Portoroz Day 2 (August 19, 2012)
Ralph here. This day was overall pretty low-key. I got in a short run down the hill, along the shore, and back up the hill to our hotel (OK, the ‘up’ part was more of a climb than a run). Lynnae and I then lounged around awhile, enjoying the lifestyle (and views) of the European idle class:
Around noon we walked down to the water to go swimming. Slovenia only has about fifteen miles of coastline, and none of it is beach; instead, there are walkways along the Adriatic Sea with piers and steps into the water. We found a shaded spot along the cement boardwalk where some other tourists had encamped, laid down our belongings, and took the cement steps into the water. [We don’t have any photos because we left our camera behind. We didn’t want to leave it unattended on the shore.]
The seawater was about eighty degrees (Fahrenheit) and extremely salty. I have never been a good swimmer, but it was easy when the water salinity keeps you so close to the surface. We were in and out of the water for a couple hours and, when we started to collect our belongings and decamp, we discovered that my sunglasses had been stolen. While this act of Slavic larceny put me into a foul mood for a while, was really not that big of a deal and ended up being the worst thing that happened to us while on a month’s vacation. [I was just so happy that the cash and credit card we had hidden in our shoes was untouched.]
We headed toward Portoroz’s only mini-golf course, and en route bought ice cream at one of the hundreds of such shops along the few miles of coastline in the town. [The ice cream was delicious and pretty reasonably priced.] The mini-golf course was itself pretty shabby and low-rent: instead of artificial turf, there was uneven cement that ensured every stroke ended with the golf ball wandering in a Markov Chain-inspired tour of the cup’s vicinity. I don’t remember who won, but I’m sure Lynnae does.
We ate dinner [at a nice seaside restaurant] and headed back to our hotel, packed up, and prepared for the next day’s travels back to the mountains of northwest Slovenia.
Our Random Travels 