After my best sleep in ages – swig of port and a late night helped, we woke nearer 9am than 8am! No matter, we were alongside Koper in Slovenia. I had no expectations whatever of this stop and we were berthed almost alongside the town - though we couldn't really see much of it - and the port secure area was no more than a row of hurriedly erected barrier fences and a small cabin for immigration.
Not knowing what to expect throughout the day, I opted for a filling breakfast. We walked off the ship and onto the harbour/marina road and we were initially heading across the road and up the steps into town, but spied one of the 'little trains' that are so popular in many ports. At a very modest €2 a ticket we hopped on, not having the faintest idea where it was going.
We headed away from the marina and the old town and soon found ourselves in the sort of area most of us would recognise as a modern retail/commercial development. Spying a McDonalds McCafe, a Spar supermarket and a Harvey Normans will give you some idea. The little train stopped two or three times for people to hop off (a lot of these little trains don't) and about three quarters of the way around, on the far side of the Old Town, we hopped off and headed into town.
Wow! What an absolute delight this turned out to be.
It was extremely clean, the streets narrow and interesting, the people in the shops friendly and no hassles with street traders. A little too much graffiti, sadly, though not as bad as many places, but otherwise, very attractive. Best of all, the prices of both manufactured goods and also food and drink, particularly the bakery items, was very good indeed. I managed a decent pair of lace up casual shoes, similar to the ones I usually wear anyway, for less than €50 and Paula added to her shoe collection with two more pairs.
At a local bakery, we bumped into Alex, one of the Atrium waiters (very tall and friendly) and as a local (almost) he explained the various pastries. I bought a quarter of what looks like a pizza sized pie, made out of something between flaky and filo pastry, still warm, and filled with a mildly flavoured mince for €2. Delicious. I think it was called borek, but I am not so good on the memory front, other than the taste sensations. A bottle of ice cold Schweppes bitter lemon at €1.20 to wash it down was perfect, even though Alex tried to persuade me to take a liquid yoghurt drink instead.
We ambled through the town and out towards the ship, but as Paula was still feeling OK (a very positive sign – maybe due to the anti-histamine she had taken earlier?) we turned left and went down towards the marina, then skirting the Old Town again via a small market, before once more, heading up through the Old Town. We bumped into John and Anne Dormer, plus Bev and Ed who joined in Venice, plus David and Joan who have been on all the way. They were enjoying a drink of beer (men) and wine with chopped peaches in it (ladies) and were just awaiting their plate of cheese, ham, olives and a massive basket of bread.
We went through the centre of town again and I succumbed to an excellent cherry ice cream at €1 and Paula had a Nutella flavoured scoop.
A quick photo-stop thanks to Rock and roll experts from last years' cruise, Graham and Linda (who also left Australia on the first half of the World Cruise) before once more, heading back towards the ship.
As we approached, we heard the sounds of local music and wondered where it was coming from. We soon found out. Whilst overlooking the marina/main road across the other side alongside and facing the ship and the small market stalls, a local group were really belting out the sounds, so much so, that it sounded much better bounced off the ship than it did when we stood in front of them, where it was a bit too loud. Two guitars, two accordions and a great selection of local music just capped off a fantastic visit. Like Venice, we had to take our passports with us, but on our return, carrying EU passports, they didn't need stamping. In fact, they didn't even open them and we were just waved through.
Although we had to cancel Jo's tour to the capital, the lake and a castle, we really did have a fantastic day locally and this place rocketed straight up our highlights list, overtaking Crete.
Just to cap off the day, we survived sail-away, then welcomed Mal and Megan to table 7, replacing Dennis and Anthea. To celebrate the occasion, I produced the large box of Thornton's chocolates Stewart and Manu had kindly brought us as a thank you for their trip to Venice. The table were very restrained and only took one each (that wouldn't have happened at home!) so afterwards, when we bumped into Deputy Cruise Director Bernie, she was tempted (easily…) take one as was Marcus. As a thank you to Alex, now back down in the Atrium he and Kiwi Barista Andrew also took one.
Paula survived!!! Hopefully, the anti-histamine has helped. Still coughing, but not feeling as poorly.
Well done Koper. Maybe more ships should visit as they only get about one cruise ship a week, as we know that the other passengers also loved it. They deserve more.
Back to Croatia tomorrow…
No comments:
Post a Comment