Back aboard the ship and before we left Trieste,we discovered the beautiful looking yacht moored near our ship that we had been admiring all day, belonged to a Russian oligarch. It is Europe’s largest sailing yacht valued at 580 million dollars and has been seized as part of the western world’s sanctions agains the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ruthie closed the curtains and said goodnight to Trieste, Italy. The next day I opened the curtains and said good morning to Koper, Slovenia. The waters were calm and it was like being in a lift between floors except it was countries! Amazing. That’s what this leg of the cruise is like. Another day, a different country. Tomorrow it’s Croatia.

Our choice for today is a half day food tasting tour – the hop taste tour. Just like a hop on hop off bus but with tastings when you get off! Our drive to our first stop showed this country to be very clean and civilised. The bus stopped in the village of Mareziga.

A very pretty village in the hills with beautiful views back over the harbour. Most residents seem to own a bit of land and grow their own grapes for winemaking and or olive trees for the oil. I did say it was a food tasting tour but instead I was drinking a very nice red wine from the region at 10:30 in the morning. Ruthie had a Chardonnay. We served ourselves from taps on the wall.

The bus then took us through the town of Izola for a photo opportunity. Up on the hill we looked back upon Izola. The view also allowed us not only to see this Slovenian town but also the countries of Italy and Croatia. It was a very busy little tourist town worth exploring.

Back to Koper for our “food tour” to continue. We’ve been trying to sample something from each region that we visit. The bus section was complete and now we were walking through the streets of old town Koper. Today’s sampling was wine, donuts, cookies, pasta, tapas, Limoncello, Teranino (red wine liquor) and more wine. Phew!

Koper is a combination of old and new. Throughout the centuries, it has been influenced by various cultures, including the Venetians, Austrians, and Yugoslavs. Slovenia gained independence in 1991 after a 10 day war.

Travel is such a great education. The Lion symbol from Venetian times has a book – open for peace times or closed with a sword between its paws if at war. Koper has a really nice vibe about it, modern but historic as well. It is very safe and not too busy. Koper, Slovenia had never been on my travel radar. In fact only in the last few days have I learnt that it is a coastal town and municipality located in southwestern Slovenia, along the Adriatic Sea. It is certainly worth a visit if you’re in the area.