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Thursday, September 12th - Koper to Porec, Croatia - 11,257 km
I am back on the Adriatic and it feels wonderful. My hostess at the bed and breakfast makes me a lovely breakfast which includes an egg, highly unusual in Europe. The morning is warm and sunny, a good omen. I pause to photograph Koper harbour before I set out. Today will be warm and I have a lot of ground to cover to see all I want to see.
I follow the north coast of Istre, the Slovenian coast which has only two other towns, Izola and Piran. Piran is supposed to be the most historic and interesting, but just riding along the coast is worth the trip even without the towns. Izola is eight kilometres west of Koper and Piran another ten. The highway curves around the backside of Izola but I can see it clearly. On the far side I stop to photograph the harbour.
Piran proves more difficult to find. As the highway heads inland to cut across a point of land that Piran is supposed to be on. I watch the road signs closely. There are only the smallest of unmarked side roads and no marked road that I can find. In no time I am past the peninsula and regrettably not in the mood to poke around looking for it. I am only five kilometres to the Croatian border.
The border is guarded by Croatians, not Yugoslav border forces, an they are very casual. They glance at my passport and wave me on. That was easy, another omen that I have made the right choice. I continue west to the town of Umag, the first place where I get the compulsion to swim in the sea. It will wait until later. I follow
the coast down to Novigrad (Newtown), another idyllic site. Most of the coast are beach resorts, deserted at present and more appealing because of it.
From Novigrad, I set out for Motovun, a fortified medieval town on top of a 270 m hill, 25 km from the sea. It takes two hours to get there as the route isn’t straight, and the climb up the hill into the town is a very difficult one. There’s a great view of the central part of Istre when I reach the top, but there is nothing much here but old buildings. The tourists are here, but neither are the locals. I suppose no one lives here. They just work here for the tourist dollars when there are tourists. There is no reason to linger here long. 
For ten kilometres, I have no choice but to return the way I came, down the valley of the Mirna River. At Ponte Porton, I turn south and climb again to the height of Motovun, but more gently this time. At the village of Vizinada, I take an unnumbered road that heads south-west, directly to the city of Porec. That is far as I am going today. I have covered 145 km.
The tourist office in town has a list of rooms for rent by the night in local homes. They are cheaper than the hotels and there are no youth hostels. They call a woman they say is very nice, to tell her I am coming over. Her name is Francesca, and she is lovely. She treats me like it is an honour to have me as a guest, and I suppose it has been a sparse summer for her with very few tourists. She says she doesn’t know why anyone would stay away because there has been no problem here. I agree.
I take a walk through town to find my dinner and see the place. It is a pleasant town, probably even with tourists in it – a nice place to stop but not worth going out of one’s way for. It is the coast that makes this place so lovely. Tomorrow I will stay the coast and look for a place to have my naked swim.
PHOTO 1: Koper harbour
PHOTO 2: Izola harbour
PHOTO 3: boats in Umag
PHOTO 4: Novigrad (Newtown)
PHOTO 5: Motovun, on top of the hill
PHOTO 6: gate into Motovun
PHOTO 7: narrow, steep deserted streets
PHOTO 8: tower at the top of Motovun
PHOTO 9: Porec
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