We had a bit of rain first thing in the morning with a torrential downpour. We waited until it had all gone and then got not our bikes. We had a lovely ride down the hill then along the flat esplanade – a total of 9km. By the time we got there it was lunchtime so we found a well reviewed restaurant Gostilna Pri Tinetu. It is a restricted menu but at a very reasonable price.

We had grilled squid, sausage in lentil stew and beef goulash with gnocchi- all very good.

We then went to check out the town of Koper.

We went round the back streets and found the back of the aquarium.

We arrived at the old square on the harbour to find a stone well transported from Venice in the 1400s – I’m sure across the top of the Adriatic. The statue is Carpaccio – a famous Venetian artist who lived here in the 1400s.

There is also a large open building that was originally a salt warehouse and then a taverna, now an events location.

Walking around the water’s edge we found a big swimming area right next to the cruise ship area and commercial harbour – all a bit close for my liking.

We walked along the docks which were also the old city walls. We found a small lovely square with lots of seats dedicated to Vergerio, an author then became a representative of the pope. He created a Slovenian language version of the Bible. You have to behave yourself here!

We then found the oldest cafe in Slovenia – The Loggia – from 1850. It’s still looking good.

The next building was Koper cathedral containing many of Carpaccios paintings and the largest organ in Slovenia. The artwork in churches here is impressive.

There were Venetian influences in many buildings.

We found the square next to the most impressive gate in the city walls.

It’s from around 1850 after the original gate was destroyed. Next to it is an older bit of the city walls with an auxiliary gate.

Koper used to be an island so there was a bridge leading to the gate from the mainland. There was originally a Venetian fort on the bridge to collect tolls but it was destroyed by the Austro Hungarians.

The Da Ponte fountain next to it is the last station of the aqueduct, which supplied the city with water. It looks very like the Rialto bridge.

We then went to collect our bikes and cycle back to Izola.

We had another lovely ride along the cycle track. Glenn and I then went to visit the Roman villa remains – only open on weekend evenings.

We enjoyed seeing the mosaics – but some were still covered to protect them.

The house was a holiday house for a rich family from a Roman city. It was connected to a large harbour that can still be seen today. The ground has sunk due to tectonics around here so it’s below water. The jetty was used to build a modern jetty on top.

It’s thought that ships came here for the high quality Slovenian wine. I can verify that it’s still high quality!

Glenn and I then found the Parenzana cycle track to get a gradual route up the hill to the campsite. We went through another tunnel and had a more pleasant ride up the hill.

It was our last evening with Sean and Lisa and our last evening in Izola. It was very momentous as Sean finished off the box of red wine that has been going for what seems like ever.

We played 5 crowns again . After a lot of ups and downs Sean won the game – and then we decided to play a second game. After lots of swings back and forward I was the winner!

It was a fun last night in Izola.