikes and the Bike Tour was over never to get on them again made it to our room yeah check this out it’s a nice place for us to finish our

Trip there we go how’s that not too Bad we took no time in making our way to the beach in the Cool Waters of the Adriatic I think I can get saltier and now here we are turns out you can you can Oh What a Beautiful Beautiful Finish now we just need to find a

Uh y an ice cream Cave Castle it turns out it’s harder to stay afloat with one armed in two okay thanks for hanging with Us by the time i’ showered and squeezed in a short nap the day was getting late and so we met downstairs for a sunset walk and to find a spot for Dinner Right just premi you mate afterwards we strolled along the water soaking in the enchantments of this magical spot it wasn’t long before we found of all things the much anticipated Slatter And then as one does in these kinds of places we got lost wandering in the narrow streets just taking in the sights and enjoying this rarified experience before calling it a Day Good morning guess what we’re not doing today what are we not doing todaying we are not biking awesome not biking meant that we were free to go in any direction we wanted and we had time time to watch the boats on the water time to take in the crashing waves in the ocean Mist it’s probably true that we don’t spend enough time in these places when we’re cycling the constant movement on a bike tour means some wonderful places don’t get anywhere near the time or attention they deserve but piran definitely proved itself worthy of exploration situated on a small

Peninsula and surrounded by the Sea pan is one of the best preserved medieval sites in all of Europe and shock full of beautiful sites pan has a history of great turbulence it became Roman in the 2 Century BC and was part part of the Holy Roman Empire by the 10th Century by 1283

It was ruled by the Republic of Venice then spent 8 years under Napoleonic rule then austr Hungary then Italy then Yugoslavia before finally becoming part of independent Slovenia in 1991 the town walls were constructed to protect the town from ottoman attacks and are still largely intact and command an awesome

View the Bell Tower built in 16008 next to the Church of St George Lords over the Old Town also affording an amazing Vista from any perspective piran is absolutely stunning I spent hours exploring this old world gem with its narrow alleys and ghosts of the

Past it is without a doubt one of the loveliest spots I’ve ever had the pleasure of stumbling onto [Applause] Let’s go It was the morning of our Departure good morning good morning good morning Bailey and Kelsey headed straight down to the beach for a sunrise swim see in a little bit and then we took off in a shuttle back to KW and in an hour and a half we were back to where our Serpentine Journey began some 11 days

Ago but not before I got a chance to get one last view of pan in the early light pan was a beautiful end to a beautiful trip two weeks with my daughters in a magnificent Paradise on one of the most Exquisite Adventures imaginable this tour of Slovenia will be

With us for a very long time