Final Day, April 2 in Koper Slovenia

[Posting note: The ship has had very slow internet connections and so I am posting several days' worth of notes all at once.]
A very smooth ride last night brought us to our final port of call, the town of Koper in Slovenia, our third country of the six making up the former Yugoslavia. This is an amazing set of circumstances: who would have thought ten years ago that we might visit these countries and not be able to visit Turkey. This itinerary was supposed to have started in Istanbul. When we booked it nearly 18 months ago, we thought to start there, and were disappointed that Viking changed the route to start in Athens. But there are so many amazing sights to see wherever we go.
Koper is another port city, the only port in Slovenia which has an Adriatic coastline of only about 30km. The port is both for passengers and freight and the Viking Sky pulled up right next to the freight port.
Since this was our last day, we confined our excursion to a brief guided walk in town. As this was Sunday morning, it was a busy day on the waterfront with many people and families out taking advantage of the weekend sunshine.

Koper was once an island and walled by the Venetians, of course. It used to be called "Goat Island" and a person in a goat costume met the passengers on the dock. Because it is the northernmost of the south Slavic countries, Slovenia also has influences from Hungary and Austria. Triest, Italy, is right around the corner and the town of Koper speaks two official languages--Slovenian and Italian.
Our guide was a bit unsure of her English, and apologized for groping for a few of her words. She was charming, though, and also a native Slovenian. Someone asked about Melania Trump, whether people were proud of her. She answered "It depends on who you ask."  Good answer! She told us that she lived in the country nearby, with her husband and a rescue dog. They are renovating a house that is more than 200 years old and want to live close to nature and simply. She said that Slovenians like the outdoors and are fortunate to live in a county where within the same day you can go skiing and scuba diving.
She led us through the main square of town, with a bell tower on the church with bells cast in the 14th c. They were striking the hour as we arrived. Not many of the town shops were open, but several cafes expecting tourists were open. Our guide took us to a shop that specialized in sea salt and we partook freely of the samples of salted chocolate.
After leaving the rest of the group, Rol and I strolled around the old town, had some refreshments and admired the waterfront activity, including the cleanliness of the water. We watched all the families with children on their roller blades and scooters and bikes, and heard Italian being spoken. This waterfront on a sunny Sunday was clearly the place to be. This waterfront had a beach of sorts, but without sand, just stones. It was too cold for people to be in the water yet, but the shore was equipped with a swimming pier, changing rooms and playground equipment, and clean!
Since this was our last day aboard ship, we decided to take it easy in the afternoon, except for a tour of the ship's bridge. It was a techie's dream place. Our cabin has been right below the bridge on the port side and every once in a while we've been able to look up and wave from our balcony at some of the crew. Rol took advantage of a final rest on the balcony today.  On to Venice tomorrow!