Napoli

Our flights from Trieste went well but the transfer to our apartment took more than a half hour just for the pick-up. AAArgh.  That is the first time we felt compelled to rate a service a 2.  Maybe that was generous, but they got us to the apartment and they did stay in touch with us until we were picked up. The drive itself was maybe 10  minutes.

The temperatures are not that different in Naples than in SMA, humidity is ~3x higher.

We had a late lunch at Sorbillo, on via del Tribunali / pizza street and, drum roll...we had pizza! To go with it, we chose a Taurasi (prestigious full-bodied red wine from the Irpinia hills in Campania, south of Naples, often called the "Barolo of the South". Made primarily or exclusively from the thick-skinned Aglianico grape, it features high tannins, rich acidity, and remarkable aging potential spanning decades). It was new to us, so we made careful notes.

On the way back we caught a local giving a serenade from his balcony. After putting a tip in his basket (let down from the balcony by a ropea0, we continued on to shop for our evening and morning goodies and to get settled into the apartment. 

Next morning we were off on a food tour starting at Galleria Umberto I, continuing along Calle Toledo, through the Spanish Quarter and finishing near where we started. Along the way, we sampled custard filled pastry, fried pasta, spaghetti in tomato sauce, pizza, and gelato. We are really glad we took the tour.

We started with coffee (Pat demonstrates the proper drinking style)  and Sfogliatella  (an iconic very yummy pastry that looks impossible to make). Sfogliatella's characteristic layers are produced through repeated rolling and folding of dough. It is rarely made at home, instead it is typically purchased from a pasticceria.

Then we had a short architecture and history tour. Galleria Umberto I (top left and right, bottom left),  Basilica of San Francesco di Paola in the Piazza del Plebiscito (center right), and Piazza Trieste e Trento with the Vomero hill topped by Castel Sant'Elmo in the background.  (bottom right).

Next up, Frittatina di Pasta / fried pasta. A long thick noodle, like bucatini, is bound with creamy béchamel sauce, prosciutto, and peas which is double-battered and deep-fried. Basically a hand-held mac & cheese. Yummy!

A couple pieces of street art in the Spanish Quarter: Sophia Loren and Saint Mary Frances of the Five Wounds. 

We moved on for a more typical pasta. Verrry tasty.

And finally pizza, after all Naples is considered by many to be the home of pizza. We learned how to eat it Napolitano style - quartered and folded in half. Armed with this technique, pizza indeed can be a street food. Bill demonstrates.

After all this we were not quite ready for gelato. But it looked very good. Probably later!

Next day we took an uber to the the National Archaeological Museum. It houses the world's finest and largest collection of original artifacts, mosaics, and frescoes recovered from Pompeii and the surrounding Vesuvian region

We walked down the hill for lunch at Da Carmine, pasta vongole (Pat) and pasta with meat sauce (Bill) and another fine red wine.

Another day and went to Il Mantegno Vineria wine bar for a light lunch.

And then on to Sansevero Chapel Museum which houses the sculpture known as “the veiled Christ" by Raimondo di Sangro. Carved in marble, the veil appears amazingly transparent. The other works are also magnificent.

And then time for pizza making at Santissima Pizza, so-called because it is located i an old chapel.  In the collage below note that the disciples at the Last Supper are enjoying their pizza. The class was interesting but not amazing. The pizzas were formed by hand pressing the dough resulting in pretty freeform shapes for us amateurs. We also sampled pizza from dough that had been raised overnight. The resulting pizza is lighter and less filling. And to top off the evening, deep-fried dough with sugar sprinkles and rich chocolate sauce.

We got an Uber for the ride up to the Charterhouse & Museum of San Martino for the view of Vewuvius & surrounds and to see the renowned Nativity display.

Besides the nativity scenes, there are other nice exhibits.

And then for the piece de resistance, Nativity scenes and pieces from other nativity scenes, It is difficult (impossible?) to capture the detail of this nativitty scene but hopefully you get the idea. There is a whole village in the space below the angels.

Here are some of the pieces of the scene and other pieces for other sets.

On the walk back we stopped for lunch at Tandem Ragu - Radicchio salad with nuts and pear, a potato pasta for Pat and Ragu sauce for Bill. A Taurasi wine with lunch plus one limoncello and one arancello with chocolate and cognac truffles topped with coconut shavings.

A more relaxing day wandering the neighborhood shopping ending at Galleria Garibaldi...at the main train station.

Lunch on a rooftop with a view of Vesuvius was nice - caesar salad, pizza, a nice wine plus dessert with dessert of chocolate, hazelnuts and fruit sauce.

