I was woken up by the birds as usual and also because my back was stuck to my mat. It seems even if you're clean and dry, a nights sleep in a small tent with Italian humidity will soon turn you into gloop. I got up and had my second shower in 2 days! What's that all about? It was like I was a normal person living a 9 till 5 lifestyle! Then I realised I had to put all my clothes on a 3 legged stool. Clothes strategically placed in the order of which I needed first as not to pull the t-shirt from the bottom and risk the other clothes dropping on the floor and getting wet. Those of you that have used showers in campsites will know exactly what I'm on about, others...well you haven't lived! Not unless you've found yourself fighting with a dying crane fly whilst soaping yourself. I also had to prioritise what parts of the body are most important to be dry. This is because in my infinite wisdom of travelling as light as I possibly can, I chose a towel that dries 10 times quicker than your regular Union Jack beach towel but its only 2 feet by 1 foot at most! So shins, arms and face got the good old fashioned air dry as i jogged back to the tent.
The sun was out early and I had a really good feeling about the day as I had a road buddy to take the near misses for me! Not really, if anything Serge would right off most the tiny typical italian fiat panda/punto cars running around, as his bike is more like a train. We had a quick breakfast, Serge had a banana and a kiwi fruit with a bowl of cereal and I had a few packets of Ritz-esque crackers and a couple of fingers of Nutella from the pot! If you haven't guessed it by now, despite it being Serge's first time cycle touring, he has got all the gear and still living the life of luxury. I'm trying my best to slowly bring him down to the standards he will experience later on though so don't worry about that. After breakfast we had a race to see who could pack away their things the fastest. Good training I thought for when you wake up in a field or orchard like I have previously, to a disgruntled farmer readying his shotgun. Survival of the fittest or fastest in this case. Serge had no clue about the race because I didn't tell him but I was fully aware that I had to be packed and ready before him. Sure enough I won, as Nigel was ready and waiting for at least 10 minutes whilst we watched the Spanish Tetris champion fit an Asda Walmart into his trailor. I let Serge lead the way, I had the choice of either being chief navigator but taking the headwind full in the face or slipstreaming behind the guy in front and risk being the first to get hit by a car. I thought about it for a second but couldn't concentrate as the wind was so strong and so decided to slipstream my way to Trieste.
Although it was nice to have somebody to cycle with it didn't really change things on the road. We couldn't talk as not only was the wind so strong but there were no really wide cycle paths like in Switzerland. I just had the view of Serge's backside instead of the open road. At times it felt like playing real life Mario cart because when I followed to closely behind I couldn't see the potholes coming and would have to dodge them at the last minute as if serge was dropping banana skins. That kept me entertained until I hit one and then I decided it probably wasn't the best game to play with Nigel. I thought it would be interesting to see how both our bikes fair in a "Top Gear" review. Serge's bike has a couple of batteries and a trailor that could be mistaken for a caravan but built like a tank. Nigel on the other hand is quick and nimble but sometimes feels like he has the strength of a prawn cracker.
We arrived in Trieste in good time considering the wind and stopped for a quick snack in a big courtyard in the city centre in front of a statue. Both of us got quite a lot of attention. Serge's bike maybe got a few more photos taken of him then Nigel did but I told Nigel if he had speakers on his handlebars like Serge's did then he would just look like he had big ears and he would get bullied.
