In Istria chez Mojdana

Touring places with the locals (friends Mojdana and Paulo) and see the secret spots that no tourist know is the Holy Grail of my idea of travelling: carsic holes, mini-dunes Kappadocia-style, gorges eroded by the elements, abandoned caves, mountain tops either sloped (where people can lift up with a paraglide), or steep upoon green open valleys, lavanda fields in bloom at sunset, pictoresque and quiet citadels on the sea ...everyone speaks Italian...life's good in Istria!

On a Monday, the ideal plan designed by Paulo: Koper, Izola, Piran, , the salt fields, the Parenzana track - between the hills connecting the Croatian towns of Buje and Livadia. A day potentially full of impressions. I leave with uncertain weather, I stop half an hour for the rain, then the conditions are ideal to crank up the miles...The track follows the path of a steam train built by the Italians and that was then dismantleds in the 30s to be transported to Ethiopia for the colonial war. All the road is offtrack , high risk of puncture. Beautiful landscapes and passages thru small galleries and bridges, but challenging terrain for my Dahon. It's getting late and my bike is tired (I never am, of course!). I complete the track at 7pm yet I am still 30 km from going back home and (what's worse!) almost 800m of cumulative uphill to go. That is quite a feat, but I am the man who finishes what he started and I return passing through idillic Istrian villages perched on hills and surrounded by gorgeous countride views colored by the pink of the sunset. The gran finale:an illegal border crossing via a dirt road taking me back to Slovenia right when the darkness is taking over the light. And also today, the circle is closed.

Thank you guys..but then I think I should also mention....

The Grandma

None of this could have been possible if Mojdana's Grandmother's did not stop me  with a timely "Buongiorno!"as I was passing by their house. The Grandma is quite a character..always with a funny and pertinent comment ready...