The view from the rooftop over the Galleria included Vesuvius.

The Capadimonte museum  was significantly uphill from our apartment and we opted again for a ride up.

We stopped for lunch at La Monacone on the walk down. It was a pleasant  neighborhood restaurant with a nice selection of pastas and sauteed greens.

Now it is time to pack and ferry out to Capri.

Trieste

It was a 2 hour (plus stops) drive from Ljubljana to our next stop. Trieste, one of the northernmost cities in Italy. It is on a narrow coastal strip of Italy that borders on Slovenia to the east and south and on the Adriatic to the west. If you look at a map, you will see that Italy got the lion's share of coastline. Slovenia got Koper (a port city) and Piran (a charming coastal town.) Note: further south and west is Istria (part of Croatia), another beautiful (and much larger) peninsula. Istria is a charming place that we visited in 2013. For this trip the focus is on Slovenia and Italy. 

We arrived in Trieste around 4:30. Our host met us at the rental. Great place located just a couple blocks from the main square. The convenience kinda makes us think of home in SMA. We took a relaxing first day. in Trieste, First we stopped at the nearby market, buying fruit and shell beans. Then to a nearby bakery for pastry. Later we wandered along the waterfront ending up at Eataly. 

Eataly was first founded in Torino Italy as a European-style open market, a specialty grocery store with diverse dining / food counters. After extending across Italy it went worldwide. We visited it in Chicago (2015) and London (2024).The Trieste location is among the best we have visited, competing with Chicago and London. And putting to shame the Rome location (a restaurant at the train station ) and the San Jose CA location (a fine restaurant with a fantastic shop featuring lots of Italian wines). We highly recommend it to our Bay Area friends if you want something beyond local wines. Or if K&L Wines isn't convenient for you.

We had wondered if Eatly was a bit too commercial for Italians but our rental host, an Italian, is also a fan. (Actually it is hard not to be a fan.) We explored a bit and bought several bottles of wine, some focaccia and cheese. Note the map of types of pastas by region (it seems like there are as many as there are types of grapes / wines in Italy).

Later we were ready to head to Nero Cafe Bistro. We had Asparagus risotto (again) and Branzino fish accompanied by a nice bottle of Vitovska, definitely a local wine (50 hectares / 124 acres between Trieste and the Vipava Valley in Slovenia) but we have also had it at Primo in Rockland Maine!!

It turns out that it is easier to visit the Slovenian coast from Trieste than from Ljubljana. So we had pre-arranged a tour. The are several charming towns to visit including Piran and Koper and they reflect their Venetian heritage.

We explored Koper starting from the Muda Gate/Vrata Muda (top left). We sampled drinks from a family distillery, and wandered through the arches of Taverna Koper a 17th-century salt warehouse turned into a cultural venue. At Tito Square we noted the Bell Tower (Mestni stolp) next to the Assumption Cathedral ( Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary) and the Praetorian Palace / (Pretorska palača). Nearby we got a shot at the  Lady Justice perched on Praetorian Palace. 

We contunued on to the Cathedral of St. Nazarius. Built in the second half of the 12th century it features some fine artwork.

We admired Izola and Adriatic views from hills of Jagodje, and views of Piran from the Strunjan Peninsula.

As we headed into Piran, we checked out the salt basins near Strunjan.

Piran, one of the oldest and most beautiful Slovene towns, reflects it's almost 500 years of Venetian influence. We strolled through the streets and along the shoreline.

We interrupted our stroll along the waterfront for lunch at Ivo where we shared a seafood platter paired with Malvazjia.

We drove through Portorož to the small village of Marezige. Time for more Slovenian wine!...from a "wine fountain" which looked more like a draft beer tap. Nice view. OK wine.

Back in Trieste it was time to visit the Castello di San Giusto. It was August15, Ferragosto, an end of summer holiday in Italy. Folks typically celebrate with family and/or head to the coast or the mountains). Which means the city and the castle were less busy than usual.

We walked up and up and up... The good news is there was no Bora wind. The Boras can get up to 60 mph. It felt like that during our 2013 visit. We passed the Roman Theatre of Trieste and visited Cathedral of San Giusto with its12th-century Byzantine apse mosaic of the Virgin Mary. We wandered the ramparts, and enjoyed views over Trieste and surroundings.

We noted the fine Yacht in the harbor,. Apparently it has been confiscated from a Russian Oligarch but the Trieste government feels compelled to maintain it for €30K /month. Further up the coast we caught a glimpse of Miramare.

