The warmth of the early morning sunshine made it possible for us to eat breakfast outside on the hotel terrace. We lingered a while enjoying the atmosphere even after it had started to rain. After a while the wind changed direction and drove the rain underneath the covered area, in our direction. We beat a hasty retreat inside and as we did so the light rain turned into a torrential downpour. There was no point in going out in such weather so we returned to our room where we could enjoy watching the rain and the comings and goings in Tartini Square whilst keeping dry.

When the rain had subsided we made our way down to the square for a drink before visiting the Giuseppe Tartini Memorial Room. Tartini who was born in Piran and christened in St George’s cathedral in 1692 became a violin virtuoso and composer. The Town Square and the hotel we were staying in were named after him. The custodian of the museum gave an interesting talk on the man and the collection.

Next we intended to visit the Museum of Underwater Activities but unfortunately it was closed so I took a leisurely stroll along the harbour whilst Mr C risked his ears again by climbing the bell tower next to St George’s Cathedral. After this it was time for lunch which we enjoyed sitting on the seafront with a glass of wine, watching boats coming in and out of the harbour.

After lunch we visited the Sergej Masera Maritime Museum which is dedicated to Slovenia’s naval history and heritage. After the museum made our way to the art gallery which was exhibiting paintings that were all painted in the same week. The artist was required to present a blank canvas to the gallery and complete his/her work within one week. It was an interesting exhibition with many painting styles. There were some excellent works of art on the walls along with some that didn’t quite work for me.

On our way back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner we noticed that the temperature was 82^o after the rain had cooled the temperature down earlier in the day. After dinner we spent the evening chatting with one of our fellow travelers who was holidaying on his own.

Henry Markram, director of the Blue Brain Project says it is not impossible to build a human brain and that it can be done within the next 10 years.

They are hoping the project will help them understand brain diseases and disorders which may lead to new treatments.

The Blue Brain project at Swizerland’s EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) was launched in 2005 and aims to reverse engineer the mammalian brain from laboratory data.

In particular, his team has focused on the neocortical column – repetitive units of the mammalian brain known as the neocortex.

“It’s a new brain,” he explained. “The mammals needed it because they had to cope with parenthood, social interactions complex cognitive functions.

“It was so successful an evolution from mouse to man it expanded about a thousand fold in terms of the numbers of units to produce this almost frightening organ.”

And that evolution continues, he said. “It is evolving at an enormous speed.”