2016
Having loved our holidays in Croatia and Montenegro
we decided to try another ex-Yugoslav Republic and were not disappointed.
The Country was lovely, the people were lovely and Piran was a lovely
Town. Stayed at the Hotel Piran. The hotel was 4* (allegedly) but is
not what we would call 4*. The room was small (but comfortable) although
the storage space was very limited for a 2 week holiday (the staff seemed
surprised that we were there for two weeks, obviously not a place for
long holidays). Another strange thing, we wanted some laundry done and
the blurb said notify reception. We notified reception and they told
us we had to bring the laundry to reception! In a 4* Hotel? All the
niggles aside, we enjoyed the hotel and the staff were very pleasant
and very helpful.
Hotel, as you can see, is right on the sea (but
no nice beach) and is only a short distance from the Main Square in
which there is the attractive Town Hall fronted by a statue of Giuseppe
Tartini, THE number one son of Piran.
Tartini was a composer and a teacher of violin
and was born in Piran in 1692. His place of birth is on the square and
is now a Museum containing, among other things, his violin (presumably
the one he is holding above!)
Actually, as classical music lovers, this was
a plus to us and, when we got home, we bought a CD containing his most
famous work (alright, we'd never heard of it either), The Devil's Trill.
Some nice walks around the town (and above it,
see the first photo) and along the sea side. Plenty of places to eat
and we went to quite a few but there were a couple, very pleasant and
inexpensive, which became our favourites. The wine is, to be honest,
expensive for the quality and, although Slovenia is proud of it's wines,
I don't understand why local wines are as or more expensive than reasonable
imported wines in inexpensive places in the UK. Below is the cheapest
(but pleasant enough) restaurant that we found, the Riviera Adriatic.
The other restaurant we used several times was the Ribja Kantina, the
nearest to the hotel - slightly more expensive than the Riviera Adriatic
but somewhat better.
We only went on a couple of trips. Firstly, Lipica
for the Lipizzaner horses (Edna is mad keen on horses and this is the
"home" of the famous horses we saw at the Spanish Riding School
in Vienna). In the old days Slovenia was part of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire so the horses in Vienna came from Lipica but now, being in two
separate countries, the Austrians breed their own. A great trip with
an excellent English speaking guide and a wonderful show put on. A must
see.
The other trip was to the capital, Ljubljana,
and Lake Bled. Wonderful! Ljubljana, a lovely City, small but stunning.
Not enough time there to "do" the Castle or anything else
that took too much time! Perhaps this is the place to stay and have
a few days in Piran? Lake Bled is also stunning but, unfortunately,
there are not too many places where the coach can stop for photo shoots
so the memories have to be kept in mind (unless, again, you stay there
for a few days). For us in England it is also great to see the mountains
on the coach journey.
The edifice above is on a roundabout and is a
monument of a musical nature. Can't remember what our guide said it
was but not bad for a photo from a moving coach (even though I say it
myself).
A couple more views of Piran:
The strip of land in the distance is Croatia
The Old Square (Tartini Square is the newer
one!)
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