On our way down from the Castle we enjoyed Caprese and then Sardines (Pat) and Carbonara (Bill) at Osteria all'Ombra.

We were especially looking forward to visiting Miramare, a beautiful small castle built to the dreams of Archduke Maximillian of Habsburg and his wife Carlota of Belgium. Actually we learned that it was really his dream, not hers as she considered it too remote. It is an elegant blue and ivory building perched on a rocky cliff overlooking the Gulf of Trieste. The castle is famous for its stunning sea views, eclectic architecture, and sprawling botanical park and is located 10 km from downtown Trieste. 

We considered taking the ferry for €28 per person, an Uber for $88 total or the bus (much longer trip) for a couple euros. The ferry sounded like the right way to go but the schedule is very limited. And it is difficult to find the departure point. We looked for the terminal on an early pass by the dock but, like much of Europe, if something isn't open it does not appear to exist.

We decided to splurge and take the Uber. Now (during the day) we saw a "taxi" option with the cost of €2-3. Weird. We decided to chance it Sure enough it worked like an Uber with a blind price The price turned out to be €30! including the service charge of €3. Well worth the service charge.

The blue and ivory castle is truly lovely but has a sad story. The castle was constructed between 1856 and 1860. In 1864 Maximillian accepted the crown of Mexico and they had to leave Miramar.  3 years later, he was executed and Carlotta returned to Europe where she descended into madness. If you would like to know more about this power couple, read The Last Emperor of Mexico.  

Fortunately the castle has lots of its original furnishings, beautiful. Maybe not comfortable. The one  and only set of later residents remodeled some rooms to a more comfortable "Art Deco" stye. The earlier has more beauty. The later has more elegance and comfort (probably, We were not allowed to confirm the theory.)

We had a nice seafood lunch at Tavernetta al Molo by the Miramar dock. Pat- grilled calamari with bacon and polenta. Fantastic. Bill had more branzino. Plus a side dish of green beans.

The Stables of Miramare Castle were  hosting a special exhibition titled "A Sphinx Lures Him".  Archduke Maximilian had a passion for ancient Egypt and had a fine19th-century collection, which was transferred to Vienna in 1891 and this summer it was returned to Trieste. For this temporary exhibit which included over 100 ancient Egyptian artifacts, with key loans from  Museums in Vienna, Turin and Trieste. 

Below:  top left - head from a sphinx of Pharaoh Senwosret III, Sphinx of Miramare (Sfinge di Miramare) perched near the pier, ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Psamtik (Psammetichus), a sculpture at the entrance to the exhibit.

For our return home we got the same taxi with the same pricing.

We spent our remaining time wandering, enjoying the architecture, ambiance, shops, and restaurants. The type of in-depth, relaxed experience we were looking for at each location on this trip.

We found a great store for cooks. It is packed with special purpose tools. Pasta equipment, jamon racks & juicers, an amazing selection of cookie cutters, loads of cutelrey and losts more.

For our last dinner in Trieste we had meatballs, carbonara, and roasted vegetables with al Barattolo Carpaccio and a local Merlot followed with a complementary limoncello to finish. 

Wednesday we were off to the airport for our flight to Naples.

Ljubljana, Slovenia

It was time to return to Europe, primarily to Italy. And we were in the mode for a slow paced visit. Hence we booked one week in each of Ljubljana (Slovenia), Trieste (in Italy, 2 hours drive from Ljubljana), Naples, Capri and the Amalfi Coast; Plus 3 weeks in Rome. On our return to Mexico, we planned to stop in California for Pat's 40th Business School Reunion. It was to be a relaxing trip with more casual focus on sightseeing than usual, along with picking restaurants a bit more at random to feel more like locals. We were also hoping for reasonable daytime temperatures. They have been getting some insanely hot weather there in recent years. Spoiler alert. It all worked out.

We stayed overnight in Coyoacán (Mexico City) with Alejandra and then departed Mexico for Ljubljana. We arrived in the evening a day later. After a nights rest, we began our day with breakfast at Cafe Capri (fabulous coffee, pastries were nice too) followed by a trip to the supermarket for supplies.

We deposited our purchases in the apartment and crossed the Dragon Bridge to visit the Central Market. Not impressive on a Wednesday, but market day is Friday and we'll check it out again then. We continued along Ciril-Metodov trg (yes, the street names are hard to get used to), stopped in to see the Saint Nicholas' Cathedral (elaborate interior with baroque painting and lots of gold) and continued along Mestni trg toward Stari trg, a street lined with shops and restaurants. 

