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.