Mel & Trinity

Fortunately I did say that I had no real plan in mind. Well, I left Italy on Sunday thinking I wouldn’t be back but Guess what, I am.

After it took me a while to navigate myself out of Trieste (there are way too many one way streets), I spent about 4 hours on Monday riding through the western part of Slovenia. I knew nothing about Slovenia so I didn’t know what to expect. Well what a pleasant surprise!

I entered Slovenia in what appears to be their wine country. The scenery was wonderful! I was riding through vineyards and small little villages that were absolutely pristine. I could have been in Switzerland.

This feeling only grew when I rode further north and hit the mountains and lakes. I could feel the excitement welling up inside me. The scenery was breathtaking and the colour of the water so inviting. It was like being in Canada all over again.

I missed the turn off that I had intended to take and found myself heading towards Italy instead of Austria. This cut my time in Slovenia a little short but I still managed to see part of the Triglavski National Park. It is stunning!

Below are some photos of my time in Slovenia.

When I did eventually get to the Austrian border I was in for a bit of a surprise. There were guards patrolling the border crossing. Outside of coming into France and Italy from St Bernard, this was the only time a border crossing had been manned. Most of the borders are unmanned.

I stayed in a town called Spittal an der Drau, which is at the base of the Nock Mountains. The town is lovely, as is the part of Austria that I saw. I didn’t find Austria overwhelming but I did find it incredibly relaxing. I was so chilled out last night you could have knocked me over with a feather. This of course I am sure was aided by all the Ibuprofen tablets I was on.

Unfortunately my right shoulder and upper back have been taking some strain so I’ve been trying to keep my riding jacket off for as long as possible to give my body time to rest. It’s not something that you would normally think about but riding is very physical. Not only do you have the elements to contend with, the wind hitting you the hardest, but my jacket and helmet alone weigh about 4 kilograms. That’s the same as having two 2L bottles of Coke hanging off your shoulders all day. It gets very tiring! I think I need to hit the gym before my next trip in September.

Heading back into Italy today was a pure delight and driving through the Dolomites was breathtaking! I now certainly appreciate all that Italy has to offer. It certainly has a lot to offer.

The photo below was taken on the Jaufen Pass. It’s one of the few passes I had the pleasure to ride today.

Tomorrow the ‘creme de la creme’ of the Italian passes awaits me, namely Stelvio pass. I can’t wait to see it! From there though I need to steer Trinity back towards London, as I have a Eurotunnel ticket booked for around lunchtime on Sunday.

I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!