15 May 2022
It was a weird start to the day….as Martin and I are heading off in different directions today (more on that below!)…so I felt a bit nervous heading off…all on my lonesome!
And to a new country…as I head down the Istrian peninsula.
But the nervousness did not last long….!!
As my earlier post…There is not much of Slovenia on the coast…so it was little more than half an hour before I was passing through the border. (Passport stamped…out and in!!…which was a first since arriving in Spain!). The coastal town of Portoroz, and a nice ride through the salt flats…..
….and then I was in Croatia!
And the hills started! Over 1,000m of ascent today…which is really the first hills since we arrived to Lake Como! And with hills…come hill towns…and it was not long before Buje appeared, worthy of a brief detour!
…and a good place to stop for coffee…and some money..ie Croatian Kuna. Croatia has been planning to join the Euro since joining the EU in 2013….and it seems they have now “qualified”…so will switch to the Euro on in Croatia…on 1st January next year…(maybe!).
Brother Ian (& Zeljka) had “challenged” me to visit some of their favourite hill-towns….& it was pure coincidence that I found myself only 5km away from one of them: Groznjan.
So I took up the challenge….but it was breeze really. And well worth the detour….with a lovely gravel track descent!!
Indeed…the real climbing started later…..with a long grind up…and a very slow/long descent…..where I came across this lovely (1965) war memorial to the Yugoslav partisans of World War 2:
The long descent was perfect!! For upon leaving the coast…the temperature seemed to soar……so I was truly parched (and out of water)…by the time I rolled into Rovinj….needing very prompt beer!
Another lovely town…so after a nice cold shower…I just ambled around before settling down to a little more hydration!! Beautiful town…….
So…to Martin. As I very briefly mentioned…he is now off back to UK for his Dad’s funeral (which sounded almost callous the way I had written it). He had died the week before we set off….but had been very unwell for a couple of years so it was a welcome release really…and the funeral was delayed to give time for family to get over from Australia…and also to give time for his wish for his brain to be donated for research to be honoured.
It was wonderful that his brother Ken had arrived over from Australia….Martin had picked him up…and their Dad died within an hour or so of their arrival at his bedside. Classic holding-on stuff, despite his illness.
So…primary concern…their Mum has been well looked after…by Ken and brother Mike (if only he had not got Covid contemporaneously!)…and now sister Rose, who has also arrived over from Australia.
(To cap it off…Martin “retired” that same week…so it was a very hectic time….and this ride has doubtless been a great diversion!!)
So….Martin drove up to and is flying off from Trieste to Stansted then driving up to Ottley today ….for the funeral tomorrow. (Fifteen quid…..for the flight…return!!)…before flying back on Tuesday…and driving down to Krk…! Hiring a car was so much easier than public transport…and allowed him to keep his bike with him for the shift of location!!
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So…my thoughts tonight and tomorrow…are with him…and his lovely family.
It will be hard…as these things always are.
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(Hopefully Marion has packed appropriate clothes for him!…I have this image of Martin arriving with the only clothes he has……Keen sandals included !)
Funny thing: to suit all the various dietary requirements, Pizza was selected for the post-funeral “dinner”!! Just as Martin and I were quite happy to be leaving behind our too-frequent dinner choice of…”not another f-ing Pizza”! Haha!
