Early days in Trieste

Finally we were making our way to Trieste. Piero led the way and we followed. We had a short stop at Redipuglia, not far from Trieste, because Piero wanted us to see the First World War Military Memorial. It is the largest of its kind in Italy with more than a hundred thousand victims buried there.It is in the form of a grand stone staircase.

We finally parked our car in the underground car park in Campo San Giacomo, got our 7 day parking ticket after a heated discussion between Gloria and a voice from the help telephone. From our observations, Italians are inclined to get hot under the collar over the slightest thing and it can be rather disconcerting! The apartment is just across the street from the car park so it is very handy. Having dropped in some of our luggage we then had a quick walking tour of Campo San Giacomo and the surrounding area. Of course we had to have a compulsory aperitif and then we were off, driven by Piero, to collect Domiziana, a friend of Bloria's, and to lunch just across the border at Pesek at a restaurant called Flora. Lots of food and wine later and we were left to our own devices - exhausted!

The following day, Monday, we decided we would explore Trieste, after a good bit of housekeeping - washing etc.. It is all downhill from Campo San Giacomo so we felt no need to take a bus. En route we were reminded of the fact that James Joyce had spent a lot of time in Trieste.

We reached the Piazza Unita D'Italia, the main square in Trieste and Europe's largest square overlooking the sea.

We walked along the seafront to the Conference from where we were taking the hop on hop off bus.

There was some kind of protest going on which fascinated Jim. We never discovered what exactly it was about.

We were less than impressed with the hop on hop off tour but as the ticket was for 48 hours we were going to get the value of it!

During the night of Monday it poured rain and as morning came there was a bitter wind blowing. Domiziana had mentioned the wind in Trieste. We were reluctant to move from the bed and continue our hop on hop off tour but gradually the morning improved and we got back onto the bus. We were no more impressed but we took the opportunity to hop off in order to see Miramare Castle which stands on a headland at the end of the Strada Costiera (Coast Road from Venice).It is in a beautiful setting.

SEagulls and cormorants always feature in Jim's holiday photos!

We returned via hop on hop off and had a look at The Grand Canal and some of the well known authors who frequented the area.

Two famous Irish Jamess in Trieste!

We finished our day with a visit to a beautiful Greek? Orthodox Church - Templo Serbo-Ortodosso di San Spiridione.

All in all a satisfying day!