Last night was my first in a real bed since I left the UK, so of course I overslept ...doh! Still breakfast in the little italian farm house I was staying in was lovely.
I had intended to explore the backroads of the area but needed to get to Slovenia today & so hit the toll road to get past the flat plains of venetian italy. Well that is of course after I had got lost ...getting lost when following a satnav takes a particular skill called ' trying to be too clever!' .... The satnav seemed to be taking me a strange way, & so when I saw a sign saying Vicenza, thinking this must be something to do with Venice, I ignored the technology and followed it. This dumped me right in the middle of a traffic jam, one way system & roadworks & of course the wrong town .... Double doh!
Anyway, sense & faith in technology restored, an uneventful couple of hours at high speed followed whilst I headed east. It was pretty hot so I thought I'd try out the 'cooling jacket' I bought.
Let me explain ....When I rode my bike in Thailand I used to keep cool by buying 2 bottles of cold water every time I stopped for petrol. One I drank & the other I poured over my head & down my shirt (much to the amusement of anyone watching). Result? Well an instant cool clearly, but more importantly the drying effect of the wind when riding kept you nice & cool for ...well 5 minutes or so.
Anyway the bike gear guys must have been watching as they now sell 'cooling jackets'. These are waistcoats made from material filled with some sort of water retaining gel. You soak them in water, drain off the excess & then out it on before riding. The cooling effect as the moving air evaporates the water is supposed to last 5-6 hours. In my case I'd say only about 2-3 but much better than 5 minutes.
Feeling more comfortble, I decided to adandon the toll road & head to the coast & on into Trieste to explore .... Big mistake!
It started well enough ...
I followed the coast road & turned off into a little village that promised a historical castle ... But it was a kilometre up a hill away from the road & I didnt fancy leaving a loaded bike on display, nor hiking in my riding gear.
Nice & scenic though ...
Well all that excitement over & before I knew it I had zipped past the Slovenian border, almost without noticing. Now lets get off this expressway & explore a little!
What a lovely country Solevnia is, from the first impression to the campsite, just beautiful roads, scenery, villages and almost no traffic, all very clean & tidy too.
Here's a few snaps ...
The camp site is really nice too ... & a lovely cool river ro swim in (yes I did!)
It also has a great snack bar for weary travellers
Only really seen Ljubljana and Bled, but I do agree it is a lovely country with lovely people too! :-)
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