LAST DAY IN SLOVENIA, FIRST DAYS IN CROATIA

Everyone who reads this blog knows how much I sLOVEnia. The PEOPLE, NATURE AND HISTORY were all tops. I love to bike and if you do too? For adventure touring and cycling,skip Amsterdam and come here, it’s one decision you won’t regret.
I made a special connection in Slovenia, it was a very difficult decision to leave. I really want to finish this trip in Istanbul. As I write this I’m still torn.

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A SPECIAL VISIT FROM A SPECIAL PERSON, NATASA IN IZOLA.
This is a bike blog that involves everything that can happen while bike touring. Get on your bike because amazing experiences await you too.
I loved my stay at Izola and that was one of the reasons I stayed 5 days here.

20130921-090527.jpgUROS WAS LIKE A BROTHER I CAN’T WAIT TO VISIT AGAIN SOON.
I rode off with no idea what route I was going to take? I wanted to stay off the main road so I just followed the coastline. The images were very telling. A day earlier I was sitting along the shore and noticed nearly everyone was in a wheelchair. UROS told me there was a state sponsored home for the handicapped to come visit the beach. All the walkways were wheelchair friendly. I asked to take this photo from the front, NO.

20130921-092330.jpgSO I GOT THIS PHOTO FROM BEHIND (notice the flag attached to her chair)
Back on the road, I’m riding as slowly as possible. I really realize when I cross the border it’s goodbye Slovenia. That’s how I got here by leaving amazing people and places to explore the new. I must keep telling myself that. I’ve heard about Slovenians salt beds andI had to go on the tour (to kill more time here)

20130921-093224.jpg IT SERVED A PURPOSE FOR ME, WASTING TIME.

20130921-093618.jpgTHE VIEW OF IZOLA RIDING UP AND OUT
I rode through this tunnel and took this photo from what I thought was the middle?

20130921-093948.jpgFOR A TUNNEL, IT WAS WELL LITE AND DRY
Riding past these “docks” was cool.

20130921-094715.jpgTHE DOCK STILL WORKS!

20130921-094907.jpgTHIS BOAT PROBABLY DOESN’T WORK (ANYMORE)
My last chance at the 2 policeman photo in Slovenia

20130921-101649.jpg HE SAID I COULD TAKE HIS PHOTO WITHOUT HIS HEAD, ONLY FROM SHOULDERS DOWN, NO THANK YOU
WELCOME TO CROATIA

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so it looks like rain, serious rain, I check out an abandoned house, NO. There’s no hotels or rooms around only the Zypher Casino. I go ask, $55 or 40 euro. A little hash in the morning and you don’t leave till 1pm, you sometimes have to pay the price.. The clouds are spelling trouble. I opt in, It’s late and I tell the kitchen I just want a plain salad. I shower and it’s CNN World on the TV. First in english TV in almost 6 months.
They said breakfast was included, I’m the only one staying at the hotel. So I say to the barista “So it’s you and me for breakfast?” A resounding “NO” mmmmm OK. no. So later I’m wheeling my bike around back and start talking with the slot machine repair guy. I tell him the breakfast story and we both laugh some. I ask if he will take my photo in front, he agrees and I say I want the barista in the photo too. She all the sudden appears at the back door. So he asks her for a photo of us “having breakfast together”. Holly Shit, we all 3 laugh for 5 solid minutes.Way too funny. We’re friends now, she sees I’m just here to laugh and have fun.

20130921-110340.jpgSHE INSISTED WE TAKE ANOTHER PICTURE, WE ALL CAN’T STOP LAUGHING, EVONNA THANKS FOR THE AWESOME TIME AND LAUGHS

20130921-110438.jpgTHE BARISTA BOOTH MADE HER LOOK TALL, BUT THEN SHE STEPPED OUT BEHIND THE COUNTER, NOPE.
So it rained and thundered hard ALL morning, good call on the hotel. Not a cloud in the sky when I ride off.

