Three Countries in One Day - Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia

​The plan for the day was to meet Al and Diane in Muggia to start our joint cycling adventure.  We left Trieste in the morning by bike and Al and Diane were getting transported by their tour company to the trailhead of the Parenzana.  

Leaving Trieste.  


After getting acquainted with their rental bikes. We start out on the Parenzana which is an abandoned rail trail now used by cyclists and pedestrians. 


It is a beautiful rail trail replete with tunnels, bucolic farmlands and sweeping views. 



Shortly into the trip, we leave Italy and enter Slovenia.  

Jim takes advantage of an opportunity for an upper body workout while waiting for the slower members of the group. 


We take an early break at the port city of Koper, one of many seaside towns we will be visiting in the next few days. 


We stopped for lunch at a town called Isola and left with thunder and threatening clouds. 


We did get rained on a bit and we came around a corner on the cycle path to find a rider laying on the ground tangled with his bike.  He was in pain and Jim helped him to his feet but he couldn’t put any weight on his leg.   He called his wife who was an hour away but realized he needed help faster and ended up calling an ambulance.  As we were trying to get him comfortable another rider comes around the corner and he too slides and hits the pavement.  The cycle path was like a skating rink.  

We leave our downed compatriot to the sound of the approaching ambulance.  We gingerly get on our bikes careful of the slippery corners and get on our way.  

Jim decides he wants to ride into Piran, Slovenia.  He found the city to be very beautiful. 



Diane, Al and myself are left to find our own way to Buje and we miss our navigator, Jim. We passed some salt mines and salt marshes.  



Our destination is a bnb outside of Buje, Croatia.  We finally see it in the distance. 


We arrive at our guesthouse which is in a lovely spot out in the country full of other cyclists from all over the world.  

  

We ate at the restaurant at the bnb that evening and everyone thought it was pretty funny when the waiter brought me a bib and also put the bib on me to eat my seafood brodettò.  


It was a very successful first day of our group bike tour. 

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