We had a nice lunch at Julija. Pat's' Slovenian pinot noir wine went well with her noodles & porcinis, as did Bill's Slovenian Merlot wine and goulash. We finished with a sweet wine (Pikolit from the Slovenian Goriska Brda Wine Valley) for dessert.  

 After lunch we wandered back to the apartment along the other side of the Ljubljanica River. We passed through the main square, Preseren Square, where the Triple Bridge (a19C bridge with 2 adjacent 20C footbridges) connects the castle side of the river to 4 main streets. In the center is a nice cooling fountain (disguised as a simple wet circle with folks old and young standing in it). We had to join them and discovered ourselves in a light mist coming from a sprinkler suspended by overhead cables. With Temps at 34C / mid-nineties F, it was delightful. 

For an evening snack we went to nearby Viniski Bar Most. The sea bass ceviche (with Chive oil, ponzu, cream cheese, orange zest and panko crumbs) was unusual, and great. Instead of tasting lemony and tart, it was mellow and very wine friendly. It went very nicely with the white blend we had for wine. We followed this with "Upper Savinja dumplings filled with quark. Quark is a soft, curd-like creamy dairy product with a mild, slightly tangy taste. The wild garlic, seasonal mushroom sauce, leeks, and chives completed a very tasty dish.

Slovenia has been overrun and governed by many "empires". The Romans in 14 AD, the Huns (led by Attila in 452 AD). Waves of Ostrogoths and Lombards were  followed by Slavs and Franks. Then the Hapsburgs, French, Austro Hungarians, Nazi Germany and finally Yugoslavia before becoming Independent Slovenia in 1991. Which is to say there is a Castle, one that is more of  a fortress that protected the villagers who lived within. No palace. The Castle is, of course, on a hill top with fine views in all directions. So the next morning we were off to see Ljubljana Castle. We encountered a statue at the base of the funicular (what is a kangaroo doing in Slovenia?).

Lots of steps around the castle but great views over the city. Because of the heat, we headed up to the castle early to arrive around 10am. It was well-planned. There were few people waiting for the funicular and exploring the grounds. It was darn hot in the sun though fortunately there were only small stretches that weren't shaded or inside. But following our return funicular trip we found literally hundreds of folks waiting for the uphill ride. Access is also available by bus and walking. 

There are lots of exhibits including wall murals, a church, a floral heart, historical displays, animation and puppet exhibits.

The temperature was 35-36C / 95-97F but on the walk to lunch we stayed pretty much in the shade and it was fine.

We were looking for Gostilna AS only to realize it didn't open until later. We choose to dine at neighboring Pops Aperitivo  which turns out to be part of the AS family. Very fine food and wine. Pop's was very pleasant and the waiters took good care of us. Choosing the finest wines by the glass. We shared carpaccio for our starter followed by Pasta Amatriciana with tomato onion and crispy thick guanciale (basically bacon). With these we had two local Cabernets, Zaro 1348 Bacchus vineyard cabernet sauvignon 2022 (aged in oak, quite robust) and a Brda Rdece - Rosso Epoca 2021 (merlot & cabernet, much more mellow). Both worked well with the food.

We took it easy in the afternoon as a step toward recovering from our long day of flying to Europe.

We went to Vinoteca Movia for our evening snack. The wine bar features Movia's wine. Movia has been a family operation for 9 generations. The sister of the current wine maker manages the Vinoteca. We started with burrata and a mix of flavorful fresh tomatoes paired with two white wine  blends, and then moved on to foie gras with two contrasting chardonnays. For "dessert" we chose a sparkling rose and a blanc de blanc. Quite pleasant and good conversation about wines.

Friday is market day. So we returned to explore the Central Market. There were maybe 2x the fruit & vegetable dealers than on Thursday. Great selection of veggies but we expected a wider selection of products. We purchased some fruit for breakfast and some shell beans … because we like them and cannot get them in San Miguel. Next we visited a couple pastry shops and a small super market for supplies and walked home prepared for a few more breakfasts.

Later we went to lunch at Landerik, a Michelin rated spot. Excellent. We shared a fine chicken pate. Pat followed up with pasta with pancetta and an egg yolk. Bill had risotto with veal cheek. These paired well with a fine Slovenian red, a Reddo 2019 blend of Schioppettino 50%, Blaufrankisch 30%, and Refosco d'Istria 20%. 

Another day we took a wine tour to the Vipava Valley wine region (on the Italian border, north of Trieste). Along the way, our guide happened to mention the Slovenian National Anthem. Our interest perked because during the World Cup series we noted that many National Anthems are either rallying cries or celebrations of victory. But the Slovenian national anthem, Zdravljica (“A Toast”), stands out because it’s one of the few non-militant anthems. Instead of emphasizing fighting or national power, it’s all about peace, equal opportunities and living harmoniously with all nations. Nice thought.

