A Pinch of Piran

25/10/2020 Seamus Comments 0 Comment

Piran Salt Flats

Even for a bird brain like me, it didn’t take long to figure out why Portorož is such a popular tourist resort. It has plenty of long and flat stretches of coastline, a rarity in Slovenia. No wonder the seafront is full of bars, restaurants – and beaches of course. It was by far one of the busiest spots we’d visited. Happily, we were still able to stroll along without having to fight our way through the hordes of tourists that no doubt pack the beaches here during a normal, non-Covid summer season.

Person sitting on bench near tree on seafront, blue sky above. Piran, Slovenia

The walk along the seafront towards Piran is wonderful, with bits of Croatia clearly visible on one side and bits of Italy on the other. I don’t suppose there are many places you can do that. Take a coast walk in one country while simultaneously looking across the bay at not one, but two other countries!

Piran is very different to Portorož. In fact, it’s a whole different kettle of fish. Perched out in the water on the tip of a peninsula, it cannot boast the long beaches of its neighbour. But it certainly is full of charm and character, with its wonderful harbour, town square and ancient buildings, many of which date back to Venetian Republic. And boy, the views from the top of the hill are just magnificent!

Seamus the Seagull in foreground on seafront, old town and harbour in background, Piran, Slovenia

Tied up in all that ancient history is a simple staple: salt. You don’t have to be here very long before you realise the importance of salt to Piran. In fact, Piran and salt are practically synonymous, with the tradition of salt production here going back no less than twelve hundred years.

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I must say that all that talk about salt aroused my curiosity. I mean, we seabirds have glands and ducts in our heads that extract salt from seawater automatically. We basically have our own built-in water desalination plants. So how do you humans manage to extract salt from the sea? And how come it’s so important to you? All was revealed when we took a trip out to the salt flats at Sečovlje.

Our first stop was at the Museum of Salt-Making which is set in middle of all those salt pools. The displays, photos and videos tracing the history of the industry were fascinating. I couldn’t believe all the trouble you humans go to just for a bit of salt! Over the centuries you have worked extremely hard for it, made – and lost – fortunes from it and even fought wars over it.

Seamus the Seagull standing in large flat wooden shoe with matching shoe behind him, Piran Salt Flats, Slovenia — If the shoe fits…

I noticed that all the hand tools used by the salt-makers are wooden. Even their shoes are wooden! Apparently, this is because wood withstands the damaging effects of salt better than other materials. But you can still see how the salt eats into the wood over time, often leaving weird and wonderful patterns where only the grain of the wood is left behind.

parts of wooden construction eroded by salt, Piran Salt Flats, Slovenia

I was delighted to meet some of the locals at the museum.

Seamus the Seagull standing on stand with large cutout of heron, four other seabirds on stands to left and right, Museum of Salt-Making, Piran Salt Flats, Slovenia

The most common birds on the salt flats are the little egrets. With their brilliant white plumage, long black legs and bright yellow feet, they are certainly easy to spot. Right little show-offs, they are! I had to envy them, having the run of the salt flats with dozens of shallow pools with plenty of easy pickings at their disposal. That’s the life!

The Oldies had their bikes with them and they even ventured out along part of the Parenzana, a 127km cycle trail running from Italy through Slovenia and into Croatia. When I say “part”, I mean it. They can hardly have covered more than 10km of the trail. At least the cycle, short and all as it was, gave me the opportunity to catch a rare action photo of one half of the Dynamic Duo.

Man with beard wearing dark shirt and orange shorts, sunglasses and cycling helmet, cycling across bridge through fields, village with cypress trees in background, Parenzana cycle trail near Piran, Slovenia — Action Man

Now, Herself was adamant that she’d have carried on for miles if it hadn’t been for the fact that the trail leads over the Croatian border which they couldn’t cross due to the Covid restrictions. Yeah. Sure. I took that with a pinch of salt!

As we returned to the salt flats, I noticed a Piranske Soline (Piran Salt) van with the slogan,“Salt is the sea that could not return to the sky.”

Side of van decorated with photo of salt-makers harvesting salt, slogan below: Salt is the sea that could not return to the sky, Piran Salt Flats, Slovenia

I like that. It’s nice to know that we can bring a little bit of the sea with us wherever we go. So I was particularly pleased when His Lordship bought 5kg of the stuff at the Piran Salt Flats as a takeaway. Even better, he soon put it to good use in his latest culinary concoction back at the campsite.

Now there’s a guy who’s worth his salt!