mac and johanna's bike tripjoh

Sept. 24, 2016

Trieste to Muggia by boat

Muggia to Izola, Slovenia

We kept our hostess, Daniela very busy at breakfast at the espresso machine. She was very gracious and breakfast was the usual fare of Pannatonne, prosciutto, rolls, yogurt, fruit, juice and fresh berries.

Unfortunately, the night before, Johanna told Chantal to be helpful for a change and Chantal then very quickly reserved a room with miss J’s credit card (thank you Mac). To Chantal’s credit, the hotel was very rustic and inviting, only 500 meters from the sea, and with an astonishing view. The price was so right, Paj exclaimed, “Book it” without any hesitation. And so, Chantal, ever the obedient one, did just that.

We made a reservation for our return to Trieste with Daniela when we have to return to catch the train from Trieste to Verona, then Verona to Venice and Venice to Munchen.

At the harbor, we witnessed the deboarding of a huge cruise ship that had docked for the day.

This thwarted our attempts to find our ferry boat to Muggia. We asked directions of the locals and Chantal became enamored with a handsome Norwegian philosopher. She went as far as suggesting another cup of coffee to help with the heavy manuscript, but he promptly directed her away to the ferry. A missed romance if Chantal ever needed another one. Our ferry soon arrived and she could now focus on the handsome young Italian who was in charge of boarding passengers and bikes.

The ride through the port illustrated the importance of this area as a center for commerce as the docks were piled high with containers for cargo and huge cranes to lift them on the ships. The bay was also riddled with sailboats and all manner of tug boats and vessels.

In Muggia, we found ourselves in the square where several weddings were taking place. We observed for a while and then began our ride to Izola, another popular tourist attraction known for its “beaches.”

We stopped to get directions to our penzione only to be told that it was 4-5kms out of town up a steep hill. We should have recognized the looks of disbelief when given the directions but did not, and headed up there. It was hot, the mountain road was very steep, curvy, narrow and loaded with cars. After 1 km, we began to have doubts. After 2 kms, we decided to just go on and cancel the reservation in person. After 2.5 kms, we said the hell with it and headed down to the town center to find the Info Point. In town, Lara, at the tourist office, found us a room immediately and finally we were able to cancel our other reservation, minus the cancellation fee of 39 Euros (thank you Mac). We learned our lesson!

We took Lara's recommendation and ate dinner at Manjada. The food was divine - calamari, Manjada Pasta with Adriatic Shrimp and Arugula Pesto. Johanna raved about the Cream Schnitte which is the Slovenian version of heavy whipped cream layered with cream and topped with cream.