As we left Trieste to head for Slovenia I wanted to find a pizzeria so I could say that I've had a pizza from Italy. We cycled for a few miles and bumped into a cyclist at some traffic lights who was on a road bike and wearing a back pack. When the lights were red he asked me how to get to Croatia whilst pointing towards mainland Italy. I turned him around and told him to follow us as he had to get through Slovenia first! Max is 21 from Germany but studying in Austria and decided to go for a ride alone during his summer holiday. His backpack weighed about 25kg and he was wearing cord shorts with deck shoes. His bike was old and squeaked as it rained a lot when he rode it across the Alps like myself and he had no helmet and clearly no sense of direction but was absolutely hilarious and a top bloke. He was fascinated with what myself and Serge were doing and before we knew it we were a group of 3 crazy cyclists causing havoc on the roads of Muggia. When we were cycling along the coast i felt great. It suddenly dawned on me that i had cycled from England to the Adriatic coastline! It was definitely a proud moment and i experienced a smell i hadn't smelt since waking up next to a homeless man in Dover! Still in search of a pizzeria we ended up at the Slovenian border. I had missed my chance for an Italian pizza as all the restaurants along the way were closed. Max told me Slovenian pizza was better anyway so we eventually found a restaurant to all eat together in Ankaran just inside Slovenia. I had a pizza and Max was right, it was decent, not as good as the beer though. Max was going to head into Croatia and I had previously planned to stay one more night with Serge in a campsite which he had found in Ankaran. Max was much faster than us anyway, travelling really light but unbelievably still carrying a lot of weight on his back. I oiled up his squeaky bike and he rode off towards his 3rd country in one day! It really is crazy who you meet in the cycling world! I joked to Serge saying that the campsite was opposite the restaurant and after cycing for 10 seconds it became apparent I was actually right. No complaints about the campsite though, 4 star job, very busy, on the coast, 50m pool, bowling lanes, health spa, supermarket and a few fairground rides. All this for 13 euros each, which I justified to myself because I recently worked out that in the last 3 weeks I've averaged 7 euros a day! Not bad considering Switzerland and Italy are included in that. One thing that did play on my mind during payment was, yeah but do you provide toilet paper? We got set up and I went to see if Slovenian campsites,even though only a couple of miles away, had progressed from Italy into providing paper. I hesitantly pushed open the door and peered around to the side. Get in! Amazingly they had! It was only a "one sheet at a time" dispenser but it was better than a shower/spray combination. Then I actually took time to look at the toilet and I struggled with this as the toilet was non existent. "Why does every trip to the loo in this part of the world have to be some sort of challenge from the Crypton factor?!"
Again it was a hole with two islands like the second stage from the Italian toilet yesterday. At least in Italy they had something to sit on, no seat but you had something between yourself and the ground. I found myself riding an invisible horse with thighs aching after I don't know, 22 days of cycling with just one rest day! How do old people do this without getting stuck? There wasn't even any handles! This clearly affected me and so I brought it up with Serge. He shared the same views as me but is an experienced visitor of Asia so is used to the whole thing. I guess it's just another thing preparing me for the wonders of Africa.
We went for a bit of a swim but the pool was salt water so i could've just jumped in the Adriatic Sea. Not a fan of using salt to purify pools so just tried to even up my horrendous tan lines I've acquired from wearing cycling mitts everyday.
After this I explained to Serge the concept of treating yourself and how I do it to keep myself going or to say well done. I bought myself 6 beers and he bought himself some asparagus and a gas bottle refill, I think I need to work on the translation. I had another monstrous serving of pasta and as the sun set we stepped out onto the coast to look out and take in what we had both achieved so far. A beautiful glow lined the horizon and I would've captured it in a heartbeat but it seems my camera is broken so no award winning shots I'm afraid. The horrible thing didn't even last 3 weeks so I will have to be buying myself a cheaper replacement otherwise I will have nothing to show when I get back! Anyway, there was a bit of a moment for both of us individually. We both have our reasons for such epic journeys and tonight was great to take a step back for once and actually take it all in. These blogs are brilliant for me but it seems time is running away too quickly and even though I can't wait to get to South Africa and get back to show every one the things I've kept back from the blog, I'm scared I'm just waking up to get to the next place.
Unfortunately I will be saying goodbye to Serge tomorrow I think, as he is planning on following the whole coastline and I'm not really fussed about more rocks and salt water. I will take his cycling philosophy of stopping every hour with me though and try to implement it into my daily plan. That way I can take more in, make more observations, meet more people and hopefully enjoy it EVEN more!
After all, just like life, this is about the journey, not the destination.
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