After our sunny afternoon in Izola, we drove down the coast a few minutes to the edge of Portoroz, where we found a place to park. From there we walked along the seafront to a very picturesque town called Piran. We had been eyeing Piran from a distance– Antonio had set up a telescope from their living room, zoning in on the church in the center of this charming little place on the tip of Cape Madona.
Doesn’t it look like it’s out of a story book?
Piran has a really nice plaza– pretty big for such a tiny city. It is named after famed violinist Giuseppe Tartini, and the really interesting thing about this town square is that it used to be a marina! It was filled in at the end of the 19th century.
My favorite thing here was an older gentleman joyfully rollerblading around the square as if he was a world-class figure skater. You could see the childish delight in his movements. He stopped and chatted with the kids. I loved his spirit.
Doesn’t it look like it’s out of a story book?
(If I was writing the book, this little boat would be delivering the town’s mail.)
Piran has a really nice plaza– pretty big for such a tiny city. It is named after famed violinist Giuseppe Tartini, and the really interesting thing about this town square is that it used to be a marina! It was filled in at the end of the 19th century. My favorite thing here was an older gentleman joyfully rollerblading around the square as if he was a world-class figure skater. You could see the childish delight in his movements. He stopped and chatted with the kids. I loved his spirit.They call this the Slovenian Riviera. The water was impossibly clear, and we saw schools of purple jellyfish swimming through the marina and along the seawall.
The weather changed dramatically while we were there– sun, rain, wind… We stopped for some seafood, and Amelia and Marco spent a good hour crawling in and out of the big boulders, collecting smaller stones for the adults to carry home in bags.
This is a view from the tip of the cape, looking back at where we had come from.
We climbed that hill on the way back to the car, and I took this picture of weather over nearby Croatia… Drama!
And that is exactly where we headed the next day… Thanks for coming with us to Piran. Photos of our trip to the Croatian Island of Brijuni coming next!
Just lovely. I would love to visit Have fun
Oh, we did have fun! I’d love to go back…
Really fun! Thanks for the pictures and especially the commentary.
So glad you enjoyed it! It was a fun place to visit, for sure.
I love the pastels & bright colors of European Mediterranean towns mixed in with the white plaster. It seems farther south like Turkey all the homes are white. Very pretty. Thanks for the ride.
Susan, it did feel quite Mediterranean, but with that interesting influence of Austrian and Hungarian architecture… And I loved the colors also.
Oh how beautiful! All of it. Living vicariously through you at the moment. Can’t wait to see Brijuni!
So glad you are traveling vicariously with us! I just got the pictures of Brijuni up– I could have double the number of images in that post, easily…
This is amazing! I was watching Rick Steves Europe on PBS yesterday and he was in Slovenia, and visited Piran. I thought, wait a minute, I just read about this on Ariana’s blog! The plaza that was filled in, the beautiful coastline and those charming buildings…all of it was on the program and I have to say your photos are every bit as beautiful! Hopefully one day I’ll have the opportunity to travel, but for now I just love reading your blog!
Julie
Oh, how fun! I should look that episode up– I’d love to learn more about where we were. And I am so glad that my blog can let your travel a little!
Great stuff! Piran is my favourite Slovenian coastal town. Just sooo charming.
I think kids can really learn a lot from such a trip and interacting with another child from a different background in a strange new language can do wonders for broadening their horizons.
Hi Marko! I did a double-take just now, because I met a Marko while we were there, who is from Lublijana! I agree completely about children meeting other children, and that language is not an issue. I hope that we can move in the next few years to another country, where my daughter can acquire another language.
I am happy to read beautiful impresions about my home town 🙂
Hi Ursa, so glad you enjoyed reading about our experience. So incredibly charming– I’d go back in a heartbeat!