I learned of Parenzana’s existence following a gift on my birthday. Knowing of their passion for cycling, they gave me a guide book for the Parenzana cycle route, on the route of an old disused Austro-Hungarian railway from Trieste to Parenzo (Porec). During our short vacation in July we traveled the first part of the Parenzana or rather the Slovenian part, leaving out the Italian part as it starts a short distance from the border and having now lost the traces of the old route in the midst of new roads and buildings various. We do not follow the temporal sense, as we made our base in Piran and therefore, in two days, we did the route to the south and the route to the north, returning to the hotel in the evening. Throughout Istria, the Venetian influence is evident both in the urban layout and in the oldest monuments of each historic center. The Austro-Hungarian influence is evident in the palaces of power built in the 19th century, functional buildings as evidence of Austrian efficiency. So ideally we start from Koper, which I had always only seen passing through the highway and I have always snubbed it thinking it was only a modern city. On the contrary, the center of Koper is very interesting, stepped on a small hill, with ancient monuments. The Da Ponte fountain is interesting, with an evident Venetian influence which, as a decorative element, depicts a bridge, an evident reference to the Venetian bridges, as if it were crossing a canal.
Fontana Da Ponte a Koper-Capodistria Piazza della Cattedralethe square of the Cathedral in Romanesque style of the XII century, with the Loggia and the Palazzo Pretorio, all in evident Venetian Gothic style of the XV century.
Il palazzo pretorio La Rotonda di San Giovanni Battista, battisteroNear the cathedral, the Rotonda di San Giovanni Battista, also in Romanesque style, was the baptistery reopened in 2019 only for guided tours.
Fontana alla Porta di MudaNear the Porta di Muda built in 1500, the only one left of the 12 that were around the city, a fountain allowed those who arrived to quench their thirst.
Antichi stemmi di Venezia sulla porta di Palazzo Pretorio Anonymous letterbox against the misdeeds of those in power and against illegal sowing or smuggling of tobacco and counterfeiters of the city FraticelloLeaving Koper, after passing the huge park and sports area with beaches and bathing establishments, we take the seafront, with almost completely forbidden traffic, in which even bicycles have a limit of 20 per hour, which will take us in 5 km to the town of Isola. We photograph a little friar and a cormorant all intent on drying their feathers.
CormoranoIn Isola we pass through the town and Cri poses near the stairs of the Conservatory.
Conservatorio di IzolaClimbing the hills, penetrating them through tunnels, at the edge of cultivated sinkholes, we arrive in Piran at our hotel inside the walls.
The following day we sail to the Croatian border via the Sečovlje salt pans. The Parenzana begins in Portorož, but in Lucia we had some difficulty in understanding where the old railway passed. We climbed several hills to then understand that we had to follow the seashore by entering a campsite that we considered private property.
Salina di SiccioleBeyond the campsite, a beautiful pebble beach but, alongside the magnificently feared meadows where you can play and sunbathe.
We arrive in Sečovlje, known for its salt marshes with also a hotel with spa treatments. We flank the salt flats on a beautiful and relaxing track but under a scorching sun. We come out at the border where, due to Covid, it has been no longer possible for a few days to pass without quarantines and other bureaucratic aspects. We stop to eat in a kiosk where they ask us if we want to eat pork on the spit as it was done today. The hunger was there and we went into it even if, honestly, it is not exactly what my doctor would have advised me to eat, but there was no label indicating saturated fat, so I was in compliance.
Vecchie costruzioni che servivano ai lavoratori delle saline di Sicciole Verso l’estuario della Dragogna nelle saline di SiccioleBy asking the border guards, we managed to cross the Slovenian border without crossing the Croatian one, and we went along dirt roads on the right side of the Dragogna up to its outlet into the sea, so we remained at the extreme limit of the salt pans, being able to enjoy a unique peace and solitude, it would never have occurred to anyone to stay in no man’s land.
Salina di SicciolePhotos of various birds, for the real shy face, and of the buildings, now collapsed, which were used for processing and for the workers of the salt pan.
Salina di SiccioleWe return and at the border they motion us to pass without even checking us, evidently they remembered our request. We return to Piran not without other stops, especially to fill a bag of “amoli” and eat them at home. I was dubious about the word but, in this case, it is absolutely appropriate to call them that and not wild blackberry or plum. Dinner in our hotel with a lot of “pocetti” (tasty dishes)