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Published: November 22nd 2010
Piran
The trip from Pula to Piran was a bit compliated and included two trains, a stop at the Croatian-Slovenian border where we got told off by a police man for wandering off over the invisible border, an hours wait in a dead-end town for a train that turned out to be a minibus and we were the only people on, a drive to Koper in a thunderstorm, an hours journey on a public bus to Piran, which we reached at a beautiful moment- the receding storm clouds over the sea with the rays of the setting sun peeping through. Piran was love at first sight.
Second challenge was finding our way to the hostel, at night, no map, but again Matt's uncanny sense of direction won out and we found it no problem! No one was there so we had to call and this poor girl came running up ten minutes later saying ''so sorry, nothing is ready, I had an exam today'' but the hostel was fine. We were the only people there that night, then an Australian couple turned up the next night, who were lovely to chat to. After settling in we went
for a walk around the town which is BEAUTIFUL! The main square surrounded by lovely houses with statues in the centre, the narrow cobbled alleyways winding all around it, churches, the clock tower beautifully lit up against the night sky. I envied everyone who lived in the tiny town nestled between hills on the tiny 42km coastline of Slovenia. We walked for ages then had tea and cake in a cafe before heading for bed.
The next day we ran some errands and then walked up to the castle on the hill. We climbed one of the towers in the castle and saw a sign pointing the way to many towns in Europe- one of which was Tenby! There was a great view over the sea, you can see to Italy! We walked down the other side of the hill along the coast to a small town called Fiesa. As we were watching a massive water rat munching grass by the side of a lake, we started up a converstation with a man who paints portraits there in the summer, and in winter goes off to tropical places like Madagascar to do the same. He found it really
strange that me and Matt were travelling together but not a couple- he just could not get his head round it! He said it is unheard of in Slovenia for a man and woman to be friends without sex! He told us he has been married four times, once in Colombia he married two women at the same time. And he said that Matt looks like a doctor because he has a ''human face''. Interesting guy!
After saying goodbye to our strange new friend we walked back over the mountain into Piran. We cooked some pasta in the hostel, had a chat to the Australians and went to bed. We had to be up to get the bus to Trieste at 6.45!
Venice
At Venice station we met up with my lovely friend Beck who I met in Budapest and travelled in Romania and Bulgaria with. She had some friends with her who she met at the hostel- Dan from New York who looks exactly like Matt Damon, and three guys from Hawaii. So we all walked around Venice together. I was very excited to hear that Beck had stayed with one of
my favourite couchsurfing hosts- Maurizio in Dicomano near Florence, and had a great time with him! We had pizza, ate ice cream, and went inside San Marco's cathedral. It was stunning although a few days before the whole area was flooded so the floors were still a bit wet. We were very lucky- glorious weather and no floods when we were there! We wandered around the streets, over canals and past beautiful buildings. I was so happy because I was worried I was going to be disappointed with Venice as so many people have told me how beautiful it is, but I wasn't at all I loved it! Of course the highlight was the touristist touristy thing- going on a Gondola! It was so much fun! Amazing how quiet it is going on all the canals compared to the streets. And our Gondola man was great!
Matt and I decided to stay on a campsite on the mainland because it was much cheaper than staying on Venice island. So we went to take our bags there and arranged to meet the others later for dinner. From the campsite you can get a boat to the island so we
decided to do that. But of course it dropped us off at a random part of town so we had to find our way back to the train station to meet the others. Again Matt's sense of direction did us proud as I was lost within two seconds. It took ages but we found it! It was a fun walk though, weaving our way through all the backstreets of Venice. We met the others, and another friend they had made- a French-Canadian called Remi (pronounced Ramy), who was impressed because my name sounds like his. We had a meal in a cheapy restaurant but it was so good! Pasta and white wine, and a pizza in the middle to share, and great company, perfect!
The next day we met up with Beck and Remi in the morning, had food and hung around a bit until it was time for Beck to get her bus to the airport. Once we had said goodbye to her and seen her onto the bus, Matt, Remi and I went for a wander. We found a sweet tranquil garden and sat there for a while, walked around some more streets and did some
shopping, went back to San Marco's square and saw the other side of it which we didn't see the day before. Then we had to rush back for Matt to get his train to the airport. Once we said goodbye to Matt and saw him on the train, Remi and I hung out a bit, got some lasagne and had a chat. Then he had to get on the train to go to Munich for Oktoberfest. You have no idea how much I wanted to go with him! But instead I met my couchsurfing host for the last night of my trip. He was called Riccardo and was unfortunately a bit sleezy and tried to be all romantic when we got back to his place. We had some limoncello and some rum and chocolate cake, which was yummy, but I had to give him a sharp NO when he wanted me to dance salsa with him! Fortunately I knew he was going to be like that from his profile but decided to go with him anyway to save myself 30 euros! So I didn't really mind at all and got my flight home fine in the morning. So sad to
leave behind my beloved Europe!
Statistics
During my 5 month trip I:
Visited 62 places in 20 countries
I stayed with 30 couchsurfers, 8 friends, in 11 hostels/hotels and 2 campsites
7 friends came out to meet me in various places, I travelled to 18 places with them
I travelled on 6 planes, 1 ferry, 1 boat, 1 minibus, 7 buses, 2 vespas, lots of metros, trams, public buses and cars, 1 gondola,
and... 97 trains!
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suparna
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Nice Blog
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