What a day we had today - it was very emotional and an exciting day for me. We left Malfalcone early and headed for Slovenia. We stopped in Opacino, the town that dad grew up in. His father manned the railway crossing- the main one between Italy and Yugoslavia. We stopped at his school and also the place where his house used to be. We stopped for a while and dad and Paolo talked about their experiences and adventures. They lived in Opacino between 1936-1941. We left Opacino and went over the border to Posethumia. This is about 30 km inside the Slovenian border, and this city house a 22 km long cave system that allows visitors to go underground and see the beautiful stalactites and stalagmites. We travelled underground for about 2 km then walked for about another 1.25 km before catching the train back to the surface. We did this trip with dad when I was 10 years old, it was fascinating then, but even better now. Dad and Paolo stayed because they couldn't walk too far but I walked out. It was a fantastic experience.
After we finished in the cave, we had some lunch at the restaurant and then left and headed back to the border. We drove into Trieste and passed their old house. We stopped and took pictures, but the house was on a hill but behind a wall. It overlooked the port and town of Trieste. We stayed for a while, again sharing stories about their childhood. A lady pulled up at the fate and dad and Paolo told her that they used to live in the house. She invited us in to have a look around. The old boys were telling her about how they remembered the house, their chores and how they used to bring water from the well. We spent about an hour at the old house before taking a tour around Trieste. Dad told me about all the places that he used to go as a kid, and all the things he used to get up to.
After a drive around Trieste, we finally made it to Zia Gina's sisters place. There we had coffee with Nerida, and spent about 45 minutes with her.
Back on the road and we drove by the port area and then took the coast road back to Malfalcone. We arrived back just before 7.00 pm, just in time for ciena-dinner! We had bean soup and seafood, cheese and fruit. More than enough four any person to eat in one day!
We went back to the hotel and whilst I type my travel blog dad is snoring contentedly in the bed next to me. Overall, a great day!