6 Seaside Parking at Opatija

Heading back to Croatia, we waved goodbye to gorgeous Lake Bled then plotted a 3-hour course for the Adriatic. I wondered if I would ever travel to Slovenia again. Perhaps we were supposed to purchase a vehicle pass as one tour-guide book advised but we didn’t stop to ask. We crossed the border without incident with Dave and I in the front seat looking like we were in charge and the girls in the back looking like they were happy to have the guys be in charge. Oh! Got another passport stamp.

Our first coast sighting was amazing. We exited the autobahn high above the Sea looking down toward the inlet shores where the romantic city of Opatija resides. The view was a postcard we’ve all seen of some exotic location for the rich and famous and we were holding reservations for the Grand Belleview Hotel right on the waterfront. Parking was a premium so I engaged the flashers to drop off my mates and our luggage. I then carried on down a windy shoreline oneway street hunting for an open space to bed Opel. One block, two blocks, three blocks, half-mile later I found a lot with a few blue spaces. I dropped some coins in the meter and hiked back. When I arrived at the hotel, I found Petey lying down in a prime parking spot trying to hold it open for my return. Like a traveler shooing away starving vultures after a fallen companion she was fending off hungry parkers vying for prime parking real estate. “Too late,” I said, “I already ‘coined’ a spot.” Bummer.