Hiking the Alpe Adria Trail: Day 34

It was distinctly cooler when I left today at about 8:30: ideal hiking weather in fact, in the low 20s. The sun was behind the clouds almost all day, and for a short time I was even treated to some light drizzle. It really was a pleasure to walk in and so much easier than some of the conditions I’ve struggled in recently.

The route left Sistiana passing by road through a series of little villages- Slivia (near the cave I visited yesterday), San Pelagio and Prepotto – before taking a stony wide track through the woods. Woodland walking was going to be the theme of the day- in fact walking on tracks through forests and woods has been the one real constant throughout my five weeks on the trail.

After the tantalising view of the Adriatic on the Rilke path yesterday, the trail went inland again today, and I could only occasionally see the sea in the distance to my right. Tomorrow I will return to the coast for a while before the route heads inland one final time to take a big clockwise loop around Trieste, from north west to south west, ending in Muggia.

Once leaving the road today the only people I saw all day on the hike were some mountain bikers, probably following a similar route to me. But whenever I left the woods for a little spell walking through the villages, I was barked at by dog after dog. Almost every house and garden appeared to have an ‘Attenti Al cane’ (Beware of the dog? ) sign, and as soon as one stopped barking another started. Thankfully, the gardens here almost always have big fences and gates and I didn’t encounter any animals running loose. Also often the big barks turned out to be quite little dogs.

To be honest it was largely an uneventful day, but none the worse for that. My biggest difficulty was I didn’t really have much in the way of lunch as I’d had little success finding supermarkets open to buy anything the last few mornings. So after finishing my last couple of muesli bars, I was keen not to dawdle too long.

After a final long stretch of walking in the woods, I finally emerged in the town of Prosecco- the Prosecco of sparkling wine fame. Here I had to wait half hour or so for a bus, in the company of a lively group of young Pakistani men, who helped me confirm I was at the right bus stop. By the time I got off at Opicina I was beginning to feel really hungry, so I asked at reception where the nearest supermarket was. The receptionist seemed surprised at me asking and told me it was twenty minutes out of town, before saying, but there is ‘Gigi’s’, almost as if it was secret known only to locals.

I asked where that was and was told head for the church and it’s tucked away in an alley behind. The sign doesn’t say ‘Gigi’s’, it’s just everyone knows it as that after the original owner, who died many years ago. So I headed off, and luckily bumped into someone who spoke English and pointed me to it, because I would never have found it otherwise.

Imagine the joy I had when I opened the door to see rows of fruit and veg (try shopping when you’re hungry). So I started loading up my basket, and then I thought I had better get some bread. This was when I found out that no-one was in any sort of hurry. The bakery, butchers and deli were all at one counter, and there was nowhere you could just pick up some bread without going there. You had to pick a ticket up as if you were in an NHS waiting room queuing for a blood test. And I thought, I’m going to be here that long just trying to get two rolls. People were asking for two slices of this meat, and a slice of that cheese as if they had all day. Someone appeared to be having a massive cheese party.

The checkout was no quicker. I don’t know how they bear it here: it makes a five minute trip to the supermarket like a day out. But patience is a virtue, as they say. Needless to say the shop is shut on Sundays so I made sure I have enough for the next couple of days as who knows when I may see my next bread roll otherwise. Maybe I should just sneak one or two out from the breakfast table in my pocket in the future.