Day 121 – EU – Slovenia/Croatia [Hrusica to Rijeka]

22/06/20

41.5km

  From Hrusica (Slovenia) to Rijeka (Croatia)

Europe

A summery run down the mountain and into Croatia

I left the pension of Patrik’s this morning with a happy feeling. This little Pension, which couples with a bar, a tennis court, a camping and other activities, is literally a foyer of life in the middle of nowhere. A very surprisingly friendly atmosphere.

As I rounded back from my walk yesterday afternoon, I got invited to chat with some locals, including Patrik’s father, a well traveled man who speaks in 8 different languages! I notice how it’s in the smallest of places that it is the easiest to meet people.

Within 8km of my run I crossed the border into Croatia – I have crossed Slovenia at its narrowest. The road was very similar to yesterday, very green, mountainous, foresty – and not very busy with traffic.

Rijeka is down at sea level, meaning I had quite a lot of downhill to go through. The city was surprisingly quiet as I arrived. I wondered why – then found out today is a local public holiday dedicated to the martyrs of fascism (“anti-facists struggle day”, marking the uprising of Croatian anti-fascist Partisans against the German and Italian occupying forces in 1941 – the 1st movement of resistance in Europe).

It made me less guilty about napping most of the afternoon today! I have had issues with my sleep pattern lately and been lacking in sleep. I should get back to where I was prior to the lockdown, which was a healthy 9 to 10 hours of sleep a day (including a short nap).

The Adriatic Coast looks beautiful, at least the little I could see of it today. Looking forward to the next three weeks or so, which will see me running down the coastline.

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: