Trieste, Thursday night – Despite crossing three car accidents, one rock landslide, our (my) first flat tire, one road that unexpectadely turned to gravel, and unrelenting surprises of more and more mountain ranges leaving Slovenia towards the sea, we pulled into Trieste after 178km and, oh, just a bit of climbing. Well those hidden surprises made the ride a wee bit longer than our expected 130km calculation; we climbed and descended that talus slope avalanche carrying our bikes (ask Jesse’s poor mui especiale Dino Signori shoes ); we couldn’t find Jesse’s friend’s flat, so we hired a cab to lead us there (he says 20 minutes, we’re there in 5, and he can’t believe we kept up); at the top of each mountain pass we expect to see the Sea, but it’s yet another mountain range; and Franco who we joined from the border to kead us into Trieste (andiamo a Trieste et lei?). And the it’s a big dinner across the bay from Trieste and the Slovenia we just left, with some locals (good for one night of a break from just Jesse and me sharing enough local wine and food for six), mixed with seasaw, minaiture house, and hack translation adventures. Well, we’ll be back in Slo tomorrow to cross into Croatia. So in all, Slovenia was great for cycling, perhaps not as great for traveling. Ciao. It’s Italy, it’s all ok!