Slept and strengthened with an excellent breakfast with cereal, fresh fruit, egg with various hams, mountain cheese, hard cheese, dolce, special teas, pizza, and much more, we only set off around 10.30 am in cloudy skies, but dry road. Out of the city we go to an old acquaintance, the Soca, which here in Italy is called Isonzo. After the rain of the last few days it has flooded, has turned brown and has become a raging river. In the background you can see the mountains of Friuli - white full of fresh snow. What luck we are that we have already passed the high mountains, because we are not prepared for snow and cold. From our first stage destination of the day, Monte S. Michele, a hard-fought mountain of world war I, we can take the first look at the Adriatic Sea. It is already crass, to the northeast you can see the first snow on the peaks of the mountains, which were still within reach a few days ago and in the southwest already the Adriatic coast with you city of Trieste, which we will visit in five days at the end of our Alpe Adria trailer. The view from this monte is gigantic, even with some clouds on the horizon. After the panorama it goes downhill down the karst, again and again a view of the sea.What do you think when you imagine the Karst Mountains? - This is exactly how I have gone, rugged, white-grey, holey-porous rock structure with caves and crevices and Winnetou comes to mind first at the karst. But at this stage we can convince ourselves that the karst is anything but barren. The low forest is characterized by a bushlandscape, white limestones and limestone rocks, as well as the very fertile "terra rosso". So a colourful path accompanies us to our stopover in Lamiano. Actually we should have passed a lake "Lago di Doberdo", but unfortunately the trail from the village Doberdo deli Largo has not only been badly or not signposted at all, but has also been changed in the route. In a Bona Natura we climb not only over fallen trees, but also over electric fences. A real adventure. After almost seven hours we reach our Hotel Pahora. After the warm shower there is a delicious fresh roast with fried potatoes and Mediterranean vegetables for dinner. In addition, a good white wine and a cafe. If you want to interrupt the more than 30 km stage from Cradisca to Duino, this very nice hotel offers traditional rooms with modern bathrooms and a rich, varied breakfast.
The further way to Duino ( 10 km) offers a new facet in terms of landscape. To the described karst, the scenery changes to the southernmost slopes of Friuli with views of the port of Monfalcone and the Mare Adriatico. In S. Giovanni del Timavo, the Timavo springs up in Slovenia and flows over 40 km underground through karst rock before it flows into the Adriatic Sea. We learn that these underground rivers are characteristic of the Karst Mountains and can form lakes where they come to earth, such as Lake Doberdo. Around 12 noon we reach our Hotel Aurora and fortunately we can already move into our modern purist but technically Topp equipped room. Then the most important question of the day arises, where is it going to the beach?The anticipation for the sea was huge and grew the more we got closer. A first, even more distant view from Mounte S Michele and again and again this morning, it was within reach. It is a different feeling to sit by the sea when you have walked almost 300 km with your own feet and it takes a good 2 weeks than if you get into the car or plane and arrive in a few hours. So we sit there and hang on to our thoughts, because it has already come to an end and unfortunately nothing is going to happen today from the jump into the Adriatic. In addition, the pebble beach is really tiny and is just closed. Duino is also very small and has not much to offer besides the castle. On a visit to the castle we have no desire today and so there is still enough time to relax.