Friday 01 OctoberPortoroz - Isola Piran

A much gentler day in store today after the excitement of yesterday. We are going to visit the old towns of Izola and Piran.

On the way to the coach park I pop in to the travel agents to check the spelling of one of the passengers going to Venice and then catch the little bus to Lucia.

We leave the hotel at 10:00 and it is a bit overcast with spots of rain in the air although I am sure the sun will win through in the end.

Izola is only half an hour away and I drop the group in the centre opposite the Post Office saying I will be back at 13:00 to pick them up. I then find a coach park a few hubdred yards up the road. It is now raining.

I am sat on the bus waiting for the rain to stop (I have left my jacket in the hotel) when it seems that the sky is brightening, so I go off for a walk into town. Five minutes into my stroll the rain reappears and I am wet. At least it is warm rain.

I decide to go back to the bus, remembering I have my ski jacket underneath in the locker. I might as well be hot and dry rather than comfortable and wet.

The town is very olde worlde with lots of character and a large harbour. It also has lots of rain which does ruin the image a little. At least there are plenty of restaurants to keep dry in if not many shops.

I return with the coach at 12:45 thinking they would all be waiting to get on to a dry coach but there are not many there. At 13:00 we are five short and I'm reliably informed that they think the departure time is 13:30!

As I'm on a bus stop I move away to the coach park and come back at 13:30 to await the Famous Five (you know who you are!!) who duly turn up very apologetic. I don't mind as we are not exactly on a tight schedule today.

Fifteen minutes later we are dropping seven passengers in Piran before I take the rest back to the hotel. Most of the group visited Piran on Wednesday.

In Piran I can only drop off and pick up at the small bus station and then have to go away and park back in Lucia.

I am picking the Piran people up in two hours at 16:00 so have time to clean the coach ready for the journey home on Sunday. By now it is raining heavily and I am not standing out in that washing a bus that will get dirty again going to and from Piran! I fill up with fuel but there is no tap at the garage to fill up the drinks water. I will have to do it at the hotel.

Two of the seven braved the walk back (a beautiful stroll in sunny weather) while the other five were waiting for me when I returned to Piran. Five minutes later they are back at the hotel and I'm back in Lucia where it is still raining.

The hotel minibus pulls into the coach park to pick up some other drivers but I want to clean the in side of the coach so pass up the opportunity of a lift back, I will catch the bus or walk.

As it is still raining I decide to catch the little bus. You only pay €1 per journey whether you go one stop or all the way to Piran.

Number 3 comes along and I pay my €1 and take a seat. Halfway along the seafront he turns off and stops by the bus stop near the casino. Now I know what to do I stay on the bus. It doesn't turn around but continues up this hill out of Portoroz! Frantically I ring the bell for the next stop but he keeps going and eventually stops way above the town. I do not want to get off here and am about to apologise for ringing the bell when some other passengers alight the bus. I go on to the next stop at the top of the road into Piran and cross over to wait for a bus going the right way!