I decided to walk from Alessio’s flat into Trieste again, purely as I had about 2 1/2 hours before my transfer coach was due. I didn’t get to say goodbye to him as he was at work, but I passed the key over to his next guest, a guy from Peru who had arrived overnight.

The view from the garden

So another hot, sweaty couple of miles (via McDonalds) got me to the train station and then onto my little minibus with Walter, a financier from Austria who was also heading to Metal Days. As it happens, he’s friends with Fearancy, who are on stage tonight just before Ten Ton Slug – who I’m here to see! We picked up three ladies from the airport (one from Barcelona, two from Helsinki) and detoured through local roads as the “faster” toll road had a 30 minute queue… due to the toll collection!

The journey was through some astoundingly beautiful scenery and towns, ending at the bus station in Tolmin, only 250m from the Hostel Hildegarden where I’ll be for the next week. The hostel is fantastic. Quiet, clean and in a beautiful location. Check-in was quick and smooth and my hostess has given me a shortcut to the festival entrance.

The only downside is that a thunderstorm is rolling in (it hasn’t hit yet), due to peak around 6 or 7pm. Things should ease overnight with another one due to drop its watery load on us around 11am tomorrow. Thankfully after that, things should settle and be a little less extreme!

From this point, I’ll put the touristy stuff on this blog – any trips I do, things I see and so – until I get to Ljubljana next Saturday. All the music / festival reviews will be over on Moshville Times.