Day 30 – Prosecco to Opatija

Druso had to be away early, so breakfast was at 6.30, he teaches children sailing in Trieste and chatting to him, you can tell how passionate he about it. We sat down to a nutritious breakfast and as I was packing up Druso very kindly gave me a whole load of dried fruit, one of my favourite things on this trip. I was about 10 km short of Trieste and heading down was when I first got a glimpse of the Mediterranean. It wasn’t far to Trieste, and when I got into the centre, I went for a drink and relaxed, probably a bad idea with the heat picking up, but I wanted to look around and see the rich heritage of the city.

This was my last stop in Italy before cycling up into the hills and into Slovenia. I was only in Slovenia for about 3 hours, but you noticed the difference from the roads to the barren landscape. I stopped for water in a small town half way through, the sun was baking, and I was exhausted. I lay under a tree and munched on any snack I could find in my bag before heading on and into Croatia. The late afternoon I reached the town of Opatija and dipped my feet in the water, the place was packed and felt uncomfortable leaving my bike for some reason.

As the night draws in I settled in a restaurant for a drink and some supper, I planned to have some food, watch the football and then try and find a place to wild camp. While eating, I got chatting to a Croatian woman with a Canadian accent about the place; she gave a few tips on the area and a bit of the language. After she left, I headed into the lobby where the hotel very kindly put on the football for me. Once finished though, it was dark, and I looked on google map for what could be a dead end along the street and a place to camp. It was at the top of the hill and a car park for some business but hidden away and little chance of being disturbed.