Piran: Pilfering Pirates, Cute Cats and Tourist Traps

The town of Piran is firmly located on the tourist map, but with good reason. Accessible only by foot (the town itself being fully medieval with tiny winding alleyways) there was a small and rather full carpark at the top of the hill (which led to some slightly illegal parking by us) and from there a beautiful view of the town spread out before us. Piran is of course an old town, with a long history; but the thing I liked most about it was its name. Piran makes me think of a pirate port, and interestingly enough the Illyrian tribes that once resided in these hills were notorious pirates who disrupted Roman trade! (Take that, Romans!) In typical Roman fashion however, this town was soon incorporated into the Roman Empire.  

Meandering down the steep hill to enter into the town itself afforded us some splendid views as we ended up by the church overlooking the ocean on one side, and the town on the other. Not only that but upon beginning our descent into the actual town itself, we meandered the most gorgeous and quaint alleyways imaginable. This far out from the city city, all was quiet. 

It was beautiful, like something out of a storybook or travel brochure- not something you ever expected to see with your own eyes. It was also however, crawling with people the further into the city we got. Although strolling the waterfront and taking in the clear blue sea (making me very tempted for a spontaneous swim regardless of being fully clothed) was extremely pretty, we were pushing through throngs of people to do so, which was rather less fun. 

Our struggle with the overflow of tourism got to such a point that as we lamented the fact that we hadn't come at a quieter time of day, we decided to do just that and return at an ungodly hour in the morning to experience Piran properly. This would give us the opportunity to wander at will with only ourselves and the copious amounts of hanging washing across alleyways to keep us company. 

 

One hellish sleep later (not only was the campsite expensive but we were banished to a ledge surrounded by bush: hello swarms of mosquitoes!) we forced ourselves up at some ungodly dark hour, but it was worth it. The town was deserted, the sun just rising, and not a tourist in sight, only a few sleepy locals setting about opening their cafes. Walking the town like this presented a far different view from the night before, more tranquil and it truly felt like a medieval town rather than a tourist trap. 

Being out and about so early had other perks too, namely cats. We saw a fair number that must have been hiding somewhere and quailing from the hordes of tourists the night before (as all intelligent creatures would). This one as was adorable and soft, but more interested in staring at Yannick than posing for my photograph.