20130921-111246.jpgSOME VILLAGE?
The Casino host said if I stayed there I get a free bicycle map. Since I haven’t found a SIM card for my phone, I think this is my first mapping with an actual map. So the only camping is at a NATURIST CAMPGROUND (nudist camp). I find a site and set up. Within minutes I’m visited by a fellow camper, yep nude. It said so on the sign and it’s true, nude-everywhere.. So I’m trying to get the camp WIFI to work and the buxom blonde comes by, “Can you Help me?” Yep just out of the shower and no clothes on. So at dinner I see her again and say “I didn’t recognize you with your clothes on.” We both laugh.

20130921-114201.jpgI HAD TO
So everyone is strutting their stuff in the buff around the campground. Then I go to use the bathroom, I’m a little confused.

20130921-114554.jpgYOU CAN WALK DOWN MAIN STREET IN THE BUFF BUT PLEASE DON’T LOOK AT ME PEEING? OK
It was a little chilly in the morning, so everyone was clothed for a coffee and pastry send off

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THE AWESOME ROADS WERE JUST THAT.

20130921-115502.jpg AWESOME!

20130921-115749.jpgI LIKE TO “BIKE” MARKETING
I couldn’t find the offical campground so I slept in the tall grass on the side of the road.

20130921-120109.jpg THE STREET LIGHT WAS ON MY FACE ALL NIGHT
Early the next day in Rovijn I eat breakfast at a dock side cafe and explore the town.

20130921-120637.jpgTHIS IS MY FAVORITE BIKE PHOTO (so far)
I asked this nun if I could take her photo, first she said no, then I told her how beautiful she was in Spainish.

20130921-120917.jpgSHE SAID YES AND EVEN POSED

20130921-121112.jpgROADSIDE BBQ, HAVEN’T TRIED YET BUT SOON
I try to avoid busy roads, the first thing about bike touring and cars, avoid them. take the longer route

20130921-194639.jpgI THINK 1 CAR PASSED ME ON THIS ROAD.

20130921-195037.jpgMY BIKE FRIDAY ROAD FINE ON THIS EVEN WITH THE TRAILER
They had a stone built structure at the side of the road called a KAZUNE.
.

20130921-195818.jpgIF I HADN’T BEEN RIDING MY BIKE I PROBABLY WOULDN’T HAVE STOPPED
I met uo with 2 wheel travel again. Carolyn (one of the wheels of 2 wheel travel) we shared a banana split.

20130921-200333.jpgI COULD HAVE EASILY EATIN THE WHOLE THING
This was the moon rising that evening.

20130921-201526.jpgWE WERE AT AN AMAZING CAMPGROUND AT THE END OF THE ROAD CALLED CAMP STOJA
All the Slovenian photos are updated and HERE
HEY, THANKS FOR READING IT’S BEEN FUN, IF LIKE THE BLOG TELL ME. A BLOG POST LIKE THIS AVERAGES 5-8 HOURS OF WORK.
TILL NEXT TIME RIDE YOUR BIKE TILL THEN! OK?
JEFF

2 thoughts on “LAST DAY IN SLOVENIA, FIRST DAYS IN CROATIA

  1. Dear Jeff,
    I,m so happy that you enjoyed in our country. You really wrote so nice things about Slovenia, I think that many Slovenian people doesnt know , where do they live; In a sunny side of the Alps. Save trip a long the Croatian cost . Carpe diem.

    Anusa

  2. Hey Jeff, Great travel tales, pictures, and folks. People are pretty nice sometimes and I am glas to see you met some. Not much free time these days as I am busy (buried) in my new teaching job but slowly digging out. The work load is tremendous but I am getting the hang of it. First observation, teachers are underpaid! No complaints though. I finished my Neil Young book so if you want to read it I have it. Safe travels Jeff and talk to you down the road. Love you, Mark

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