Enter the cliche of the Adriatic: the smell of pine trees and salt; the sound of cicadas, loud as factory machines; the sight of blue, brown and green; the splash after splash of seawater; the straw hats, linen trousers and dresses; the sun-kissed skin. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it?

This is how I remember the coast of Slovenia. Breaking open my piggy bank, gathering 700 Slovenian tolars and stuffing them into my pocket. Walking to the slaščičarna (patisserie) near the marina, ordering seven scoops of ice-cream with cream, eating hastily yet attentively, then vomiting into an oleander bush an hour later.

A couple of days after that, my father taught me to swim the crawl and butterfly so I could “outswim the bullies”, while my uncle, a marine biologist, introduced me to snorkelling so I could “see what wonders lie below”. It was also the summer my cousins resolved to teach me chess, so I wouldn’t be the only family member who didn’t know how to jump, walk, twirl or sashay on that black and white, eight by eight grid. In my family, the elders viewed knowing the intricacies of chess as essential to developing your spirit. The........

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