Piran

After a busy month of remodeling our living room and barely sweeping away all the dust that covered the whole house, I've spent this Sunday afternoon packing for my trip to the USA tomorrow. It's only three weeks, so don't get too excited. :)
In the mean time, there are a few photos from May that I still haven't posted: a day in Piran, a beautiful town on the Adriatic coast, running from the rain and only partly succeeding. At least the sky was dramatic. :) But in the end we got totally soaked.

A grey and bleak day in Piran, Socerb and Škocjan

My friend Sebastian and I explored Slovenian coast and Karst one bleak Sunday in February. First we went to Piran and climbed the hill with the town wall. Everything was grey and there was no distinction between the sea and the sky.



Always interesting narrow streets of Piran:


Then we quickly visited Socerb Castle.

The views towards the Adriatic Sea weren't exactly magnificent. :D

Our next destination was the Škocjan Cave. Photography is not allowed inside, but I took a few pics at the exit and from the viewpoint. The view from the viewpoint is actually very impressive, with Škocjan village on the other side of the collapsed valley and the Reka River flowing below.

The visit of the cave was a completely different story from many years ago when the Reka River was extremely polluted, dirty, smelly and covered in foam. Now it's clear and green, making the whole experience really memorable.
As I already mentioned, taking photos is not allowed and we could only take our cameras out near the exit. I could barely take one picture before our guide turned off the lights!


When outside, you have to take a path through another cave back to the entrance.


Bleak weather or not, this was a great day. :)

Piran Aquarium

I'd never been to the Piran Aquarium before and when my friend Kurty asked me to go there with him, I didn't hesitate. The place itself is small but packed with fish tanks and a plethora of aquatic animals. Shooting conditions were far from ideal with all the reflections in the glass, but with a bit of creativity the problems could be overcome.


















The day was sunny and warm, albeit a bit windy. Throngs of tourists came to bask in the sun, especially at the seaside cafes and restaurants. We walked around a bit, hiked to the nearby bay of Fiesa and finally took a few pictures in the town center before heading back home.


More photos here.