In a small village on the Adriatic

As we left the downtown of Trieste, passing into the outskirts of the city, and then passing in quick succession a series of malls and then casino resorts in Slovenia, it was hard not to feel that we were headed for a bit of let down. Trieste had been so magical & charming. Were we headed for a soulless resort on the Adriatic? Fortunately, Piran does seem to be isolated in feeling from the strip development that has come to this coast.

The region has been inhabited for millennia. The Illyrian-Histri tribes lives in the hills up from the sea before the Romans came and settled the area between 178 and 177 BC. Later barbarian tribes such as Avars and then Franks pushed the Romans out. It’s thought that the name Piran comes from either the Greek word “pyrranos,” meaning  “red,” referring to the local stones – or from the Greek word “φωτιά,” meaning “fire,” referring to the fires set by locals on the cape.

The town now has a population of about 4,000 -  but about half of that feels like tourist population. For the most part, the tourist presence isn’t too obtrusive – but of course we are tourists. Many of the tourists are Italians, some Germans, some Russians. The casinos down the road have been built to attract Italians, who face more restrictive gambling laws at home.

We’re hoping to explore the surrounding area in the next few days, using this location as a base. We’ll see. We may just spend the time reading books on the beach.  

Last night we attended a marvelous free concert at the medieval church about 200 feet from our door. An English school chorus was performing a mix of church music – some modern, some medieval or classical. The night was sweet with music.