Piran (Italian Pirano ) is one of Slovenia's most famous towns and it's also said to be the most beautiful. It's also the smallest among the famous old Venetian troika, the bigger ones are Izola and Koper, which I have introduced before. What's so special about Piran? Well, the first thing is obvious: The town was built on a small peninsula. And that historic part is completely intact. You won't find modern buildings in that part of Piran, which is great. When you walk around this town in 2010, you will feel as if you're in the year 1492. Piran is like an open museum.
The interesting thing about Piran is, that its origins are unknown. But every historian agrees, Piran is very very old. The peninsula was already inhabited by Romans in 2nd century BC. The name is said to (most likely) come from Greek "pyrranos", which means "red", because of the red stones commonly found in the town's area (source). The Latin name of Piran was Pyrrhanum (source). From 1283 until 1797 Piran came under the Venetian rule and became a very rich town in this part of Istria through trade. A very important part of life for the people of Piran were the Sečovlje salt works. Many would live in one of the houses there (called fontaniggia) during summer and gather salt and live in the old part of Piran during winter. Piran is also famous for being the birthplace of Giuseppe Tartini, an Italian composer from the 18th century. Piran's main square is named after him.
✰ Our Piran
After the trouble with the hostel, we decided to go back to the old part to do some sightseeing. Luckily there was a bus station near the house we stayed and the buses around 7pm were quite frequent, so we quickly got one and in 15min we were back at the Tartini square.
✰ Our Piran
After the trouble with the hostel, we decided to go back to the old part to do some sightseeing. Luckily there was a bus station near the house we stayed and the buses around 7pm were quite frequent, so we quickly got one and in 15min we were back at the Tartini square.
It started to get dark, so we decided to return back to Tartini square and then take a bus and go home. We walked slowly and took some more photos.
✰ Another blunder
Soon after we finished with sightseeing, we decided to go back. It was already close to 9 pm, so we decided to take the free shuttle bus back to the station near our house. Once on the bus, we wait and wait, but nothing happened. The driver starts to call something and from that conversation I found out that the engine didn't start. It was obvious, that we won't go anywhere with that bus, so we went out and tried to find another. The other one was not a free one, but I had to go inside and ask the driver, if he goes the direction where we wanted to go. But frankly, I wasn't able to tell him where exactly I am staying, because I wasn't really sure where our room was. So there we were, tired and angry. No bus back, the only choice we had was either cab or walking. I wanted to walk, I was strong enough, but my girlfriend urged me to call the girl, who works for the hostel, to ask her friend (the guy who picked us up with the silver BMW), to pick us up again. That made me moody, because I thought she won't help us and I felt awkward to call her. While we walked slowly, wehad an argument over this. I said I'd rather take a cab, but my girlfriend refused, she didn't want to pay. In the end she called that girl and told her our situation, but she only could offer us calling a cab. I knew this will happen, but well, my girlfriend, she likes to try everything before giving up. In the end we decided to walk back. We were mad tired, it took us about 30min uphill and after several discussions we finally reached home. We slept soon after.
In conclusion: All that didn't spoil our impression of Piran. It's a beautiful place. We just weren't lucky with the hostel and unfortunately it was our fault. Next time we'll be smarter, that's for sure. Piran is one of the most beautiful towns in this part of the world and it's definitely worth a visit.. or two.. or three... Come and visit it, too.
My rating of Piran:
Great place for photos ✰✰✰✰✰
Well preserved and clean ✰✰✰✰✰
Toilets, parking, souvenirs ✰✰✰✰✰
Friendly to tourists ✰✰✰✰✰
[All photos by MKL, 2010, except the first]
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