Rijeka to Trieste a short ride that passes through Slovenia. When I was a few kilometres from the Slovenian border traffic was at a standstill, I thought it was either roadworks or an accident, wrong. After a few minutes 4 bikes came past me overtaking the standing traffic, so I followed. This is a narrow road through the mountains and we were riding on the wrong side of the road ducking between cars when there was oncoming traffic hahaha. Anyway it turned out that there was no accident but this was the queue waiting to cross the border from Croatia into Slovenia which is part of the Schengen area. I crossed at the same point in May last year travelling in the other direction and there was no traffic at all. Apparently the increase in cross border traffic is related to the religious holiday on August 15 with families on both sides visiting relatives. I was later told by someone that they had once waited 8 hours to cross at this border. The other bikes 3 Italian and 1 Austrian slowed down, did not take their helmets off, just flashed their passports and were gone. I had to get my passport stamped to ensure my entry into Schengen was recorded so I stopped and took my helmet off, no questions asked, off again in 2 minutes. After that the border between Slovenia and Italy was unattended, just keep going. Distance 73km in 1:33hrs.

Trieste – an interesting city that was once part of the Austrian Empire, with many Piazza’s and its own unique approach to coffee. It is also home to the Barcolana Regatta, the biggest sailing event in the world attracting 2,689 boats last year. Bus is the best way to get around and Moovit is the App to have, a single ride costs 1.35 euro or you can buy passes for longer periods.

Castello di San Giusto – the highest point in the city, I took the bus to get here.

Udine – day trip, I took the bus there and the train back.

Muggia – day trip, I took the ferry there and the bus back.

I decided to exercise my bike and went for a ride to ……

Palmanova – a very interesting town when looked at from above, click on the link to see what I mean.

Aquileia – the whole floor of the church is covered in intricate mosaics dating back to the 4th century AD.

Grado – a seaside resort town

Sanctuary Montegrisa – this place is on top of the hills overlooking Trieste and can be seen from miles around but apparently it is not on the tour bus itineraries.