Day 16: Duino to Prosecco Italy

Our stay in the quiet little coastal town Duino was lovely. Our host prepared us an Italian Breakfast, which typically means sweets and no meat or cheese, but he offered to prepare some scrambled eggs for us. We need all the protein we can get on these long days of walking!

It’s our 14th day on the Alpe Adria Trail. Three more days of walking.

Our trail started out along the Duino Cliffs overlooking the Adriatic Sea.

It was a nice start to the day with lots of places to stop and take in views - we briefly explored a WWI lookout cave along the way.

Anticipating limited lunch options along the trail, we stopped at a tiny market in a strip mall. The friendly grocer sold us soft, pillow-like bread, along with cheese and prosciutto. Before we left, he kindly handed us a few juicy figs as a farewell treat.

Our trail climbed up into a wooded hillside and we’d occasionally pop out in a quiet village. Surprisingly, one of the little villages had a coffee shop. We stopped for a late morning cappuccino.

This handsome fella found a €10 pair of sunglasses to replace the pair he carelessly threw into the woods a few days ago!

Along the path we saw a couple of little amphibians that looked like little mauve snakes on the trail.

Curious about the creature, we Googled and learned that it’s a ‘Slow Worm’—a legless lizard native to the area (more on them here).

Our official trail stop for the night is in the town of Prosecco, however Prosecco doesn’t have any lodging options, so we’re staying in Contovello, just south of Prosecco.

What time did we arrive in Prosecco? GelatO’clock

Contovello was once a medieval fortress perched on the cliffs above the Adriatic, but after centuries of attacks, earthquakes, and time, the walls have disappeared. What remains are tall, old homes with touching walls, and tiny, alley-like streets weaving between them, offering glimpses of the sea below.

We’ve rented a home right in the heart of the village. It’s a beautifully restored place with exposed timber throughout (head bangers), but modern enough to offer a washing machine (yay!).

As a side note, observant blog followers may notice that we seem to wear the same clothes every day. To keep the weight in our packs down, we do, in fact, wear the same ‘trail uniform’ daily. We also have a ‘relax uniform’ for evenings out. We wash and line-dry our trail gear each night. This pro-traveler tip is something we learned from a fellow walker we met on the Coast-to-Coast hike in England a couple of years ago (thanks, James!).

We’re especially gleeful when our host leaves us racks to dry our clothes. This is rare and we often have to improvise clotheslines.

We are limited on places to dine in Contovello and Prosecco, but we managed to find a neighborhood bar that serves prosciutto crudo (meat & cheese trays) and Prosecco.

A perfect meal given that we’d missed our meat and cheese with breakfast!

Tomorrow we’re crossing over the Slovenian border to Lipica. This is where the Lipizzan studs have been raised since the 1500’s. I’m sure we’ll have some stories and history to share about that tomorrow!

Cio for tonight!

Jen & Bob