We visited two wineries with lunch sandwiched in between. We were so glad to have a local guide. The roads through the villages are teeny tiny and the route was through a maze of narrow roads. Tough to drive. Tough to navigate. Easy for the riders!

Our first stop was at Tilia - a singe man operation but with a renowned winemaker.  We tasted a sparkling wine, followed by a range of whites and reds while enjoying a nice view over the countryside.

We went on to Gostilna Pri Izviru Hubija for a lunch of pasta and roasted vegetables.

At our next wine tasting, Ferjancic, the sister of the wine maker hosted the tasting. The wine maker also participated while preparing for this years vintage.

On Sunday we went to Tivoi Park. Acres of space with hiking and play grounds, We enjoyed spritzes along side Tivoli Lake with young swans  and red water lilies. 

Continuing our walk one building caught our eye. Investigating this, we discovered it was the US Embassy … lovely.

Shortly after our walk, we had a more Slovenian lunch. At Slovenska Hisa Ljubljancanka Bill's sausages and Pat's breaded steak stuffed with ham covered with cheese went well with a nice cabernet sauvignon.

We returned to our apartment via Preseren Square with the three bridges crossing the river. walking through the  cooling sprinkler in square. We noticed a map of Ljubljana that covered pretty much all that we saw in Ljubljana. Tivoli, on the west of the city, is the only part of the city more than 10 minutes away from our apartment.

Evening saw us back at Most enjoying a caprese salaad and a salad with spicy beef strips accompanied by a pinot noir (Blaufrankish).

In the morning we returned to explore the market further. This pass we checked the buildings surrounding the fresh vegetable area. There are a continuous stream of dining options followed by a few souvenir shops. One with very high end goods, others with more typical touristy souvenirs. 

In our search for lunch we decided on TaBar, short for Tapas and Bar. It had a limited menu due to it being summertime vacation BUT we were attracted by the Pasta and Truffles, as well as the venison steak and fries Both were very fine. In fact, the pasta was amazing, thick 3/4" round tubes 1.5 inches long cooked al dente and in a butter truffle sauce. Excellent. The venison was fine (but not as gamy as Bill likes.) The Barbera made a great wine pairing for both dishes Then we had baked apricots and rhubarb for dessert. To die for. Pat's opinion. Bill loves rhubarb but not apricot.

Wine bar Suklje was the choice for the evening repast. We chose and Albania Brut Rose and an Oskar Brut with shrimp croquets. Pat followed with a red blend and Bill a white (rebula). The white was OK, the red was good but a bit too big for the croquets. The "Icon" wine Numerals Unico we had for "dessert" was excellent (glass price €32!). The wine music moods are a creative way to distinguish different wine styles (Jazz is smooth where Heavy Metal is robust).

We strolled back along the river to our apartment. 

Jose Plečnik was born in Ljubljana but his early career was in Vienna (capital of the Austro Hungarian empire) and then moved on to Prague. Finally around age 40, after making his name as an architect he moved home where he created the Plečnik House (combining two houses into one thinking his brother would join him there, which never happened). He was noted for his work on some castles in Prague and many folks sought him out. Too many for his somewhat anti social tastes. So his entry way features designs to cause discomfort so that visitors would leave early. The seat of the bench slants just a little forward. The bench also features a very uncomfortable back. The sun roof heats the room too much. All quite effective but innocuous looking 

Such designs were not limited to unwanted visitors His own bed was designed such that he would not sleep late and would spend more time working. Note: He was a smoker who got little sleep or exercise and ate poorly but lived to nearly 85.

We stopped at D'vorni for lunch. The selection was from its extensive pizza menu. Wine was in a 1 liter bottle not 750ml. A bit much for lunch.

Later at home, we inished our cheese, meat and tomatoes with shell beans and a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon for our evening repast.

Next morning we were up and packing for our touring transfer to Trieste. En-route we stopped at Predjama Castle. Originally started in 1274 and built within a huge cave. Hidden features included "backdoors" through natural runnels to escape sieges. It also comes with some mixed staircases with steps carved in stone at anything from 6-18 inches high. It was converted into a museum after WWII.

We stopped briefly in the town of Stengel. It is a lovely castle town. The castle and  gardens all blend into one. But we were hungry and the one restaurant was closed on Wednesdays. So off to find a local restaurant where we enjoyed an Asparagus risotto and Calamari fritti.

After lunch we continued our journey to Trieste.