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| Pretty Staircase in Piran |
Well I was planning on being in Croatia this afternoon but it was so cold and rainy and it was a quick 45 minute bus trip to Trieste and with the ice storm coming it seemed better to hangout here for a day as it is suppose to get warmer tomorrow.
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| The waterfront behind the bus stop it in Piran |
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| Piran breakwater with the water levels incredibly high |
Last night the hostel had a few new quests so my room had two girls from England, one getting her PhD in psychology and the other an environmentalist working on a joint EU project on how to take rock quarries when they are finished being drilled and turn them into something useful and good for the environment like a park. And one other girl from Taiwan who is studying Business in Innsbruck Austria for a the year and took her two week Easter break to travel around.
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| Marina, Piran |
These young 20-somethings are used to hostels but I don't think it's for me but I'm grateful I got to stay in Piran for a few days and although they all agreed this was one of the worst hostels they've ever stayed at so at least it wasn't just me being a wimp, I still don't think I like the whole sharing a room with strangers although these young ladies were very sweet and the women from Taiwan took the bus with me because she was connecting to another bus to Ljubljana and then the famous Slovenian Bled Lake. She was even going to visit some famous show cave on the way but thankfully changed her mind when we got to the bus station and the women explained that there were feet of snow in that area and probably not the best time to be hiking from the bus station to the cave. I give her credit for doing this all alone. I thought I was being so adventurous these young ones totally out do me. The English girls had stayed at a hostel in Ljubljana the night before and it was a converted former prison. Yes, a prison and their room for two had not a door but the bar gate that the prisoners used to live behind. They were staying in a former cell. They had a good attitude about it that it was an experience but admitted that it smelled like urine and a whole bunch of drunk guys came in late that night and kept them up. As you can imagine I listened to them and just kept thinking, thank goodness I don't have to stay there!
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| Small Marina in Trieste, Italy |
I got to Trieste around 1:00pm and it the rain had just turned to ice so I walked very carefully trying not to fall and went straight to the NH Hotel near the station and they kindly let me connect to the internet and hotels.com and I was able to book the hotel and after waiting a half hour (fortunately they had a comfortable, warm lobby with English newspapers - although what terrible world news and good that I don't really get to watch TV much it's all so depressing and sad) while the reservation reached their system I was in my warm comfy room.
After unpacking my whole suitcase to make sure the water hadn't seeped up the wheels when I accidentally went through a huge puddle and soaked the contents I headed out for some lunch. Some things were a little wet but nothing too bad and now it's all hanging up and drying nicely.
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| Grande Canal, Trieste, Italy |
I made it a few blocks to the small marina and the grande canal but the wind was so bad I was barely able to walk. But like me some other tourists were out and about but it was tough going. I found a supermarket a few feet away and bopped in and got some stuff for lunch and dinner later and headed right back to the hotel. At one point my hat flew off and landed in the street so I just stood there and waited as the cars came at it but the kind people must have seen me eyeing the hat and avoided driving over it and stopped so I could go and rescue it which was so nice. It was minutes later I was back in my room and happy to be out of the elements and hopefully most people and animals are safe and warm inside, it's just a mess out there. Even for a hardened New Yorker it's just not worth trying to do any sightseeing in such conditions.
It seemed the prefect afternoon to do some hand washing since I was unusually in doors this time of day so I washed lots of tops, leggings, socks, etc so my bathroom looks like a laundry room but amazingly it's almost all dry already.
So now I'm in bed and warm and looking forward to a nicer weather day tomorrow for everyone's sake.
These young 20-somethings are used to hostels but I don't think it's for me but I'm grateful I got to stay in Piran for a few days and although they all agreed this was one of the worst hostels they've ever stayed at so at least it wasn't just me being a wimp, I still don't think I like the whole sharing a room with strangers although these young ladies were very sweet and the women from Taiwan took the bus with me because she was connecting to another bus to Ljubljana and then the famous Slovenian Bled Lake. She was even going to visit some famous show cave on the way but thankfully changed her mind when we got to the bus station and the women explained that there were feet of snow in that area and probably not the best time to be hiking from the bus station to the cave. I give her credit for doing this all alone. I thought I was being so adventurous these young ones totally out do me. The English girls had stayed at a hostel in Ljubljana the night before and it was a converted former prison. Yes, a prison and their room for two had not a door but the bar gate that the prisoners used to live behind. They were staying in a former cell. They had a good attitude about it that it was an experience but admitted that it smelled like urine and a whole bunch of drunk guys came in late that night and kept them up. As you can imagine I listened to them and just kept thinking, thank goodness I don't have to stay there!
