• Elizabeth Cameron-Smith

Day 69 - Štorje, Slovenia to Trieste, Italy

21 km downhill way to the sea...

After having spent the night in a charming family owned Bed and Breakfast with it's adjoining restaurant and very generous and kind owners, ( the family had been the owners of the B&B and restaurant for over 200 years) who were so kind to Grant and made him feel so at home. As a gift in support of Grant's mission, the owner of the B&B only charged Grant half of the amount on his bill.

After a delicious breakfast, Grant left at 9am to make his way on a very fast and steep ride down from the mountains into the beautiful seaside town of Trieste.

After a really rough day yesterday Grant realized that something was amiss as he was very unsteady on his feet and felt quite sick.The day before had seen him in tough conditions and once he had settled in Štorje for the night he recognized the signs of a middle ear infection and decided to take it easy today, riding the few kilometers into Trieste and having a very slow day once he had reached the city and hoping that the antibiotics would kick in so he could feel better.

Leaving Štorje on the road to Sežana and following on from there on some dedicated cycle paths on the way to Ortleck, Grant enjoyed the scenery on a relatively flat track, eventually reaching Sotto Monte.

From there, Crazybikeguy swapped over to the road again leading him into Trieste in mild traffic.

The last five kilometers brought him down from 300 m of altitude to sea level on very wobbly cobble stone road. A dangerous road that made travelling fast impossible.

Relieved to be stopping for the day, Grant found a place to stay just out of town on a tree lined road which made for a lovely setting and set off for an exploratory walk around the port town.

He loved the piazzas and went to a very interesting photographic exhibition; had a delicious meal and rested his tired legs while watching the people go about their daily routines.

Trieste- a port city with evident Austrian and Hungarian influences, the most North Easterly point of Italy , a strip of land bordered by the Adriatic and Slovenia. It has an understated Eastern European atmosphere so different to other Italian towns and cities.

Known for it's stunning architecture, a vast port, lots of piazzas and cafes on cobble stone streets and wonderful coffee ( the home of Illy coffee) and cuisine with Slovenic influences.

It is said that in this city, melancholy is evoked. It doesn't have the pull of other Italian cities because of its cool Austrian influences but it is a beautiful, if somewhat windy city that is frequented mainly by port workers and long staying inhabitants. It has beautiful majestic castles on it's outskirts - a touristic drawing card.

Crazybikeguy spent some time walking around and taking photographs and had some downtime to try and recover from his ear infection and the last few days of torturous riding.

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