Trieste

Went to bed late (10:00 p.m.) and didn’t get out of bed until 7:00 a.m. Glorious. We are people who stay fit year round but our bodies and our minds are spent. We are ready for rest and decompression. Rolled out of our room for a lovely breakfast and then slowly made our way out the door to meander the streets of Trieste. We knew we wanted to see the castle so, we headed uphill (haha). On the way, we stopped at the cathedral Santa Maria Maggiore. A quite interesting place. Slightly different vibe than most we have gone in. We then made our way to the castle but it didn’t open until 10:00 so we checked out the Cathedral di San Giusto Martire. This place was even more unique than the first one. 

Ancient frescoes, mosaic floors and a hard to describe alter that made this far from your run-of-the-mill European cathedral. Finally made it to the castle that had a cheap entry fee that was a bargain. We walked the bastion which gave superb views in all directions. It also had quite a collection of ancient relics. We then made a quick visit to the Chiesa di San Appolinare which is simply too hard to describe. We then felt like it was time for coffee. We went to Caffe Tommaseo which is the oldest cafe in Trieste dating to 1830. It’s quite fancy inside but we had espresso outside, enjoying the ocean breezes. We stuck our noses in a couple other historic cafes but then decided to procure lunch. A place we had scoped out was closed so we got some food to take out and went to our room to eat, rest and get out of the heat. We spent a little time walking about this afternoon and found an archway built BC. Tonight we found dinner at a quiet, backstreet restaurant, Osteria Agli Orfanelli. Joan enjoyed a deliciously fresh, simple salad and eggplant ravioli while I sampled a pasta dish enhanced with some fresh squid. Afterwards, we took off on a dessert crawl, picking up some nice sweet treats. As darkness started to fall we walked around drinking in the sights. It’s amazing. After one day of rest, the EPW feels miles away.