Around 8:00 in the morning we were hearing the footsteps of Vangelis, preparing his luggage. Around 9:00 we heard him saying: “Guys, have a nice journey… I’m leaving”. Today was the day that we would split. Nikos & Ploutonas would return slowly to Venice to get the boat back to Greece, while Vangelis would be heading to Romania and especially Bucurest, where he would meet the two other members of the club, Manolis and Ploumisti. The reason was that Vangelis had 2 more weeks of leave, while Nikos and Ploutonas only one..!
We got our breakfast to the restaurant and saluted each other. Around 11 we headed towards Izola, at the coastline of Slovenia. The route was very straight-forward, following Autostrada A1 until the end and after paying the appropriate tolls, costing 5,6€.
Near Izola, we met a few Slovenian motorcyclists with Ducati. I reached one of them and asked him for information on what would his choice be, concerning the beaches. He sent us to Simos Beach. Reacing the place, we booked a room in a 4 star hotel, which was very nice. Like a true paradise, full of palmtrees, a swimming pool, right on the beach with a magnificent view, for 74€ the two-bed room, breakfast included! Right after settling our luggage, we went to the beach. Pure panic!! Lots of people on the beach and on the lawn enjoying the sun. On the contrary, the sea was not at her best. Maybe the weather made the sea look so pale and dirty, but once we saw the whole situation, we didn’t even think on swimming there.
Dissapointed by the sea, we found ourselves enjoying a coffee at the bar. Once there, we started discussing with some girls, in order to inform us about the surrounding area. They suggested us to go to Portoroj, 5 kilometers from our place. Portoroj is considered by many on of the most popular beaches in Slovenia, with lots of hotels and casinos by the sea.
Once we got there, after our coffee, the sea was at the same condition as Isola. As for the crowd, the whole beach, the stands and the beachbars were over-crowded. We decided to sit and eat at a restaurant by the sea, which costed only 30€ in total!! Right after the lunch, we headed back to our hotel in order to rest for a few hours, so that we would be “fresh” in the night. Once again , we found ourselves caught in an event ! Around 10 in the night, people started coming to the beach in front of our hotel. The hotel was arranging concerts with local bands, every Saturday night.
The entrance fee was 5€ per person (25% discount since we were hotel residents). We bought beers and sat at a bench in order to watch the show. The place was full of youths, drinking and dancing continuously.
A group of girls, in between 17-18 came to sit, right next to us, where we (naturally) initiated the discussion with them. Once they learnt where we came from, the were overjoyed, because, as they’ve explained to us, once they finish school in Slovenia, they always arrange for a 5-days tour, in Ios or Crete. Meanwhile, the party was keeping up the pace all the way. Around 3 am the music stopped, where we finally decided to return to our hotel, in order to get some sleep.